Infragram Point & Shoot
infragram-point-shoot

The Infragram Point & Shoot is a handheld, battery powered mini camera (a modified Mobius Action Cam) for doing plant analysis. We [modify these](https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/10-19-2017/install-a-filter-or-change-the-lens-in-a-mobius-action-cam) to replace the infrared-blocking filter with a red filter, effectively exchanging its blue light channel for infrared light. (_Lead image by @mathew_) This is based on a great deal of [research by Public Lab contributors](http://publiclab.org/tag/infragram) and was initially pioneered in our community by @nedhorning and @cfastie. See especially [these](http://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/04-22-2014/mobius-ir-conversion) [two](http://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/04-18-2014/mobius-filter-o-matic) research notes. Also see [this page](/wiki/raspberry-pi-infragram) for how to do this with a [Raspberry Pi camera](/wiki/pi-camera). ## Why Vineyards, large farms, and NASA all use [near-infrared photography](http://publiclab.org/wiki/near-infrared-camera) for assessing plant health, usually by mounting expensive sensors on airplanes and satellites. At Public Lab, we've developed a Do-It-Yourself way to take these kinds of photos, enabling us to monitor our environment through quantifiable data. [Read more about the Infragram project here](/wiki/infragram). [![5412520298_93873f36d0_o.png](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/005/386/medium/5412520298_93873f36d0_o.png)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/005/386/original/5412520298_93873f36d0_o.png) Our technique uses a modified digital camera to capture near-infrared and red light in the same image, but in **different color channels**. We then post-process the image (see Infragram.org, below) to attempt to infer how much plants are photosynthesizing. This allows us to better understand and quantify how much of the available light plants are using to produce sugar via photosynthesis. ### Basics Before you begin, to take useful plant analysis photos, **you'll have to modify your camera's white balance**, so that vegetation looks "bluish" but there is not an overall red tinge to the images. You can achieve this with a custom config file, as described below. Some cameras may require a firmware upgrade to v1.20. If you've gotten your Infragram Point & Shoot from the [Public Lab store](http://store.publiclab.org), both the config file and the v1.20 firmware should be on the SD card provided. However, you'll still have to load up the white balance configuration as described in the Activities section below. [![Infragram_Parts.jpg](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/022/006/large/Infragram_Parts.jpg)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/022/006/original/Infragram_Parts.jpg) (_above image by @abdul_) ## Activities [activities:infragram-point-shoot] **** ## Questions These are questions just for the Infragram Point & Shoot, also known as the Mobius Action Cam. For questions about infrared imaging or the Infragram project more broadly, see [the Infragram page](/wiki/infragram#Questions). [questions:infragram-point-shoot] For any information, support, or troubleshooting not covered here, please look to [this epic thread about the Mobius Action Cam at RCGroups.com](http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1904559) which contains a great deal of information about using and modifying the camera. **** ## Upgrades Done something cool with your Mobius? Added to it or improved on it? Post your upgrade guides here: [upgrades:infragram-point-shoot] **** ### Software There is a variety of software available to process your images to calculate [NDVI](/wiki/ndvi) and better understand or compare plant health. See [Infrared software](/wiki/infrared-software) for options. To get started quickly, see our guide on [Getting started with Infragram.org](https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/10-20-2017/getting-started-with-infrared-photography-on-infragram-org). **** ### White balance One step you need to take to set up this camera is to configure the **white balance**; otherwise, your images will be flooded with infrared and will look pinkish -- and the NDVI post-processing steps (see above) won't work. To set the white balance on your Mobius, follow the steps in this activity: https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/10-23-2017/change-the-white-balance-or-other-configuration-on-a-mobius-camera Images should look roughly like the "GOOD" example below -- vegetation should appear generally pastel blue. An incorrectly white-balanced image such as the "BAD" example below may appear with an overall reddish tint. This means the camera probably has not accepted your config file, possibly due to misformatting or incorrect uploading. [![good-bad.png](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/005/383/medium/good-bad.png)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/005/383/original/good-bad.png) For more on white balance, see: > [Infrablue white balance](/wiki/infrablue-white-balance) **** ### Resources Kit insert: infragram-ps-insert.pdf timelapse.svg modes.svg An official manual for the Mobius Action Cam can also be found here: https://www.mobius-actioncam.com/downloads-info// ...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
