Commercially-manufactured thermal cameras are not cheap, so any example of making one's own is bound to be an interested project. Such as the following version by Terence Musho. He has used an infra-red and ultrasonic distance sensor mounted on a pan/tilt servo device to measure the temperature (and distance) of areas within a zone. The data is then sent to a PC via the serial monitor. This can then be graphed to create the thermal or distance image graph, for example:
Considering the device can be made for under $100 (apart from the PC) this is a fine effort. For more information click here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
If you're looking to make your own version, we now have the Freetronics IRTEMP: module:
It's perfect for contactless temperature measurement. This is our special version of the industrial infrared remote thermometer units with an onboard power supply, communication support and a software library and examples supplied. Very simple to use with an Arduino as we have provided a Getting Started guide and Arduino library. For more information and to order, click here.