Unfortunately, not very likely at all. The IR light which normal CCD sensors can see is just below red on the human vision spectrum. It is shorter than 1 micron in wavelength. It is called near-IR because it is close to the visual spectrum. The IR light which FLIR cameras can see is in the 6 to 20 micron wavelength range. It is VERY different from near-IR (6 to 20 times lower frequency). It is naturally emitted by all objects above absolute zero, to varying degrees depending on the surface characteristics of the material. The non-contact thermometers and passive-IR motion sensors look at this longwave IR, but those sensors are, of course, not imaging sensors. On top of that, the passive-IR ones are, I think, only sensitive to changes in IR illumination. Longwave IR cameras typically use microbolometer arrays (an array of cooled temperature sensors which sense slight temperature changes from IR light hitting them) or more recently, exotic semiconductor focal plane arrays (materials like Mercury-Cadmium-Telluride (HgCdTe) or Indium-Antimonide (InSb) or for the less sensitive ones, Lead Sulfide (PbS)). This is the same technology used in military FLIR and heat-seeking weapons. Note that even "night-vision goggles" sometimes do not work work using longwave IR. Some do. Some simply intensify ambient visible light from the moon or stars or skyglow of a city. The least expensive (like the "IR night vision" mode on consumer cameras) is just a CCD without a near-IR filter along with a bunch of near-IR LEDs to create bright illumination which is not visible to the human eye. Sean On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 1:51 PM, NOPE9 wrote: > I saw this on another list > >> http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/10/16/motorcycle-night-vision/ > > How likely is is that one could duplicate this with a USB CMOS camera > and an IR filter ? > What is the state of IR illuminators ? > What iR spectrum would be the best ? > > Gus > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist