AU2020100878A4 - A non-contact type thermal imaging system - Google Patents
A non-contact type thermal imaging system Download PDFInfo
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- AU2020100878A4 AU2020100878A4 AU2020100878A AU2020100878A AU2020100878A4 AU 2020100878 A4 AU2020100878 A4 AU 2020100878A4 AU 2020100878 A AU2020100878 A AU 2020100878A AU 2020100878 A AU2020100878 A AU 2020100878A AU 2020100878 A4 AU2020100878 A4 AU 2020100878A4
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Abstract
A NON-CONTACT TYPE THERMAL IMAGING SYSTEM
The present invention discloses a non-contact type thermal imaging system (100)
comprising a micro-controller (102), an array of infrared sensors (104), and a
5 display (106) connected to and in data communication with the micro-controller
(102), and a user input interface (108), wherein the micro-controller (102)
comprises aprocessor (102a), a flash memory (102b), and a random-access memory
(102c) cooperating with the processor (102a), wherein the array of infrared sensors
(104) detect infrared radiations emitted from a source of infrared radiations and
10 convert them into one or more electrical signals, wherein the micro-controller (102)
configured to receive the one or more electrical signals, convert them into data
values, the data values being received and stored in the memory (102c); and convert
the data to a format displayable in form of a coloured thermal image on the display
(106), wherein the colours in the coloured image correspond to a specific
15 temperature value.
1/2
100
104 196
102
112 110
108
FIG.lIA
Description
1/2
100
104 196 102 112 110
108
FIG.lIA
The present invention relates to the field of temperature detection and in particular
to a non-contact type thermal imaging system.
Thermal imaging has become essential in a wide variety of applications including
medical, policing, and military to mention a few. Thermal imaging is generally
employed to record temperatures of different regions of a scene.
In general, thermal imaging systems work on the principle that at different
temperature radiations originating from a body/object that exhibits a specific
characteristic. Knowing this characteristic of the radiation coming from the
body/object, the temperature can be determined.
In certain situations, non-contact temperature measurement of the object/body is of
significance. In some specific studies and/or applications, it is desired to
measure/determine minute variations in temperature of different regions of the
body/object.
More specifically, when the body/object is small, measurement of the body/object
temperature by conventional contact temperature measurement system may prove
useless as the body/object temperature may change upon contacting the body/object
with the conventional contact temperature measurement system. In such cases, non
contact or remote temperature measurement or non-contact thermal imaging is of
importance as the non-contact temperature measurement systems do not come in
I physical contact with the body/object and hence the above-mentioned drawback of
"changing" the body/object temperature is circumvented.
Further, there may be instances wherein the body/object, which is being brought in
contact with the conventional contact temperature measurement system, for the
conventional system to be in thermal equilibrium with the body/object may take a
finite time period, which again would disturb the body/object's original
temperature, which is not desired.
The inventors of the present invention have found that the existing non-contact
thermal imaging/measurement systems are exorbitantly expensive. One reason for
the high cost may be due to use of large high-tech sensor arrays.
However, it is to be noted that a large array of sensors or thermal detectors may not
be required in all applications. For example, in smaller applications and in research
and development, there is need of small, handy, easy to operate and economic
thermal imaging systems.
Accordingly, there is felt a need for overcoming one or more drawbacks associated
with the conventional contact and non-contact type thermal imaging systems.
Some of the objects of the presently disclosed invention, of which at the minimum
one object is fulfilled by at least one embodiment disclosed herein are as follows:
An object of the present invention is to provide an alternative, which overcomes at
least one drawback encountered in the existing prior art;
Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact type thermal
imaging system;
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact type thermal
imaging system that is capable of acquiring thermal data of a scene without any
physical contact;
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact type thermal
imaging system that is capable of converting thermal data into images;
Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact type thermal
imaging system that is capable of applying colour palette and showing the image;
and
Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact type thermal
imaging system that is economical, simple, and easy to build, install, and operate.
Other objects and benefits of the present invention will be more apparent from the
following description which is not intended to bind the scope of the present
invention.
The present invention provides a thermal imaging system which is of non-contact
type.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention a non-contact type
thermal imaging system is disclosed, wherein the system includes a micro
controller, an array of infrared sensors connected to and in data communication
with the micro-controller, a display connected to and in data communication with
the micro-controller, and a user input interface to facilitate a user to input data.
In accordance with one embodiment the micro-controller includes a processor, a
flash memory cooperating with the processor, the flash memory configured to store
one or more executables, tables and reference data if any relating to temperatures,
colour palette for conversion of data received from array of sensors into one or more
colour images, and a random-access memory cooperating with the processor.
The array of infrared sensors is configured to detect infrared radiations emitted from
a source of infrared radiations and convert them into one or more electrical signals,
and the micro-controller is configured to receive the one or more electrical signals,
convert them into data values, the data values being received and stored in the
memory, and convert the data to a format displayable in form of a coloured thermal
image on the display, wherein the colours in the coloured image correspond to a
specific temperature value.
The non-contact type thermal imaging system of the present invention is useful for
smaller applications such as in research and development, is capable of converting
thermal data into images, is capable of applying colour palette and showing the
image, economical, simple, and is easy to build, install and operate.
The present invention will now be described with the help of the accompanying
drawing, in which
FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of a non-contact type thermal imaging system
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. lB illustrates a block diagram of a micro-controller employed in the non
contact type thermal imaging system of FIG. lA in accordance with an embodiment
of the present invention.
The following is the list of numerals and their meaning as used in the present
specification.
100 - Non-contact type thermal imaging system
102 - Micro-controller
102a - Processor
102b - Flash memory
102c - Random access memory
104 - Infrared sensor array
106 - Display
108 - User input interface or button
110 - Additional memory (micro SD card)
112 - Serial port
All the terms and expressions, which may be technical, scientific or otherwise, as
used in the present invention have the same meaning as understood by a person
having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs, unless and
otherwise explicitly specified.
In the present specification, and the claims, the articles "a", "an", and "the" include
plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
The term "comprising" as used in the present specification and the claims will be
understood to mean that the list following is non-exhaustive and may or may not
include any other extra suitable features or elements or steps or constituents as
applicable.
Further, the terms "about" or "approximately" used in combination with ranges
relating to sizes of parts, or any other physical properties or characteristics, are
meant to include small variations that may occur in the upper and/or lower limits of
the ranges of the sizes.
The inventors of the present invention hereby provide a non-contact thermal
imaging system that overcomes one or more drawbacks associated with the
conventional contact and non-contact type thermal imaging systems.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a non-contact thermal imaging
system that has several advantages over the existing conventional contact and non
contact type thermal imaging systems. One advantage of the presently disclose non contact thermal imaging system is that it is economic, and at the same time easy to handle and operate.
The present invention is now described with reference to the accompanying figures,
wherein FIG. lA illustrates a block diagram of a non-contact type thermal imaging
system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. lB
illustrates a block diagram of a micro-controller employed in the non-contact type
thermal imaging system of FIG. IA in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention.
Referring to FIG. lA, wherein FIG.LA illustrates a block diagram of a non-contact
type thermal imaging system (100) in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention. The non-contact type thermal imaging system (100) comprises a
micro-controller (102). The micro-controller (102) includes a processor (102a), a
flash memory (102b) and a random-access memory (102c). The system (100)
further includes an array of infrared sensors (104) connected to and in data
communication with the micro-controller (102), a display (106) connected to and
in data communication with the micro-controller (102), and a user input interface
(108) to facilitate a user to input data.
In accordance with the present invention the flash memory (102b) cooperates with
the processor (102a). The flash memory (102b) is configured to store one or more
executables, tables and reference data if any relating to temperatures, colour palette
for conversion of data received from array of sensors into one or more colour images. In accordance with the present invention the random-access memory (102c) cooperates with the processor (102a).
In accordance with the present invention the array of infrared sensors (104) detect
infrared radiations emitted from a source of infrared radiations and convert them
into one or more electrical signals, and the micro-controller (102) configured to
receive the one or more electrical signals, convert them into data values, the data
values being received and stored in the memory (102c), and convert the data to a
format displayable in form of a coloured thermal image on the display (106),
wherein the colours in the coloured image correspond to a specific temperature
value.
In accordance with an embodiment, the system (100) further includes an additional
memory (110), which is in form of a micro SD card (110), wherein the additional
memory is configured to store the data received from the array of infrared sensors.
In accordance with an embodiment, the system (100) may further include one or
more serial ports (112).
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the array of infrared
sensors is 80 x 60 array of infrared sensors.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the micro-controller
(102) is a micro-controller development board based on 32-bit ARM Cortex
processor.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the display (106) is at
least one type of display selected from the group consisting of thin-film transistor
display, liquid crystal display, and light emitting diode display.
