Infra red nightvision goggles?

[onelegout]

Hi!
I just had a crazy idea...
I picked up the latest edition of computer shopper magazine and it had an article in it about how to build an infra red webcam. Now, This got me thinking....
What if I took an old digital camera, and two maglights, replaced the maglight bulbs with IR LEDs, then replaced the anti-IR filter in the camera with an anti-visible light filter (fully exposed film negs), built a casing for it all with a maglight on each side and the camera in the middle, turning them into a pair of goggles (or a goggle....) This would theoreticly give me infra red nightvision goggles!:D Would this work?
Any other suggestions?
Peace
H

[onelegout]

Well I convinced my mum to let me destroy her OLD digital camera with a TINY screen, and it works!!!! It shows up the light from a tv remote!:D All I need now is a light source big enough to light up a dark room...
PLEASE HELP ME! I cant work out how to do this!:(
H

[legoman786]

hehehehe interesting man...

[onelegout]

Ok well I have succesfully built the camera, I put an IR LED in the flash and linked it up to 2 AA batteries and it works but it is not even nearly powerful enough! I recon Im going to have to go buy an LED torch or bikelight and use about 10 or 20 LEDS! :(

[jdbnsn]

You did all that from concept to product in 3 hrs? Impressive. I have seen similar projects on www.hackaday.com, you might find helpful info there on more powerful sources. Cool project!

[legoman786]

Wow... a bit unrelated, but still interesting. The guys at Hack a day put XP on a Mac!! I would love to see how that 1 button mouse held up.

[Rankenphile]

Try a strong heat source - a space heater or a firepace should give off enough infrared to be visible, I would think.

[Aero]

I would try searching Ebay for a lot of IR transmiting LED's.

Also try Ranken's idea. heat sources give off infrared light, but I'm not sure how much.

[OvRiDe]

I think that would be more of a thermal vision type thing rather then a night vision setup.. Here is a similar project to what you were talking about.

http://www.rpi.edu/~bradfe/NVG2.html

EDIT: Here is some stuff that could me usefull ...

http://www.mscelectronics.com/nightvision.htm

[onelegout]

Rankenphile - I tried it but with no luck! It is pretty creepy though cause I can see everything in my room due to the flourescent bulb I have but my pc screen shows completely black through the camera! :D spooky stuff!
I'm asking everyone I know to give me their old tv remotes! I recon I could get at least 20 or so then use something like a microscope lense to focus their power :D
I recon theres going to be a lot of experimenting here!
Overide - Thanks for the links! The second is no use because im in the uk but the first was fantastic! IT has given me a solution to the whole 'how to view the screen close up' problem :D
Peace
H

[onelegout]

Ok it's pic-time!
I found out that the digital cam could also be used as a webcam, so I hooked it up and after 3 hours trying to find the drivers I found them!:D
Here are some screenshots to show you what its like compared with my normal webcam!
On the left is the modified IR cam and on the right is the normal cam. The first pic is taken in low-light conditions under a normal flourescent light. I am holding up an initial test-model for the IR LEDs. It is using 2 LEDs and 2 AA batteries. in a circuit. You can see the difference between the IR cam and the normal cam very well!
http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/7932/prototype19zc.jpg

This pic is taken in EXTREMELY low light conditions. The only light in the room is coming from my monitor, which of course, the IR cam cannot pick up so the screen looks black through the cam! I am pointing the IR light at my face. I turned the brightness and contrast on my normal cam to make it the brightest I could, so that you could see that It wasnt a fake screenshot haha!
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/9100/prototype25zf.jpg
What do you think?
Peace
H

[Rankenphile]

Such a cool project.