tCam-Mini with Lepton FS (round 2)

Brand / Manufacturer

danjuliodesigns, Teledyne FLIR

Manufacturer Part #

tcam-mini, 500-0771-FS1

Product Description

tCam-Mini is a small wireless streaming thermal imaging camera designed by Dan Julio. tCam-Mini comes with a capable desktop application, running on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, making it easy-to-use, right out of the box.  Custom applications running on any platform can easily communicate with tCam-Mini via a socket interface.  Commands and data are transferred as easy-to-parse json strings.  

Lepton FS is a non-radiometric 160 x 120 resolution micro thermal camera module with reduced thermal sensitivity, reduced scene dynamic range, and up to 3% inoperable pixels but the lowest price ever for a factory Lepton. These units balance performance and price, enabling monitoring applications where radiometry is not required and pixel-level image information is less important than broad thermal data. With the lowest cost per pixel in the Lepton family, low power consumption, and simple integration, Lepton FS provides integrators an appropriate thermal capability for innovative thermal monitoring products in smart building automation, security, occupancy sensing, and more.

tCam Quick Start Video

tCam Desktop app

(Lepton FS is non-radiometric, you may not get any temperature data in the app)

tCam Capabilities

• The tCam-Mini camera exposes the full capabilities of the Lepton.
• Simple json-based command set with communication of a TCP/IP Socket. Makes interfacing with the camera very simple from a custom application.
• AP or STA (client) Wifi modes (static or DHCP-served IPV4 address).
• Single image or streaming data modes.
• Control over sensor emissivity, gain and spotmeter location.
• Display images or streams with multiple palettes.
• Save and load images or streams in files preserving the radiometric data for use later or by other applications. Two file formats: image and video (described in the github repository).
• Export images as jpg, png or tiff files.
• Copy current image to computer's clipboard.
• Histogram display and analysis of pixel populations.
• Spotmeter and up to four additional markers showing temperature at various points in an image.
• Graphing function to plot spotmeter and marker data over time.
• Graph baseline mode to allow comparing temperatures to a reference point in the scene (for example to compare a temperature to a blackbody constant).
• Export graph data in a text file for analysis by other programs.
• Print graph (or create a PDF on computers that can print to PDF).

tCam Hardware Overview

• Espressif ESP32-WROVER-E Module (ESP32-D0WD0V3, 8 MB PSRAM, 8 MB Flash) with built-in antenna
• CP2102N-A02 USB to UART bridge with ESP32 boot loader control
• Multi-voltage power supply (3.3V, 3.0V, 2.8V, 1.2V)
• Dual color (Red/Green) status LED
• Factory Wifi Reset button

tCam is Open Source

The hardware and firmware design files are available in Dan's Github repository.  The firmware is designed to be compiled using Espressif IDF tools and new code can be loaded via the built-in USB Serial port. The desktop application and precompiled binary files are also available for quick download at Dan’s website.

Lepton FS Specifications and Information 

Overview

• Sensor technology
  • Uncooled VOx microbolometer
• Spectral range
  • Longwave infrared, 8 μm to 14 μm
• Array format
  • 160 x 120, progressive scan
• Pixel size
  • 12 μm
• Effective frame rate 8.7 Hz (commercial application exportable)
• Thermal sensitivity
  • <75mK NEdt
• Operability
  • Number of non-defective pixels shall be >97% Adjacent clusters, rows, columns may contain defective pixels that are not factory corrected and unable to be corrected. 3% of operability failures allowed. Temperature compensation Automatic. Output image independent of camera temperature.
• Non-Radiometric Performance
  • While some of the Lepton FS units may output radiometric values per pixel, the Lepton FS units are not guaranteed against any radiometric accuracy and users whom wish to use Lepton FS products for radiometric applications do so at their own risk. Teledyne FLIR and GroupGets will not support questions pertaining to calibrating Lepton FS units.
• Non-uniformity corrections
  • Integral Shutter
• Scene dynamic range
  • High Gain Mode: -10 to 140 degrees C typical
  • Low Gain Mode: -10 to 350 degrees C typical
• Image optimization
  • Factory configured and fully automated
• FOV - horizontal
  • 57°
• FOV - diagonal
  • 71°
• Lens Type
  • f/1.1
• Output format
  • User-selectable 14-bit, 8-bit (AGC applied), or 24-bit RGB (AGC and colorization applied)
• Solar protection
  • Integral

Electrical

• Input clock
  • 25-MHz nominal, CMOS IO Voltage Levels
• Video data interface
  • Video over SPI
• Control port
  • CCI (I2C-like), CMOS IO Voltage Levels
• Input supply voltage
  • (nominal) 2.8 V, 1.2 V, 2.5 V to 3.1 V IO Power dissipation (Typical, room temp) Nominally 150 mW (operating), 650 mW (during shutter event), 5 mW (standby)

Mechanical

• Package dimensions without socket (w x l x h)
  • 11.50 x 12.70 x 6.835 mm
• Weight
  • 0.91 grams

Environmental

• Optimum operating temperature range
  • -10C to +65C
• Non-operating temperature range
  • -40 C to +80 C
• Shock
  • 1500 G @ 0.4 ms

Resources

• Lepton FS Datasheet
• Lepton Google Group

Important Information

• All international customers that are ordering any Thermal Imaging Camera will be required to fill out an End Use Statement document before shipment. Once you place your order we will email you with the document within one business day.
• We can only ship this product to North America, Australia, and the European Union Countries. Any orders placed in a country other than those will be canceled. We are sorry for the inconvenience. 

Unit Deliverable

One tCam Mini with Lepton FS and USB-A to Micro-USB cable

Unit Price

$129.00

Availability

Campaign Funded, ends when minimum unit count reached

Lead Time

5 Days after campaign end date