Waveshare Launches a Pair of Smart Espressif ESP32-S3 Thermal Camera Modules for Under $100 Each
Featuring Meridian Innovation thermal imaging sensors in 45° or 90° horizontal field of view variants, these compact modules are hot stuff.
Embedded and hobbyist electronics specialist Waveshare has launched a sub-$100 thermal imaging camera module, featuring an integrated Espressif ESP32-S3 microcontroller and USB Type-C connectivity — and it's available in standard and wide-angle variants.
"This product is a wireless IR [Infrared] thermal imaging camera based on the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 chip," Waveshare explains of the device, "[which] adopts the hybrid technology of microbolometer and thermopile [sensing and] features 80×62 array pixels. It will detect the IR distribution of objects in the field of view, turn the data into the surface temperature of the objects by calculation, and then generate thermal images."
The heart of the sensor, brought to our attention by CNX Software, is a Meridian Innovation MI0802 "Cougar" thermal imaging sensor with an 80×62 resolution — delivering 4,960 non-contact temperature measurement points across its field of view at up to 29.3 frames per second at a claimed ±1°C accuracy.
The sensor is connected to an Espressif ESP32-S3 microcontroller featuring a dual-core Tensilica Xtensa LX7 processor running at up to 240MHz, 512kB of static RAM (SRAM), and 384kB of flash storage on-chip plus an additional 8MB pseudo-static RAM (PSRAM) and 16MB of flash off-chip. The microcontroller's USB Type-C connector is used for both data and power — and there's a header for a header for an optional 3.7V battery for used on-the-go.
While Meridian Innovation offers three variants of its "Cougar" sensor modules, Waveshare has opted to offer only two of these: one with a standard 45° horizontal field of view, and one with a wider 90° field of view; the missing module is the company's ultra-wide variant, the MI0802M7G, which offers a 105° field of view.
Both models include Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5 Low Energy (BLE) wireless connectivity and a 2×10 surface-mount general-purpose input/output (GPIO) provision with 14 user-accessible GPIO pins, one I2C bus, and one UART bus. There's also an on-board RGB LED for status monitoring and physical reset and boot buttons.
Both the 45° and 90° thermal sensor modules are now available on the Waveshare store at $86.99 before volume discounts.