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

Image for post

Working of IR Sensor:


Image for post
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.

Image for post

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.

Image for post

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


Image for post

IR Sensor detecting an obstacle


Image for post

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:


Image for post

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.


Comments

  1. lumired16 June 2021 at 21:21

    I like this article. I was searching on the search engine and found your blog. I get more knowledge and I read a lot of interesting content here. keep doing it. red light therapy for muscle recovery

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jaime Houston20 October 2021 at 12:14

    Tail lights provide a safety aspect of the vehicle. They show the rear edge of the vehicle to allow other drivers to appropriately gauge the size and shape of the car. In addition, they allow other vehicles to see the car in inclement weather such as rain or snow. If a tail light has gone out, replace it right away.www.protuninglab.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

How To Make Line Follower Using Three IR Sensor | Arduino Line Following Car

Image
Line Follower Cars are autonomous cars that follow a given route. We have already learned to make a Line Following Car using 2 IR sensors to follow easy tracks . Today we'll make a Line following car using Arduino and 3 IR sensors , that will precisely follow a black line over a white surface , take sharp 90 degree turns and easily follow high curvature curves . Before moving ahead, make sure you understand the Working Mechanism of IR Sensor and learn how to make 2 IR Sensor Line Follower Robot . This project is an upgrade of 2 IR Sensor Line Follower Robot.  Hardware Setup Components Required: Arduino UNO Motor Driver L298N Car Chassis (Car Frame | 2 x DC gear Motor | 2 x Tires) Jumper Cables 3 x IR Sensor  Car Assembly: The first step is to assemble the car chassis. To learn more about assembly, refer to this article:  Assemble Car Chassis . For visual demonstration refer to this video:  Assemble Car Chassis . Circuit Diagram: Software Setup Arduino needs to be programmed suc
Read more

How To Make Line Follower Car with Speed Control | 6 IR Sensor Arduino Line Following Car

Image
It's easy to make a robot that follows a line or smooth curves, but it becomes challenging to design the line follower robot when its track is complex. But we got you covered. Using 6 sensors and speed control of our car, we'll design our fast and advanced line following robot.  Before starting on this advanced project make sure you understand How Does An IR Sensor Works  and have tried making 2 Sensor Line Follower or 3 Sensor Line Follower . Hardware Setup Components Required Arduino UNO Motor Driver L298N 6 x IR Sensors (1 x TCRT5000 & 1 x HX-01) Car Chassis (Base & Motors & Wheel & Caster Wheel) 12V Battery Pack Jumper Cables Car Chassis Assembly Circuit Diagram Note: For speed control remove the tiny black jumper covering ENA and ENB pins on L298N. Make sure they are covered when not using the speed control, else project may not work. Software Setup Reading Analog Values of IR Sensor In our previous projects, we read digital values from IR Sensor - 0 for
Read more