Thermal imaging drones are no longer limited to military or industrial use. A YouTuber named Hoarder Sam demonstrates how a thermal drone can be built at a relatively low cost, opening the door for hobbyists, students, and innovators to explore heat-based vision technology. The project highlights how modern sensors and compact electronics are making advanced imaging tools more accessible than ever.
Unlike normal cameras found in phones or drones, which capture visible light, thermal cameras work in a completely different way. A standard camera depends on sunlight or artificial light to form an image, which is why its performance drops sharply at night. Thermal cameras, on the other hand, detect heat emitted by objects. Every living being and warm object gives off infrared radiation, and the thermal sensor converts this heat into a visible image. Because of this, thermal cameras work even in complete darkness.
In this project, he integrated the 256 pixels ,4mm thermal camera to the FPV drone to test the drone. As you see, the drone integrated with the thermal camera also has the hd camera and normal camera to test the flying functionalities and its efficiency. In the video, which is recorded at night, the camera captures the thermal data of the people, cars, etc..accurately, and it is sharp compare to a normal camera. Even though it is not as efficient as higher cost thermal cameras, it is good to integrate and learn new things at a low cost.
