IR Sensor Module Circuit

ELECTRONICS
ByJayant Oct 27, 201541

Infrared Sensor Module Circuit Diagram

Sensors are very important part of electronics, especially in Robotics and Automations. Sensors in
electronic devices make our life easy by automatically sense and control the devices, without human
interaction. There are many kinds of sensors like Fire sensor, humidity sensor, motion sensor,
temperature sensor, IR sensor etc. In this article, we will explain about IR sensor (Infrared sensor),
how it works and how to build an IR sensor Module.

IR sensor is very popular sensor, which is used in many applications in electronics, like it is used in
Remote control system, motion detector, Product counter, Line follower Robots, Alarms etc.

IR sensor basically consist an IR LED and a Photodiode, this pair is generally called IR pair or Photo
coupler. IR sensor work on the principal in which IR LED emits IR radiation and Photodiode sense
that IR radiation. Photodiode resistance changes according to the amount of IR radiation falling on it,
hence the voltage drop across it also changes and by using the voltage comparator (like LM358) we
can sense the voltage change and generate the output accordingly.

The placing of IR LED and Photodiode can be done in two ways: Direct and Indirect. In Direct
incidence, IR LED and photodiode are kept in front of one another, so that IR radiation can directly
falls on photodiode. If we place any object between them, then it stops the falling of IR light on
photodiode.
And in Indirect Incidence, both the IR LED and Photo diode are placed in parallel (side by side),
facing both in same direction. In that fashion, when a object is kept in front of IR pair, the IR light gets
reflected by the object and gets absorbed by photodiode. Note that object shouldn’t be black as it will
absorb all the IR light, instead of reflect. Generally IR pair is placed in this fashion in IR sensor Module.

To build an IR module, we mainly need IR pair (IR LED and Photodiode) and LM358 with some
resistors and a LED.

IR LED
IR LED emits light, in the range of Infrared frequency. IR light is invisible to us as its wavelength
(700nm – 1mm) is much higher than the visible light range. Everything which produce heat, emits
infrared like for example our human body. Infrared have the same properties as visible light, like it can
be focused, reflected and polarised like visible light.
IR LED looks like a normal LED and also operates like a normal LED, it consumes 20mA current and
3vots power. IR LEDs have light emitting angle of approx. 20-60 degree and range of approx. few
centimetres to several feets, it depends upon the type of IR transmitter and the manufacturer. Some
transmitters have the range in kilometres.

PhotoDiode
Photodiode is considered as Light dependent Resistor (LDR), means it has very High resistance in
absence of light and become low when light falls on it. Photodiode is a semiconductor which has a P-
N junction, operated in Reverse Bias, means it start conducting the current in reverse direction when
Light falls on it, and the amount of current flow is proportional to the amount of Light. This property
makes it useful for IR detection.

Photodiode looks like a LED, with a Black colour coating on its outer side. It is used in reversed biased,
as showed in circuit diagram below.

LM358
LM358 is an operational amplifier (Op-Amp) and in this circuit we are using it as a voltage
comparator. The LM358 has two independent voltage comparators inside it, which can be powered
by single PIN, so we can use the single IC to build two IR sensor modules. We have used only one
comparator here, which have inputs at PIN 2 & 3 and output at PIN 1. Voltage comparator has two
inputs, one is inverting input and second is non-inverting input (PIN 2 and 3 in LM358). When voltage
at non-inverting input (+) is higher than the voltage at inverting input (-), then the output of comparator
(PIN 1) is High. And if the voltage of inverting input (-) is Higher than non-inverting end (+), then output
is LOW.

IR sensor Module
Components
 IR pair (IR LED and Photodiode)
 IC LM358
 Resistor 100, 10k, 330 ohm
 Variable resistor – 10k
 LED

You can see the connections in the IR sensor circuit diagram. Photo diode is connected in reverse
bias, inverting end of LM358 (PIN 2) is connected to the variable resistor, to adjust the sensitivity of
the sensor. And non-inverting end (PIN 3) is connected to the junction of photodiode and a resistor.

When we turn ON the circuit there is no IR radiation towards photodiode and the Output of the
comparator is LOW. When we take some object (not black) in front of IR pair, then IR emitted by IR
LED is reflected by the object and absorbed by the photodiode. Now when reflected IR Falls on
Photodiode, the voltage across photodiode drops, and the voltage across series resistor R2 increases.
When the voltage at Resistor R2 (which is connected to the non-inverting end of comparator) gets
higher than the voltage at inverting end, then the output becomes HIGH and LED turns ON.
Voltage at inverting end, which is also called Threshold Voltage, can be set by rotating the variable
resistor’s knob. Higher the voltage at inverting end (-), less sensitive the sensor and Lower the voltage
at inverting end (-), more sensitive the sensor.

An infrared sensor is an electronic device, that emits in order to sense some aspects of the
surroundings. An IR sensor can measure the heat of an object as well as detects the
motion.These types of sensors measures only infrared radiation, rather than emitting it
that is called as a passive IR sensor. Usually in the infrared spectrum, all the objects radiate
some form of thermal radiations. These types of radiations are invisible to our eyes, that
can be detected by an infrared sensor.The emitter is simply an IR LED (Light Emitting
Diode) and the detector is simply an IR photodiode which is sensitive to IR light of the
same wavelength as that emitted by the IR LED. When IR light falls on the photodiode,
The resistances and these output voltages, change in proportion to the magnitude of the
IR light received.

