SENSOR EXPERIMENT
IR (INFRARED) DETECTION SENSOR
I. OBJECTIVES
1. To become familiar with the structure, operation, characteristics and
applications of IR Sensor.
2. To show how IR Sensor can be used in detecting objects.
II. DISCUSSION:
Infrared technology addresses a wide variety of wireless applications.
The main areas are sensing and remote controls. In the electromagnetic
spectrum, the infrared portion is divided into three regions: near infrared
region, mid infrared region and far infrared region.
The wavelengths of these regions and their applications are shown
below.
● Near infrared region — 700 nm to 1400 nm — IR sensors,
Fiber optic
● Mid infrared region — 1400 nm to 3000 nm — Heat sensing
● Far infrared region — 3000 nm to 1 mm — Thermal imaging
Types of IR Sensors
Infrared sensors can be passive or active. Passive infrared sensors are
basically Infrared detectors. Passive infrared sensors do not use any infrared
source and detects energy emitted by obstacles in the field of view. They are
of two types: quantum and thermal. Thermal infrared sensors use infrared
energy as the source of heat and are independent of wavelength.
Thermocouples, piezoelectric detectors and bolometer are the common types
of thermal infrared detectors.
Quantum type infrared detectors over higher detection performance
and are faster than thermal type infrared detectors. The photosensitivity of
quantum type detectors is wavelength dependent. Quantum type detectors
are further classified into two types: intrinsic and extrinsic types. Intrinsic
type quantum detectors are photoconductive cells and photovoltaic cells.
Active infrared sensors consist of two elements: infrared source and
infrared detector. Infrared sources include an LED or infrared laser diode.
Infrared detectors include photodiodes or phototransistors. The energy
emitted by the infrared source is reflected by an object and falls on the
infrared detector.
IR Transmitter
Infrared Transmitter is a light emitting diode (LED) which emits
infrared radiations. Hence, they are called IR LED’s. Even though an IR
LED looks like a normal LED, the radiation emitted by it is invisible to the
human eye. The picture of a typical Infrared LED is shown below:
Principle of Working
The principle of an IR sensor working as an Object Detection Sensor
can be explained using the following figure. An IR sensor consists of an IR
LED and an IR Photodiode; together they are called as Photo – Coupler or
Opto – Coupler.
When the IR transmitter emits radiation, it reaches the object and
some of the radiation reflects back to the IR receiver. Based on the intensity
of the reception by the IR receiver, the output of the sensor is defined.
III. MATERIALS NEEDED
● 1 Vp-p dc power Source
● 1 Diode
● 1 Phototransistor
● 1 10k Potentiometer
● 1 10k Resistor
● 1 MOSFET
● 1 LED
●
IV. PROCEDURES
● IR LED emits infrared light.
● The Photodiode detects the infrared light.
● An IC Op – Amp is used as a voltage comparator.
● The potentiometer is used to calibrate the output of the sensor
according to the requirement.
● When the light emitted by the IR LED is incident on the photodiode
after hitting an object, the resistance of the photodiode falls down
from a huge value.
● One of the input of the op – amp is at threshold value set by the
potentiometer. The other input to the op-amp is from the photodiode’s
series resistor.
● When the incident radiation is more on the photodiode, the voltage
drop across the series resistor will be high. In the IC, both the
threshold voltage and the voltage across the series resistor are
compared. If the voltage across the resistor series to photodiode is
greater than that of the threshold voltage, the output of the IC Op –
Amp is high. As the output of the IC is connected to an LED, it
lightens up.
● The threshold voltage can be adjusted by adjusting the potentiometer
depending on the environmental conditions. The positioning of the IR
LED and the IR Receiver is an important factor.
● When the IR LED is held directly in front of the IR receiver, this setup
is called Direct Incidence. In this case, almost the entire radiation
from the IR LED will fall on the IR receiver.
● Hence there is a line of sight communication between the infrared
transmitter and the receiver. If an object falls in this line, it obstructs
the radiation from reaching the receiver either by reflecting the
radiation or absorbing the radiation.
V. OBSERVATION
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VI. CONCLUSION:
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VII. QUESTIONS:
1. How IR Sensor works?
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2. Name different types of IR Sensor and describe each one.
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3. Differentiate Passive and Active IR Sensor.
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