Kochi: Student develops thermal scanner with in-built cam

KOCHI: In an effort to support the fight against Covid-19 pandemic, an engineering student of a city college has come up with an automatic thermal scanning device that records the body temperature of people along with their photographs for easy handling of data by health officials.

The device ‘Auto Temp’ was developed by Divins Mathew, a last year B.Tech computer science student of Rajagiri College of Engineering and Technology Kakkanad.

‘AutoTemp’ is a box like device that could be placed at entry points. It can sense human temperature through infrared sensors. People have to just wave their hands before it and stand in front of the sensor. If the body temperature is higher than normal, which is preset, the device’s camera will take a picture of the person and it will be transferred to the connected computer server through wifi. Health workers can use this data in their mobile or in a desktop for further use.

Health workers can place this battery-operated device anywhere without engaging closely with people. The device also leaves messages like ‘see a doctor’ and ‘you are fine’ in accordance with the temperature of a person.

Mathew developed the equipment under the guidance of Sminu Isudheen, HOD, computer science.

“It uses a mechanism similar to a thermal gun with IR sensors. But manual intervention is required for using thermal guns. Our device is fully automated and it can be mounted at entry points. The LED display will give messages to people and the green light will blink if their temperature is normal. If the red light blinks, it indicates abnormal temperature. The concerned officials can access the data stored through the mobile app Auto Temp,” said Isudheen.

She added that the expense of the equipment is around Rs.4,000 and the college is in discussion with authorities for its mass production. “We are perfecting the model and calibrating the sensors with the help of a doctor at IMA. A startup has shown interest in the commercial production and discussions are on,” she said.