Bayer arrays or Bayer filters are what allows digital cameras to take color photos. It is a series of tiny color filters located on top of the camera’s CCD. The filter allows each sub-pixel in the image sensor to see only red, green or blue light. The Bayer filter is an elegant tool that can provide us with color digital photos, but if you want to delete a photo, what would you do?
[Les Wright] A method has been devised to remove the Bayer filter from the Raspberry Pi cameraIn addition to filtering red, green and blue light for their respective sensors, Bayer filters also greatly reduce the amount of ultraviolet and infrared rays entering the CCD sensor. [Les] Using a Raspberry Pi camera in his Pi-based spectrometer, he wanted to remove the Bayer filter to increase and expand its sensitivity.
certainly, [Les] Not the first to want to do this. Some people have successfully scraped the filter from the CCD, but since the Pi camera has an important circuit outside the sensor, scraping the filter may damage the circuit.Others peeled it off chemically, so [Les] He tried to use solvents such as DMSO, brake fluid and industrial paint remover to remove filters and destroyed many cameras.
Inspired by industrial technology, [Les] Finally tried to use a few kilowatts of nitrogen laser to burn out the filter (considering his experience with lasers, this seemed appropriate). He built a device that uses a stepper motor to drive the base of the micrometer to raster scan the laser on the sensor. A USB microscope is included to monitor the progress, and you can see the changes in the sensor’s appearance after removing the filter.
After blowing off the Bayer filter, [Les] Insert the improved camera into his self-made spectrometer and point it outside.The new camera provides a more uniform sensitivity for the spectrometer and allows [Les] Learn more about infrared and ultraviolet bands. The spectrometer can even detect the Fraunhofer line-the subtle tilt in the solar spectrum caused by the absorption of atmospheric molecules.
This is incredible for DIY setups and instruments, we can’t wait to see [Les] The next step is to improve his measurement. If your spectral analysis requires more quality than vision, check out this self-made mass spectrometer. Household spectrometers are not only used to check the spectrum-they can also be used to determine the ripeness of fruits!