Turn Webcam to IR Sensitive Camera

Low cost infrared camera can be made easily using a normal webcam. iBall face to face c12.0 is used for the same

Step 1: Removal of IR Filter

The specifications of the camera are as follows:

 Sensor resolution         : 1.3M Pixels sensor
Output format             : 24-Bit true color
Still image resolution   :  640x480
Frame rate                          : 30fps
USB Powered

removal of ir filter:
step 1: unscrew the webcam casing
step 2: look for the ir filter (tiny colour film like thing)
step 3: with help of cutter or scissors carefully get off the IR filter
step 4: replace the ir filter with a clean un-used negative film
step 5: screw the setup,adjust the focus back(Finally, to make this an IR-only camera, the visible light needs to be filter-out. To do that, a filter is made for the front of the lens out of several layers of fully-exposed 35mm color negative film.)

Step 2: IR Image

final customized camera and images

Comments

[kyle brinkerhoff]

thats gross and cool at the same time! have you thought about producing a device for medical applications in developing countries?

[Sonam Sawant]

well yeah....i have actually used it my project for "authentication and security" as veins are the most reliable module. Soon will release an IEEE conference paper for the same :) ofc as u metioned this system can be used to inject IV's by projecting the vein image back on the hand.

[MubeenaN]

we would also like to refer ur ieee papers...plz if convenient with you do share ur mail id so that we can get a better idea about this project :)

[MubeenaN]

we are also planning to do a project on palm vein technology..we need to know wat resolution webcam we need for this and approximately how many LEDs to setup an ir camera

[hydranix]

In case anyone was wondering, this is not a night vision camera (as some comments suggested). The cheapest way to get a night vision camera is to just emit a very bright flood of infrared light in front of the camera. Human eyes cannot see infrared light, but cheap webcams can. Get a handful of high power IR LEDs and point them in front of a normal web camera with no modification.

This instructable is not trying to make a night vision camera. It's modifying the webcam to filter out most of the visible light spectrum but intentionally not filtering out the infrared light. Infrared light occurs at a lower (electromagnetic) frequency than visible light, and lower frequencies tend to penetrate better than higher frequencies. But that's only partially true. Since almost all humans are very familiar with the penetration properties of visible light (as we experience it all day long), the properties of non-visible light can be surprising. Infrared light penetrates flesh fairly well, but gets absorbed by blood almost completely. So you can see the veins within thin parts of the body (like hands). Ultraviolet (UV-B) light is a higher frequency than visible light (and UV-A), and just barely penetrates the skin, and is completely absorbed just below the surface along with all the energy of the photon which "carries" the light, which is why it gives you cancer.

Woah i got carried away...

[AlexS154]

does it work near the elbow?

[Neco_Sham]

Hi, how do you fully exposed the color negative film? Thank you.

[Sonam Sawant]

this was all a trial and error part of the whole project...the film was fixed right in front of the lens for better visibility.

[PreeN]

Hi

where can i buy these LEDs

[Sonam Sawant]

http://www.rs-components.com/index.html

[Neco_Sham]

Hi, may I know where can I find your paper?

[Sonam Sawant]

http://www.inderscience.com/info/inarticle.php?artid=68921

[CeliaA]

Hi. I have a question, if you don't care. If I want the camera to have night vision (just able to see whats recorded at night, nothing special) and still be visible during the day, replacing the filter with the clean, unused negative film will allow it to be used during the night and day? I read an instrucable that said to just take the filter out for night and day use. Does the negative film give you a clearer image at night, while still having a visible image during the day? Lol sorry if that's a stupid question, I don't know much about it, trying to learn still. But thank you!

[Up.Jerome.Pablo]

how many IR LEDs did you use?

[Sonam Sawant]

35 LEDs. Matrix arrangement of LED's offer best
distribution of intensity with uniformity.

[Up.Jerome.Pablo]

Thanks for response! By the way, what's that white filter above the LEDs? Is't ordinary paper or special filter for IR?

[Sonam Sawant]

Milky white acrylic sheet (3mm thickness)

[Up.Jerome.Pablo]

can i ask if you can give me a hint or a recommendable design that i can use to implement you work? Thanks!

[Sonam Sawant]

place leds on general purpose pcb in shape of your hand;leds should basically cover the whole hand;so for the palm lets say square matrix of 7x4 and for fingers rectangle of 4x3(with sufficient gaps)

[VõH]

can u share me your PDF file by email? Please

[e-mail]

Thank u so much