A plug-and-play Hyperspectral Imaging Sensor using low-cost equipment

Hyperspectral Imaging Sensors (HSI) obtain spectral information from an object, and they are used to solve problems in Remote Sensing, Food Analysis, Precision Agriculture, and others. This paper took advantage of modern high-resolution cameras, electronics, and optics to develop a robust, low-cost, and easy to assemble HSI device. This device could be used to evaluate new algorithms for hyperspectral image analysis and explore its feasibility to develop new applications on a low-budget. It weighs up to 300 g, detects wavelengths from 400 nm–1052 nm, and generates up to 315 different wavebands with a spectral resolution up to 2.0698 nm. Its spatial resolution of 116 × 110 pixels works for many applications. Furthermore, with only 2% of the cost of commercial HSI devices with similar characteristics, it has shown high spectral accuracy in controlled light conditions as well as ambient light conditions. Unlike related works, the proposed HSI system includes a framework to build the proposed HSI from scratch. This framework decreases the complexity of building an HSI device as well as the processing time. It contains every needed 3D model, a calibration method, the image acquisition software, and the methodology to build and calibrate the proposed HSI device. Therefore, the proposed HSI system is portable, reusable, and lightweight.