utobolearning "The results look great after implementation of this system. Can you please give me some information on how much it cost to buy or if i want to buil..." | Read more » about 4 years ago
Muneeswaran "Thank you so much @warren @cfastie ! @cfastie I am using mobius actioncam. So I am using modified mobius camera from public lab. i have read some ..." | Read more » about 5 years ago
cfastie "@warren is correct that some synthetic materials reflect a lot of NIR and not much red, so NDVI computes to a high value (NIR-red will be similar t..." | Read more » over 5 years ago
warren "Ah, well, the NDVI algorithm only compares infrared and visible light, so there are plenty of materials that have high NDVI values, but aren't prod..." | Read more » over 5 years ago
Muneeswaran "@Warren Thanks for the quick reply. A person under the tree and the rooftops also falsely classified. How to reduce the noise? Is there a way to im..." | Read more » over 5 years ago
warren "I think this is appropriate for red-filtered #Infragram imaging -- if you upload to https://publiclab.github.io/infragram/, you get: Is that wha..." | Read more » over 5 years ago
harshchouhan002226 "Hello to all, it’s genuinely a nice for me to go to see this web site, it contains precious Information. Happy Birthday Images Happy Birthd..." | Read more » over 5 years ago
Monoxyde "Of course !  good luck boy! -- Luca Salvoni Il giorno mer 17 apr 2019 alle 16:44 \<notifications@publiclab.org> ha scritto: Use of image ..." | Read more » over 5 years ago
warren "Hi! I created that image (with input from many others at https://publiclab.org/contributors/ndvi and https://publiclab.org/contributors/infragram) ..." | Read more » over 5 years ago
elaineyuyu "Hi Chris, thank you so much for your answer! It seems we will have to purchase one of those expensive multispectral cameras, since we need to ident..." | Read more » almost 7 years ago
cfastie "Spectrometers based on consumer cameras, like the Public Lab spectrometers, can be built so they provide good information about which narrow wavele..." | Read more » almost 7 years ago
warren "There's a fantastic amount of great information and guidance on this topic by @nedhorning at: ndvi-calibrate [notes:ndvi-calibrate] " | Read more » about 7 years ago
warren "And a more final version of FisheyeGL is up here now! https://publiclab.org/n/14792 " | Read more » over 7 years ago
warren "Hi, @patcoyle - managed (with some help) to get the web-based lens distortion removal system working, and worked out some rough settings for Mobius..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
cfastie "The Mobius camera with its IR filter replaced with a red filter produces a photograph that could be called an RNN photograph. The blue channel of t..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
aldehyde "I use Mobіus. I recive Infrared image, NIR image or RGN (RNN) image? " | Read more » over 8 years ago
aldehyde "I use Mobіus. How to write better? Infrared image or RGN (RNN) in the description of the image in article. Thanks " | Read more » over 8 years ago
cfastie "I usually use the blue channel for NIR because it is probably less contaminated with other visible light, but the green channel could work better w..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
aldehyde "If the green channel is probably mostly NIR, I must choise in Photo Monitoring Plugin: - Chanel for Red band to create Index: RED - Chanel for IR..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
cfastie "Yes, a camera with a red filter replacing the IR block filter will make RGN photos. The green channel is probably mostly NIR, so it is really RNN. ..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
aldehyde "If i have Mobius infragram cam with red filter, what kind of image will i receive? RGN image?. And after this (Photo Monitoring Plugin), will i rec..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
balsip "I'd be fine with a less frequent lapse interval, so 6-min would be fine by me. I see your point about battery life, so this kink might be serendipi..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
tonyc "I used new firmware, which had the ability to do low power mode on any interval over 5mins. I use 6 min interval, to be safe, and it allows camera..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
warren "Hmm, @tonyc was just doing this and I think I remember hearing that there may have been changes to the firmware? @tonyc, any suggestions? " | Read more » over 8 years ago