Introduction

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

The frequency range of infrared is higher than microwave and lesser than visible
light.
For optical sensing and optical communication, photo optics technologies are used in
the near infrared region as the light is less complex than RF when implemented as a
source of signal. Optical wireless communication is done with IR data transmission
for short range applications.
An infrared sensor emits and/or detects infrared radiation to sense its surroundings.
The working of any Infrared sensor is governed by three laws: Plancks Radiation
law, Stephen Boltzmann law and Wiens Displacement law.
Plancks law states that every object emits radiation at a temperature not equal
to 00K. Stephen Boltzmann law states that at all wavelengths, the total energy
emitted by a black body is proportional to the fourth power of the absolute
temperature. According to Wiens Displacement law, the radiation curve of a black
body for different temperatures will reach its peak at a wavelength inversely
proportional to the temperature.
The basic concept of an Infrared Sensor which is used as Obstacle detector is to
transmit an infrared signal, this infrared signal bounces from the surface of an object
and the signal is received at the infrared receiver.
There are five basic elements used in a typical infrared detection system: an infrared
source, a transmission medium, optical component, infrared detectors or receivers
and signal processing. Infrared lasers and Infrared LEDs of specific wavelength can
be used as infrared sources. The three main types of media used for infrared
transmission are vacuum, atmosphere and optical fibers. Optical components are
used to focus the infrared radiation or to limit the spectral response. Optical lenses
made of Quartz, Germanium and Silicon are used to focus the infrared radiation.

Infrared receivers can be photodiodes, phototransistors etc. some important

specifications of infrared receivers are photosensitivity, detectivity and noise
equivalent power. Signal processing is done by amplifiers as the output of infrared
detector is very small.

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, pyroelectric detectors and
bolometers are the common types of thermal infrared detectors.
Quantum type infrared detectors offer 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 LEDs. 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.

There are different types of infrared transmitters depending on their wavelengths,

output power and response time.
A simple infrared transmitter can be constructed using an infrared LED, a current
limiting resistor and a power supply. The schematic of a typical IR transmitter is
shown below.

When operated at a supply of 5V, the IR transmitter consumes about 3 to 5 mA of

current. Infrared transmitters can be modulated to produce a particular frequency of

infrared light. The most commonly used modulation is OOK (ON OFF KEYING)
modulation.
IR transmitters can be found in several applications. Some applications require
infrared heat and the best infrared source is infrared transmitter. When infrared
emitters are used with Quartz, solar cells can be made.

IR Receiver
Infrared receivers are also called as infrared sensors as they detect the radiation
from an IR transmitter. IR receivers come in the form of photodiodes and
phototransistors. Infrared Photodiodes are different from normal photo diodes as
they detect only infrared radiation. The picture of a typical IR receiver or a
photodiode is shown below.

Different types of IR receivers exist based on the wavelength, voltage, package, etc.
When used in an infrared transmitter receiver combination, the wavelength of the
receiver should match with that of the transmitter.
A typical infrared receiver circuit using a phototransistor is shown below.

It consists of an IR phototransistor, a diode, a MOSFET, a potentiometer and an

LED. When the phototransistor receives any infrared radiation, current flows through
it and MOSFET turns on. This in turn lights up the LED which acts as a load. The
potentiometer is used to control the sensitivity of the phototransistor.

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.

Obstacle Sensing Circuit or IR Sensor Circuit

A typical IR sensing circuit is shown below.

It consists of an IR LED, a photodiode, a potentiometer, an IC Operational amplifier

and an LED.
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 photodiodes 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.

Distinguishing Between Black and White Colors

It is universal that black color absorbs the entire radiation incident on it and white
color reflects the entire radiation incident on it. Based on this principle, the second
positioning of the sensor couple can be made. The IR LED and the photodiode are
placed side by side. When the IR transmitter emits infrared radiation, since there is
no direct line of contact between the transmitter and receiver, the emitted radiation
must reflect back to the photodiode after hitting any object. The surface of the object
can be divided into two types: reflective surface and non-reflective surface. If the
surface of the object is reflective in nature i.e. it is white or other light color, most of
the radiation incident on it will get reflected back and reaches the photodiode.
Depending on the intensity of the radiation reflected back, current flows in the
photodiode.
If the surface of the object is non-reflective in nature i.e. it is black or other dark color,
it absorbs almost all the radiation incident on it. As there is no reflected radiation,
there is no radiation incident on the photodiode and the resistance of the photodiode
remains higher allowing no current to flow. This situation is similar to there being no
object at all.
The pictorial representation of the above scenarios is shown below.

The positioning and enclosing of the IR transmitter and Receiver is very important.
Both the transmitter and the receiver must be placed at a certain angle, so that the
detection of an object happens properly. This angle is the directivity of the sensor
which is +/- 45 degrees.

The directivity is shown below.

In order to avoid reflections from surrounding objects other than the object, both the
IR transmitter and the IR receiver must be enclosed properly. Generally the
enclosure is made of plastic and is painted with black color.