How Does An IR Sensor Work!

 Arduino UNO is a microcontroller board- it is the brain of any electronics project. IR sensor, on the other hand, is an infrared rays transmitter and receiver. In the following project, we will learn the working principle of IR sensor followed by its application as a discriminator between black and white surfaces and as an obstacle detector with Arduino UNO.

IR Sensor

FC-51 IR Sensor emits and detected infrared radiations. IR radiations are part of the electromagnetic spectrum, with wavelength higher than that of visible light, and are generally invisible to the human eye.

The IR sensor consists of:

1.      IR Emitter LED: Emits infrared light

2.      IR Receiver: A photodiode with resistance depending on the amount of IR light falling on it

3.      Distance Adjuster: Changes detection distance

4.      Vcc Pin: Provides 3–5 V input voltage

5.      Gnd Pin: Ground input

6.      Out Pin: Transmits output signal from the sensor to Arduino

7.      Obstacle LED: Turns on when light falls on IR Receiver

8.      Power LED: Turns on when the sensor is connected to a voltage source

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Working of IR Sensor:


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As per the property of light - light falling on a smooth shiny surface bounces off in a particular direction i.e. reflection - the ray send by IR Transmitter gets reflected from a surface and falls on the IR Receiver. Subsequently, the receiver's resistance drops, and a LOW/0 signal is sent by the OUT pin to the microcontroller.

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Similarly, when the light sent isn't reflected either because there is no surface ahead or the surface ahead absorbs light, the resistance of the receiver rises and a HIGH/1 signal is sent by OUT pin to the microcontroller.

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IR Sensor differentiating between black (rough) and white (smooth and reflective) surface


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IR Sensor detecting an obstacle


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Using IR Sensor with Arduino

Hardware requirements:

1.      Arduino UNO

2.      Arduino Cable

3.      LED

4.      IR Sensor

5.      Jumper Wires

6.      BreadBoard

Software Requirements:

1.      Arduino IDE

2.      Copy-paste the code from here:

Connections:


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Connect Arduino to Laptop using a USB cable, and upload the code. Open serial monitor to view results.

EndNote

In the above mini-project, it was shown how the IR sensor can be used along Arduino to detect obstacles or differentiate between reflecting and non-reflecting surfaces. IR sensor, along with Arduino is used in many sensor-based electronic projects like line following car, obstacle avoiding the car, and gesture control robot. To learn more about the project, watch the video till the end.


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