IR Sensor

IR Sensor Circuit Diagram and Working Principle

An infrared sensor circuit is one of the basic and popular sensor module in an electronic
device. This sensor is analogous to human’s visionary senses, which can be used to
detect obstacles and it is one of the common applications in real time.This circuit
comprises of the following components
 LM358 IC 2 IR transmitter and receiver pair
 Resistors of the range of kilo ohms.
 Variable resistors.
 LED (Light Emitting Diode).
 IR Sensor Circuit

In this project, the transmitter section includes an IR sensor, which transmits continuous
IR rays to be received by an IR receiver module. An IR output terminal of the receiver
varies depending upon its receiving of IR rays. Since this variation cannot be analyzed
as such, therefore this output can be fed to a comparator circuit. Here an operational
amplifier (op-amp) of LM 339 is used as comparator circuit.
When the IR receiver does not receive a signal, the potential at the inverting input goes
higher than that non-inverting input of the comparator IC (LM339). Thus the output of the
comparator goes low, but the LED does not glow. When the IR receiver module receives
signal to the potential at the inverting input goes low. Thus the output of the comparator
(LM 339) goes high and the LED starts glowing. Resistor R1 (100 ), R2 (10k ) and R3
(330) are used to ensure that minimum 10 mA current passes through the IR LED Devices
like Photodiode and normal LEDs respectively. Resistor VR2 (preset=5k ) is used to
adjust the output terminals. Resistor VR1 (preset=10k ) is used to set the sensitivity of
the circuit Diagram. Read more about IR sensors.

Different Types of IR Sensors and Their Applications

IR sensors are classified into different types depending on the applications. Some of the
typical applications of different types of sensors are
The speed sensor is used for synchronizing the speed of multiple motors. The temperature
sensor is used for industrial temperature control. PIR sensor is used for automatic door
opening system and Ultrasonic sensor are used for distance measurement.
IR Sensor Applications
IR sensors are used in various Sensor based projects and also in various electronic devices
which measures the temperature that are discussed in the below.
Radiation Thermometers
IR sensors are used in radiation thermometers to measure the temperature depend upon
the temperature and the material of the object and these thermometers have some of the
following features

 Measurement without direct contact with the object

 Faster response
 Easy pattern measurements
Flame Monitors
These types of devices are used for detecting the light emitted from the flames and to
monitor how the flames are burning. The Light emitted from flames extend from UV to IR
region types. PbS, PbSe, Two-color detector, pyro electric detector are some of the
commonly employed detector used in flame monitors.

Moisture Analyzers
Moisture analyzers use wavelengths which are absorbed by the moisture in the IR region.
Objects are irradiated with light having these wavelengths(1.1 µm, 1.4 µm, 1.9 µm, and
2.7µm) and also with reference wavelengths. The Lights reflected from the objects
depend upon the moisture content and is detected by analyzer to measure moisture (ratio
of reflected light at these wavelengths to the reflected light at reference wavelength). In
GaAs PIN photodiodes, Pbs photoconductive detectors are employed in moisture
analyzer circuits.

Gas Analyzers
IR sensors are used in gas analyzers which use absorption characteristics of gases in the
IR region. Two types of methods are used to measure the density of gas such as
dispersive and non dispersive.
 Gas Analizer

Dispersive: An Emitted light is spectroscopically divided and their absorption

characteristics are used to analyze the gas ingredients and the sample quantity.
Non dispersive: It is most commonly used method and it uses absorption characteristics
without dividing the emitted light. Non dispersive types use discrete optical band pass
filters, similar to sunglasses that are used for eye protection to filter out unwanted UV
radiation.
This type of configuration is commonly referred to as non dispersive infrared (NDIR)
technology. This type of analyzer is used for carbonated drinks, whereas non dispersive
analyzer is used in most of the commercial IR instruments, for an automobile exhaust gas
fuel leakages.

IR Imaging Devices
IR image device is one of the major applications of IR waves, primarily by virtue of its
property that is not visible. It is used for thermal imagers, night vision devices, etc.
 IR Imaging Devices

For examples Water, rocks, soil, vegetation, an atmosphere, and human tissue all
features emit IR radiation. The Thermal infrared detectors measure these radiations in IR
range and map the spatial temperature distributions of the object/area on an image.
Thermal imagers usually composed of a Sb (indium antimonite), Gd Hg (mercury-doped
germanium), Hg Cd Te (mercury-cadmium-telluride) sensors.

An electronic detector is cooled to low temperatures using liquid helium or liquid

nitrogen’s. Then the Cooling the detectors ensures that the radiant energy (photons)
recorded by the detectors comes from the terrain and not from the ambient temperature
of objects within the scanner itself an IR imaging electronic devices.

Thus, this is all about IR sensor circuit with working and applications. These sensors are
used in many sensor based electronics projects. We believe that, you might have got a
better understanding of this IR sensor and its working principle.Furthermore, any doubts
regarding this article or projects please give your feedback by commenting in the
comment section below.Here is a question for you, can the infrared thermometer operate
in complete darkness?