Night Vision Camera/Flashlight

Ever been sitting in bed at night and needed to see but don't want to wake others up? Well I have a solution! By removing an IR filter from an old tablet you can effectively create a flashlight only you can see!

You will need:

1. An old tablet with a camera(I used a kindle fire but others should work too)

There are two options for the actual flashlight portion of this device, you can either use a TV remote or you can build a flashlight yourself. If you intend to build it yourself you will need:

1. A breadboard
2. 3.3v power supply(I used an arduino uno hooked up to a 9V battery)
3. A potentiometer(This is option and just used to adjust brightness but highly recommended)
4. A 220 ohm resistor
5. An IR led (you can order these online or I salvaged mine from an old rc car remote)

Every model will be different but you want to take something flat and sturdy and wedge it around the sides where the screen meets the housing. I wouldn't recommend doing it near any plugs or buttons if you can avoid it. Once its open find your camera and then GENTLY twist the top part of the camera off exposing the IR filter. Once its exposed VERY GENTLY!! remove it. Be very careful not to scratch or damage the lens(I was not this careful as you will later see. Once its removed screw the top back on and reassemble the tablet

Go to your camera app and test to make sure your camera still works, if you can see clearly out of it with no spots, CONGRATS! You did it. I was not this fortunate so you can see little dark spots but it will still work! Find a TV remote you know works and press buttons while it faces the camera. If you see a little blueish flash, its working!

If you plan to use a TV remote then skip this step. You'll need to assemble the circuit as shown in the photos above. make sure your LED is oriented correctly. If the legs are the same length look inside for the shorter lead. Once assembled you should be good to go!

Go to a dark room or wait for night and test your camera! The little dots in the recording are LIDAR from the phone I recorded it on. You can also play around with face id using this camera but that's a rabbit hole I'm not going into.