# Building a DIY handheld thermal camera for work and play

DevFeed: [Building a DIY handheld thermal camera for work and play](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/building-a-diy-handheld-thermal-camera-for-work-and-play-13651.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://blog.arduino.cc/2026/09/03/building-a-diy-thermal-camera-for-work-and-play/>)

Author: Arduino Team

Published: 2026-09-03T18:19:43Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Arduino Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/arduino-blog.md>)

Topics: [Arduino](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/arduino.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data.md>), [Image](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/image.md>), [3D](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/3d.md>), [User interface design](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ui-design.md>)

Tags: [3d-printed](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/3d-printed.md>), [arduino](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/arduino.md>), [dfrobot](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/dfrobot.md>), [display](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/display.md>), [diy](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/diy.md>), [diy-thermal-camera](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/diy-thermal-camera.md>), [i2c](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/i2c.md>), [range](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/range.md>), [thermal-camera](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/thermal-camera.md>), [thermal-imaging](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/thermal-imaging.md>), [touchscreen](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/touchscreen.md>), [uno-r4](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/uno-r4.md>)

## AI overview

This article describes a DIY handheld thermal camera built with an Arduino UNO R4 Minima, a Seeed Studio MLX90640 thermal imaging sensor, and a DFRobot touchscreen. The board reads the sensor's 32x24 infrared data over I2C, processes it into an image, and displays it through a user interface in a 3D-printed enclosure.

## Source excerpt

Thermal cameras are really cool, because they give you the ability to clearly see something we humans usually can't: temperature. It is interesting to look at the world through that lens. Thermal cameras are also very useful when working with anything that involves heat, such as for spotting a leak in an HVAC system or [...] The post Building a DIY handheld thermal camera for work and play appeared first on Arduino Blog.