In one specific embodiment of the present invention, the system (100) makes use
of a general-purpose thermal sensor with image size of 80 x 60 pixels. Each pixel
of the image represents the temperature of the point corresponding to that pixel.
Further, as a large amount of data is generated, the micro-controller (102) is
powerful enough to handle the data generated and process the same efficiently. The
provision of the flash memory (102b) facilitates in handling large program
implementations. In one embodiment the micro-controller (102) includes 96 KB of
SRAM. The micro-controller (102) further includes 54 digital input/output pins (of
which 12 can be used as PWM outputs), 12 analog inputs, 4 UARTs (hardware
serial ports). These hardware serial ports are useful in interfacing of the infrared
sensor array (104), the colour graphic display (106) and the Micro SD storage card
(110) for saving the thermal images for future access and further use.
The non-contact type thermal imaging system (100) is provided with a button (108)
to click for capturing an image under the control of the firmware specifically
developed for the present system. On the pressing of this button, the CPU initiates
a click event and in response, the infrared sensor array sends one frame of data to
the CPU. This data is temporarily stored in the memory (102c) and the necessary
processing is done including the application of the colour palette specifically
designed and developed for the present application to generate a 24-bit colour image. This 24-bit colour image is displayed on the colour backlit TFT display
(106) screen and stored on a Micro SD memory card (110). The images are stored
on the Micro SD card (110) with names numbered in increasing order so that newly
stored images do not overwrite earlier images and a track can be kept of the images
acquired in different sessions.
In one specific embodiment of the present invention, thermal data from the infrared
sensor array (104) consists of an array of 80 x 60 = 4800 numbers in the range of 0
- 16383 in addition to the data header. The incoming data from the array of infrared
sensors (104) is normalized such that each pixel data is in the range of 0 - 255.
Using a colour palette suitable for the present work, this image is converted to 24
bit colour image in the "BMP" format. The advantage of using the BMP format is
that all the information is preserved in contrast to a JPEG or GIF image.
The presently disclosed invention, as described herein above, provides several
technical advances and advantages including, but not limited to, a non-contact type
thermal imaging system, wherein the system:
- is useful for smaller applications such as in research and development;
- is capable of converting thermal data into images;
- is capable of applying colour palette and showing the image;
- is economical, simple; and
- is easy to build, install and operate.
Editorial Note 2020100878 There is only three pages of the claim
Claims (5)
1. A non-contact type thermal imaging system (100), said system comprising:
a. amicro-controller(102);
b. an array of infrared sensors (104) connected to and in data
communication with said micro-controller (102);
c. a display (106) connected to and in data communication with said micro
controller (102); and
d. a user input interface (108) to facilitate a user to input data, which is in
form of a button;
wherein said micro-controller (102) comprises:
- a processor (102a);
- a flash memory (102b) cooperating with said processor (102a), said
flash memory (102b) configured to store one or more executables, tables
and reference data if any relating to temperatures, colour palette for
conversion of data received from array of sensors into one or more
colour images; and
- a random-access memory (102c) cooperating with said processor
(102a); wherein said array of infrared sensors (104) detect infrared radiations emitted from a source of infrared radiations and convert them into one or more electrical signals; and wherein said micro-controller (102) is configured to receive said one or more electrical signals, convert them into data values, said data values being received and stored in said memory
(102c); and
convert said data to a format displayable in form of a coloured
thermal image on said display (106), wherein the colours in said
coloured image correspond to a specific temperature value.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said array of infrared sensors is 80 x
60 array of infrared sensors.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said micro-controller is a micro
controller development board based on 32-bit ARM Cortex processor.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprises
- an additional memory (110), which is in form of a micro SD card (110),
wherein said additional memory is configured to store the data received
from said array of infrared sensors; and
- one or more serial ports (112).
5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display (106) is at least one type
of display selected from the group consisting of thin-film transistor display,
liquid crystal display, and light emitting diode display.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| IN202021012274 | 2020-03-21 | ||
| IN202021012274 | 2020-03-21 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| AU2020100878A4 true AU2020100878A4 (en) | 2020-07-09 |
Family
ID=71402907
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| AU2020100878A Ceased AU2020100878A4 (en) | 2020-03-21 | 2020-05-29 | A non-contact type thermal imaging system |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| AU (1) | AU2020100878A4 (en) |
-
2020
- 2020-05-29 AU AU2020100878A patent/AU2020100878A4/en not_active Ceased
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| MK22 | Patent ceased section 143a(d), or expired - non payment of renewal fee or expiry |