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I have connected and wired up the SD Card to this Project. I can now successfully take pictures and save them onto the SD Card.

I recompiled my RAWtoBMP program as well, it was compiled in debug mode, I recompiled it in release, so it should now run without requiring any dependencies.

I also wired another button into the project so that I can use it as a “trigger” when I build the housing for this. I intend to make some kind of handheld enclosure that I can use easily.

I spent some time taking thermal pictures in different locations tonight, and the results were, I would say, mixed.

I would say that the Thermal Scanner, in general, works well, but it does seem to need some source of moderate heat to generate an image. The following pictures were taken with nothing in view but a small wifi modem and a powerline adapter (those devices that plug into the wall and allow you to send network signals over a houses power supply).

It may be necessary to zoom in on these in order to see them properly, but it should be possible to see the powerline adapter plug at the op right of the image, and the wifi modem at the bottom.
However, when I went out side and took some pictures with no heat source, I got this effect:

I thought there was a problem with the project at first, so I took a picture of my leg:

and my hand:

I am holding a torch, that’s what the cylindrical object it. Clearly, the imager still works fine, but it seems that there needs to be some heat source present in order for it to generate a usable image.

I believe this is to do with how devices like this actually work. All objects above absolute zero actually radiate a small amount of heat, but a thermal imager is only able to detect thermal radiation above a certain threshold. A more professional (and expensive, many thousands of euros!) camera would be capable of taking pictures or video in almost all condition, but these images were taken on a dark and cold night, of mostly shrubbery, hedges, and concrete. I believe there just wasn’t enough heat to produce a usable image.

However, the image I took of my house a few days ago:

Was taken in much the same location. Why did it show up so clearly? This picture was taken during the day. It was foggy, but sunny, and I think the heat from the sun warmed the house and the environment up enough that it was detectable by the thermal camera. That’s my theory anyway, I will test it the next sunny day that I get.

To finish, these are some pictures of my computer setup, where the magic all happens:

Notice that there is no shortage of thermal radiation there! That’s actually a triple monitor setup, but only two monitors are switched on. My main computer is on the right, you can just about see the pink heat signature from the top of it. The chair is also pink, probably from me sitting on it.