How I developed a low-cost thermal imager over the course of 12 years
Tags: sideprojects, opensource, career, cpp
Published: 2021-05-29 18:22:14

##And what it told me about the power of side-projects for professional development

In this post, I want to talk about a **side project** of me that I have been working on for over 12 years now in my spare time: The **[DIY-Thermocam](https://www.diy-thermocam.net/)**. It is a low-cost, do-it-yourself thermal imager, which aim is to give **private persons**, **educational institutes** and **companies** access to a **portable**, **affordable** and **customizable** thermal imaging platform that is based on **open-source software and hardware**.

Everything started back in **2009**, when I was still in secondary school. A good friend of mine and me were looking for a topic to participate in "Jugend forscht", a science competition in Germany. Our physics teacher bought an infrared thermometer and asked whether someone wants to work with it. We did a small investigation and had the idea that it could be possible to create thermal images out of a single sensor, by moving it over a surface with motors. Said and done, the idea for the **first prototype** of the **Cheap-Thermocam** was born:  A heavy steel machine that [we build in our hometown](https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/mindelheim/Energie-sparen-mit-Waermebildkameras-id5248341.html) together with an industrial company:

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/5b31d6058d710b7b9965140e862d1e3f17290a7d-480x360.jpg?w=400)

With a slightly improved and already smaller version of this device, we **won the [Jugend forscht ambassador Bavaria award](https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/mindelheim/Zwei-Botschafter-fuer-Jugend-forscht-id8204211.html)**:

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/14e68f822c54554c79d2f068ffab9e25e45c4733-634x275.jpg?w=400)

Shortly after the contest, I put the assembly instructions for the prototype called **Cheap-Thermocam V1** online because I thought it would be a shame if it is not used anymore. The device looked pretty wild back then:

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/6a188b2df3e13c9923eb444d1288b88baaa10ad6-534x399.jpg?w=400)

But a **couple of makers around the world** picked up the idea and build their own versions of it:

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/1f25016fa32873f791801991a75434a8077bfd3a-635x494.jpg?w=400)

**Inspired by the positive feedback**, I took the next step in **2013** and created an upgrade called **Cheap-Thermocam V2**, that already looked more professional and had a small touch screen for user input:

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/36028678eb0c64bbdd5532cd771e825282be269b-533x521.jpg?w=400)

In mid **2014**, I released another upgrade called **Cheap-Thermocam V3**, that featured a bigger screen and an improved design, looking more like a regular photographic camera: 

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/789a3ea5ea782276a004be732ddfd927f8403e56-852x568.jpg?w=400)

It catched [some press coverage](https://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/cheap-thermocam-gets-an-impressive-rehaul/):

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/f3b545906668dcc7e67ff5609292c924d4b4aa9b-960x540.jpg?w=400)

And I created a couple of those devices for people who wanted to have it:

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/9d60d96c961be546e3ed21acfe530b9d82671211-2492x1479.jpg?w=400)

One big limitation of the device was always the single IR sensor, that only allowed a limited thermal resolution. This changed with the introduction of the **FLIR Lepton thermal array sensor** in **2014**, that I quickly integrated into the device:

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/4268e053653416ac4449b4bc373be8a572fca095-768x513.jpg?w=400)

The **DIY-Thermocam V1** was born in **early 2017**, and magazines like [Makezine](https://makezine.com/projects/diy-thermocam/) and [Golem](https://www.golem.de/news/diy-thermocam-v2-student-entwickelt-preiswerte-open-source-waermebildkamera-1702-126031.html) reported about it:

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/ee99932bab64503479dd0e19380aa3dff2747bc8-4555x3041.jpg?w=400)

It turned into the **DIY-Thermocam V2** in **late 2017**, and for the first time was really a device that was sold worldwide over a partner company in the United States called [GroupGets](https://groupgets.com/manufacturers/diycam-thermocam/products/diy-thermocam):

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/0125373db03e4c5dad3599e71bc516e2335d299a-800x534.jpg?w=400)

**Between 2017 and early 2021**, I stopped working on the project because I spent all of my time in the **startup world**, where I worked in different positions and roles: First employee, lead developer, team lead and co-founder. But during the third wave of the pandemic in **early 2021**, I finally found some time to work on the project again and released the latest version of it, the **DIY-Thermocam V3**:

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/35b1825caa5ad4dc87b62e77f3457e5ba94642c0-2916x2916.jpg?w=400)

**Version 3** has been redesigned to offer **3x the performance** of the predecessor, making **thermal imaging much more accessible and fun**. The device is like its previous versions offered as a **do-it-yourself kit**, that consists of around **100 parts** and can be assembled at home by using simple tools in **2-3 hours**:

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftjebp5e/production/a27606fc7a6f3c61130c0d848e5974e0c73822d1-2803x2445.jpg?w=400)

**For 12 years**, this project has companioned me during my career and I **learned a lot from it**, especially from all those (costly) mistakes I did. **Start small and iterate quickly**, go out and show it to **real people** as early as possible. Even if it is not successful, you will **make your learnings** and one of the next projects will be a success for sure, because you can only get better by **failing and standing up again**. Or as a famous quote from **Reid Hoffman** says: "If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late."

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