Turn Your Old Smartphone Into a Nocturne Vision Camera and Security Camera

You probably have that old smartphone tucked away in the back of a drawer and didn't even know you could turn it into a night vision camera or better yet: a night vision security camera that you can access anywhere in the world with internet.

Basically what we are going to do is remove the infrared light filter from the camera lens for the camera to receive the infrared rays from the LEDs and so it is possible to see in complete darkness without the help of visible light.

OBS: I put some notes on the photos so if you open them and hover the cursor over the photos you will see them

Let's see the supplies:

• An old smartphone

-[The camera must have fixed focus (if the main camera has focus, you can use the front camera as I did) and it also has to have mobile data or wifi to serve as a security camera]

• Infrared LEDs ( more informations below)
• A shoes box [optional] ( to hide the phone and the IR ligth to make the security camera)
• Some simple tools to open the phone
• A sharp blade

The first thing you need to decide is what kind of LEDs you are going to use:

• Or use LEDs for TV commands, air conditioning, etc.
• Or use an infrared led flashlight.

In my case I will use an IR flashlight because I already have one but you can use several LEDs on. To light a room you need between 10-20 LEDs depending on the size.

Another option is to buy a 1w infrared led chip which is the same as 10 normal leds.

If you connect them in parallel you can solder the positive and negative to the battery connectors with a switch.

As I have a flashlight I don't need to worry about it.

If it's the first time you open a cell phone I would recommend you open the lens of a webcam because it's a similar process and if you mess something up you don't lose a smartphone.

Now you have to open the cell phone carefully and preferably use a screwdriver to open smartphones because otherwise you can damage the screw and then it is difficult to reassemble.

Don't lose any screws, because then we'll have to reassemble everything again.

If you are using a modern cell phone it is much more difficult to open it, you need a specialist.

When you open it, you have to remove the chip from the camera, in my case I will use the front camera. They are usually a flat cable and to remove it from the connector, care must be taken not to tear it.

This is the most important and risky process because we have to remove the infrared light filter from the camera for the sensor to receive the light from our LEDs.

First we have to go with a sharp blade around the thread of the lens for the glue to come out and we can unscrew the lens, See photos 2 and 3 to understand what I'm saying.

Now, with tweezers or similar object, we will unscrew the lens, being careful not to scratch it.

When the lens be removed you can see on the other side of the lens a reddish glass, this is the filter we have to remove.

With a sharp blade again we are going to remove it from the side, this is a very delicate process. In the photos you can see better what I am explaining.

When screwing the lens, make the same number of turns as before ,the two sides of the glue that was cut have to be touching to be exactly as before otherwise the image will be blurred.

Now when remounting everything again, leave everything as it was, otherwise the cell phone may not work well.

Now you can have fun with your night vision camera, the weirdest thing is you can't see anything in real life, but on your cell phone screen you see everything

The cell phone camera I was using was of poor quality but if you use a cell phone with a good camera you will get much better results than mine.

For you to see the difference between infrared light and white light, I took a photo with the infrared flashlight and another with a normal flashlight, which are photos 2 and 3 and the difference is quite big, in addition to the fact that everything in the infrared is in black and white right colors also change, for example the guitar cover in infrared is "white" and in normal light it is black.

Now if you want to turn your smartphone into a security camera see the bonus below

-Step 1 First you need to install an ip camera app, in my case i'll use the alfred app because it's suitable to use as a security camera and besides it's free

-Step 2 Now you have to put everything in the shoebox leaving an opening for the camera, LEDs and an entry for a usb cable to keep the cell phone always charged

-Step 3 Finally, find a good place to leave the box. It must be a hidden space and I have a clear visibility of the entire space.

Now you have a security camera with night vision !!

Although I used a smartphone to do this modification, you can use almost any type of camera such as an action cam (pics above) or a webcam and even a digital camera.

And it can also have many uses, such as monitoring animals with nocturnal habits, your home or a sleeping baby.

And with vr glasses you can see in complete darkness that is, it has infinite applications.