A Low-Cost Thermal Imaging Device for Monitoring Electronic Systems Remotely

This work aims at providing a low-cost solution to produce good quality thermal image that can be monitor remotely. The main application of such a system is to monitor electronic systems or installations as most industrial fires are caused by electronic or electrical systems. The paper presents the design and integration of the system, as well as a set of preliminary validation. The device was developed by combining and integrating a low-cost Raspberry Pi board and Pimoroni MLX90640 thermal camera with C++ and Python programming software. Multiple tests were then performed to validate the system’s accuracy. The temperature of a daily life hot object was measured in time and compared vs the thermal measurements of a commercial IR gun (Etekcity Lasergrip 1080). Tests were performed indoor and outdoor to double check the effect of the environmental noise. The overall results show an average difference of +/- 1.9 °C