Hi! I am doing research for starting up my thesis and am trying to figure out the best equipment to do it.
My idea is to get night time data of seals hauling out (laying on land) on two different types of terrain, a very remote marshy bank that is only accessible by boat, and a rocky jetty over a tunnel.
At both the areas, we currently have day-time camera traps set up on posts, I am just looking to expand this study to night activity, preferably with thermal capabilities. Ideally I would like to constantly get data, so equipment that does not require a handler at all times.
Does anyone have suggestions on equipment to use, specifics would be great also. Thanks!!
2 September 2023 7:56pm
What resolution do you need ? Thermal cameras can be hellishly expensive and a lot of them are not intended for trap usage.
The cacophony project in New Zealand use a low cost thermal camera in their systems. The flir leptons.
There are a variety of resolutions for leptons and also a variety of interfaces. There was once a USB version available with a group buy, that would be my choice because of the simplicity on interfacing, I don’t think that’s the one the cacophony project are using, but I haven’t looked in a while.
What’s the budget ? You can get some great ones for several thousand euros :-)
I actually have a number of thermal cameras over the years but none that are really suited for camera traps. Pretty sure that the lepton module is likely to be your closest match.
14 September 2023 8:52am
Actually with spi and i2c I meant they “can” be hooked up to the raspberry pi but usb would still be easier.
22 September 2023 11:13am
I'm jupping into the discussion, with a similar objective. I'm looking for a thermal camera trap, (I know cacophony). it would be use to improve invasive speices monitoring especially for rats and feral cats.
Any idea?
Thanks
22 September 2023 12:56pm
Hi @mguins , as @kimhendrikse mentioned resolution (and also brand) for thermal cameras can dictate a big jump in price. GroupGets has a budget Lepton (FS - short for 'factory second' I think) if you wanted to check one out:

Teledyne FLIR LEPTON® FS
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. Just as we were the first place to get FLIR Lepton seven years ago, we are bringing this new Lepton to you first at a highly compelling price to make your thermal imaging application more economically viable. To celebrate, all accessory boards below are 10% off excluding the new tCam-mini Wi-Fi board. 160 x 120 RESOLUTION NON-RADIOMETRIC MICRO THERMAL CAMERA COMMON INTERFACES AND FACTORY SUPPORT TO SHORTEN TIME TO MARKET Standard Lepton mechanical interface, electrical interface, and US-based Technical Services team. 160 x 120 thermal pixel resolution Low operating power – 140 mW typical and 650 mW during shutter event Small 11.8 x 12.7 x 7.2 mm package ACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE AT DISCOUNTED PRICE Affordable, non-radiometric thermal imagery and data. -10 °C to 350 °C scene dynamic range Thermal sensitivity <75 mK ≤3% inoperable pixels BUILD INNOVATIVE THERMAL MONITORING SOLUTIONS Build innovative thermal monitoring solutions appropriate for heat, security, and comfort monitoring applications. Home and building automation Heat and occupancy sensing Security and location monitoring Specifications 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 Part Numbers 500-0771-FS1 Documentation Lepton Google Group Lepton FS Datasheet Lepton Engineering Data Sheet rev 204 Lepton Software Interface Description Document (IDD) rev 303 Advanced Lepton Usage on Windows Getting Started with Lepton on Windows and PureThermal Basic Features Getting Started with the BeagleBone and Breakout Board V2.0 Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi and Breakout Board V2.0 Lepton with Radiometry Quick Start Guide Lepton vs Lepton 3-App Note Mechanical FLIR Lepton 2.5 and 3.5 3D Model (step) IDD CAD data LEPTON 2.5, 80x60 IDD CAD data LEPTON 3.5, 160x120 IDD CAD data LEPTON 3.1R, 160x120 Software GroupGets GetThermal Viewer (Linux and macOS) FLIR Lepton User App for Windows v1.3.2 PureThermal Firmware FLIR Lepton SDK Development Hardware GroupGets - PureThermal Mini Pro JST-SR GroupGets - PureThermal 3 GroupGets - PureThermal Breakout Board GroupGets - PureThermal Micro Breakout Board GroupGets - PureThermal OpenMV FlyTron - DroneThermal v4 Teledyne FLIR - FLIR Lepton Breakout Board v2.0 danjuliodesigns LLC - tCam Mini v4 danjuliodesigns LLC - gCore OpenMV - FLIR Lepton Adapter Module for OpenMV Cam H7 Tips for integrating Lepton into a Housing Recommended Material PORON® Socket Stack Socket > Lepton > Foam > Window > Enclosure Maximum Force < 1Kg (more force will damage the shutter) The foam must be cut out so that it does not interfere with the mechanical shutter pins. Thickness Depends on the enclosure and spacing, do not exceed 1Kg of force. In the News CNX Software - $99 Lepton FS module cuts the cost of FLIR thermal cameras by half This Model: Lepton FS, 160×120 pixels, 57° with shutter - NOT Radiometric Important Information PureThermal 1/2/3/Mini/Pro with Radiometric FLIR Lepton 2.5, 3.5, 3.1R requires specialized software to show radiometry such as GetThermal. 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 a few business days. We can only ship FLIR Lepton to North America, Australia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the European Union Countries. Any orders with a FLIR Lepton with a delivery address other than those will be canceled and refunded. We are sorry for the inconvenience. 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. 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. RoHS Certificate of Compliance European Directive No 2015/863 Declaration of Compliance REACH Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 California Proposition 65 Declaration ECCN: CAM 6A993A HTSUS: 9027.50.4020 Country of Origin: USA Part Number: 500-0771-FS1

They also have a bunch of other Flir products and boards for interfacing with Leptons etc., so worth a browse of the shop. It could also be worth taking a look at Seek modules, some of which @Alasdair has experience with : (e.g.

They also have modules you can connect to a mobile phone:

@TopBloke I'd be very keen to see your Lepton camera trap too!
Cheers,
Rob
Kim Hendrikse