Night Vision (IR) cameras

e_fractal · 09-24-2003, 01:34 PM

Has anyone looked into IR cameras for a car PC? Im not sure how usefull it would be. But has a definate cool factor.

I thought of this last night while my friends were street racing (on a safe road, not in the city). If cops came, I could have drove with my lights off on dirt roads and hit the highway a mile away

Spectator tickets are $400 .

But I'm not planning to drive around with my lights off at night or anything. If I did use it in the previous situation I would be cruising at 5-10mph, but that was just more of a weird fantasy than anything.

gork · 09-24-2003, 01:53 PM

Old QuickCam's (and probably a lot of other CCD based cameras) have an infrared filter in front or behind the lens. If you remove this filter, you can make an infrared sensitive webcam.

The thing about IR cameras is that you'll actually need something that's reflecting IR to look at. This is not so much a problem outdoors in the daytie, but at night, you'd have to mount some IR "headlights" on your car to have something to see!

Also, if there is any visible light and you have the IR filter removed, the AGC in the camera will overload and the picture will white-out. The ideal thing to do is to replace the IR filter with a visible light filter (that passes IR) -- you can probably rob one of these from a broken remote control, and you are done!

What's cooler than IR though are combined IR+Thermal imaging sensors.. But those are hella expensive devices!

Seraph · 09-24-2003, 01:58 PM

I have been looking at different suppliers for FLIR (Forward looking IR with thermal imaging) the same ones that Police Agencies use. They run about 1500 just for the camera. However, I recall Caddies that came with IR HUD. How about ripping a IR module out of that and putting the image on the LCDs we already have? I assume there should be one of two of those caddies in junkyards.

L

EDIT: Currently my 3Com HomeConnect Pro webcam can take images in absolute darkness. Don't ask me how it is done but it's truely amazing. It's discontinued though. The only trouble I have is that when it is hooked up as a cam, your fps drops down if I have to do 800x600 image since it's USB. If it was firewire, it would be amazing.

fluffy2097 · 09-24-2003, 02:01 PM

What about using the old sony handi cams that have night shot? If I remember correctly those did the job quite well. They also had the interesting quirk of being able to see though some peoples clothing in the daytime.

Seraph · 09-24-2003, 02:04 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by fluffy2097

What about using the old sony handi cams that have night shot? If I remember correctly those did the job quite well. They also had the interesting quirk of being able to see though some peoples clothing in the daytime.

Those things are fun. Not great but fun. They are also no longer made.

L

jasonsp6 · 09-24-2003, 02:09 PM

Not that I aprove of this stuff... but if you install IR "Headlights" or illumination on your vehical to drive at night... Most police cars in NY are setup with video cameras and recorders which will detect "see" the IR light source. Just try pointing a remote control at a most CCD video cameras and see what happens. You'll see a white spot on the image.

Just trying to throw out thoughts...

Good luck with it!

Seraph · 09-24-2003, 02:13 PM

I do not approve of street racing either but FLIR is nice if you are driving in the middle of nowhere and a bambi decides to cross the road in complete darkness since you can see bambi on your screen.

gork · 09-24-2003, 02:15 PM

Not to mention you'd have to drive without pushing your brakes either. And, police also have ears and spotlights.. pretty dumb move to try to run from the police like that, but whatever.. I think it'd be neat to have a system similar to the cadillac's HUD, but really without a HUD it's pretty worthless..

I wish there was more room behind my instrument cluster.. It'd be fairly straightforward to build an overhead-projector LCD panel into a HUD!

krystar · 09-24-2003, 02:56 PM

many of the CMOS B&W cameras are near-IR sensitive, but this means you need an IR illuminator (basically IR flashlight). the other side of the IR technology is the IR band camera. Alot of those need active cooling to make the thing work. Yea I'd try to see if there's a wrecked caddy and steal that

e_fractal · 09-24-2003, 04:58 PM

Like I said, escaping the police was just kind of a fantasy.. day dream. I dont watch them often and I only race at the track once a month.

Those nightshots cameras were fun

Maybe using a couple clusters of IR leds hidden behind the grill. Probably wouldnt put out much light though, and leds tend to put out lights in beams so the image would be spotty. But led's are cheap.

Of course I would never use it in town. Unless I get built a circuit timed like a police/ambulance light .. then I would never have to wait at stoplights

"cadillac night vision" in google images came up with some interesting pictures. I would have to see one of these in person. Looks cool.

It uses a camera in the center of the grill and projector in the dash which projects a small image on the windshield.
I wonder how much a wrecking yard would charge if I did happen to find one..

Spaghetti · 09-26-2003, 05:20 AM

Better to strap one of these to your head!!

Mxyzpltk · 09-28-2003, 12:43 AM

> The ideal thing to do is to replace the IR filter with a visible light filter (that passes IR) -- you can probably rob one of these from a broken remote control, and you are done!

A common hack in the hobby robotics community is to use regular 35mm film - having been fully exposed to light and processed - as a visible light filter. Cheap, simple, and reportedly effective.

> I recall Caddies that came with IR HUD. How about ripping a IR module out of that and putting the image on the LCDs we already have?

I've been looking for one of those Raytheon FLIR units for a couple of years now. To my annoyance, I've still never seen a single one for sale. I almost wonder if they recover them from wrecked Cadilacs to prevent their becoming available used. I did read on Raytheon's website a few months ago that they were developing an aftermarket FLIR unit for future sale, but they had no information available as to when it would be for sale or at what price.

> It'd be fairly straightforward to build an overhead-projector LCD panel into a HUD!

One of the challenges with this idea (which I've been nurturing for some time now) is the medium upon which you project the image. Cars with OEM HUD displays have special windshields designed for this purpose. Simply projecting onto regular auto glass doesn't work very well.

However, I found these (http://sales.goldmine-elec.com/prodinfo.asp?prodid=8779) just the other day... surplus HUD glass for $2 while supplies last. I ordered a few to experiment with.

gork · 09-28-2003, 11:17 AM

Mxyzpltk:

Thanks for the heads up on the HUD glass (in retrospect that is a pretty bad joke by me, but I'm going to leave it in anyway).. Stuff looks pretty cool, but I'd be wary to use it in the car due to the problem of it flying out and killing me if I got in a wreck..

I was thinking more along the lines of using a semireflective film that you could stick onto the inside of the window glass. There was a product (no longer manufactured) that used a film like this for a HUD. See http://www.machv.com/headupdisboo.html for some more info and photos.. I wish I could find the film.

Mxyzpltk · 09-28-2003, 01:35 PM

That film stuff is pretty interesting. It seems likely that it would be available somewhere. I'll have to do some web searching... if I find anything, I'll post it here.

krystar · 09-29-2003, 10:54 AM

I think I read somewhere that 3M makes an adhesive film that's reflective to these LCD displays that aftermarket HUD units. Havent' found what film it is though.