Design and calibration of a low-cost benchtop pushbroom hyperspectral imaging system with conveyor-based scanning

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) systems are often limited by high cost and complex hardware, restricting their accessibility for laboratory research and small-scale industrial applications. This paper presents the design, construction, calibration, and validation of a low-cost benchtop pushbroom hyperspectral imaging system incorporating a motorized conveyor for synchronized line-scan image acquisition over the 400–1000 nm spectral range. The proposed system integrates a complete calibration workflow, including wavelength calibration and conveyor synchronization, together with quantitative performance evaluation and hyperspectral cube reconstruction. Wavelength calibration was performed using thirteen band-pass filters and evaluated using linear, polynomial, and interpolation-based mapping models. Independent validation was further conducted using leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV). Experimental results show that the linear calibration model provides the most consistent overall performance, achieving a wavelength calibration RMSE of 7.76 nm with a coefficient of determination ( R ² > 0.998), while also demonstrating superior spectrum-domain accuracy compared with the polynomial model. Validation using halogen, fluorescent, and LED illumination confirmed stable and repeatable spectral measurements across the operating wavelength range. The developed system provides a reproducible and quantitatively validated framework for low-cost hyperspectral imaging by integrating synchronized acquisition, comprehensive calibration, and systematic performance evaluation within a single benchtop platform. The proposed design is suitable for laboratory research, educational applications, and rapid prototyping of hyperspectral imaging systems.