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Home Sensors & Measurement

Infra-Red Proximity Sensor (I)

Using an IR LED as a sensors
By Ibrahim Kamal
Last update: 4/4/08

Overview

Based on a simple basic Idea, this proximity sensor, is easy to

build, easy to calibrate and still, it provides a detection range
of 35 cm (range can change depending on the ambient light
intensity).

This sensor can be used for most indoor applications where no important
ambient light is present. For simplicity, this sensor doesn't provide ambient
light immunity, but a more complicated, ambient light ignoring sensor
should be discussed in a coming article. However, this sensor can be used
to measure the speed of object moving at a very high speed, like in industry
or in tachometers. In such applications, ambient light ignoring sensor,
which rely on sending 40 Khz pulsed signals cannot be used because there
are time gaps between the pulses where the sensor is 'blind'...

The solution proposed doesn't contain any special components, like photo-diodes, photo-transistors, or IR receiver ICs,
only a couple if IR leds, an Op amp, a transistor and a couple of resistors. In need, as the title says, a standard IR led is
used for the purpose of detection. Due to that fact, the circuit is extremely simple, and any novice electronics hobbyist
can easily understand and build it.

Object Detection using IR light

It is the same principle in ALL Infra-Red proximity sensors. The basic idea is to send infra red light through IR-LEDs,
which is then reflected by any object in front of the sensor.
Then all you have to do is to pick-up the reflected IR light. For
detecting the reflected IR light, we are going to use a very
original technique: we are going to use another IR-LED, to
detect the IR light that was emitted from another led of the exact
same type!
This is an electrical property of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
which is the fact that a led Produce a voltage difference across its
leads when it is subjected to light. As if it was a photo-cell, but
with much lower output current. In other words, the voltage
generated by the leds can't be - in any way - used to generate
electrical power from light, It can barely be detected. that's why as
you will notice in the

schematic, we are going to use a Op-Amp (operational Amplifier) to accurately detect very small voltage changes.

The electronic Circuit

Two different designs are proposed, each one of them is more suitable for different applications. The main
difference between the 2 designs is the way infra-red (IR) light is sent on the object. The receiver part of the
circuit is exactly the same in both designs.
Note: Both the sender and the receiver are constructed on the same board. They are separated in the schematics for
simplification.

Design 1: Low range, Always ON

As the name implies, the sensor is always ON, meaning that the IR led is constantly emitting light. this design of the
circuit is suitable for counting objects, or counting revolutions of a rotating object, that may be of the order of 15,000
rpm or much more. However this design is more power consuming and is not optimized for high ranges. in this design,
range can be from 1 to 10 cm, depending on the ambient light conditions.
As you can see the schematic is divided into
2 parts the sender and the receiver.

The sender is composed of an IR LED

(D2) in series with a 470 Ohm resistor,
yielding a forward current of 7.5 mA.

The receiver part is more complicated,

the 2 resistors R5 and R6 form a voltage
divider which provides 2.5V at the anode of
the IR LED (here, this led will be used as a
sensor). When IR light falls on the LED
(D1), the voltage drop increases, the
cathode's voltage of D1 may go as low as
1.4V or more, depending on the light
intensity. This voltage drop can be

detected using an Op-Amp (operational Amplifier LM358). You will have to adjust the variable resistor (POT.) R8 so
the the voltage at the positive input of the Op-Amp (pin No. 5) would be somewhere near 1.6 Volt. if you understand the
functioning of Op-Amps, you will notice that the output will go High when the volt at the cathode of D1 drops under
1.6. So the output will be High when IR light is detected, which is the purpose of the receiver.

In case you're not familiar with op-amps, here is shortly and in a very simplified manner, what you need to know to
understand how this sensor functions: The op-amp has 2 input, the +ve input, and the -ve input. If the +ve input's
voltage is higher than the -ve input's voltage, the output goes High (5v, given the supply voltage in the schematic),
otherwise, if the +ve input's voltage is lower than the -ve input's voltage, then the output of the Op-Amp goes to
Low (0V). It doesn't matter how big is the difference between the +ve and -ve inputs, even a 0.0001 volts difference will
be detected, and the the output will swing to 0v or 5v according to which input has a higher voltage.

Some applications of the 'low range Always ON' Design:

Notice how in both devices, the IR leds are encapsulated to protect them from ambient light. this kind of encapsulation
was totally sufficient to overcome all noise due to ambient light for indoor applications.

Wheel Encoder Contact-Less tachometer

This is a simple wheel encoder based on the idea that
white stripes will reflect IR light, while black ones will
absorb it. this will result in a series of electrical pulses as
the wheel is rotating, providing the microcontroller with
precious information that can be used to calculate
displacement, velocity or even acceleration. It is now
clear that this kind of sensor has to be Always ON, to
detect every single white stripe passing in front of it, to
achieve accurate results.
This is a tachometer, that counts the revolutions per
minute of a rotating object, given that the object has a
reflective stripe glued on it, that will pass in front of the
IR sensor for each and every revolution, giving a pulse
per revolution. Again a microcontroller will have to be
used to 'understand' the data provided by the sensor and
display it. Many commercial contact-less tachometers,
that are sold for more than $200 rely on this simple
idea!
[Build your own one for less than $20 in this article...]

Design 2: High range, Pulsed IR

In this design, which is oriented to obstacle detection in robots, our primary target is to reach high ranges, from 25 to 35
cm, depending on ambient light conditions. The range of the sensor is extended by increasing the current flowing in the
led. This is a delicate task, as we need to send pulses of IR instead of constant IR emission.The duty cycle of the pulses
turning the LED ON and OFF have to be calculated with precision, so that the average current flowing into the LED
never exceeds the LED's maximum DC current (or 10mA as a standard safe value).
The duty cycle is the ratio between the ON
duration of the pulse and the total period. A
low duty cycle will enable us to inject in the
LED high instantaneous currents while
shutting it OFF for enough time to cool
down from the previous cycle.

Those 2 graphs shows the meaning of the

duty cycle, and the mathematical relations
between the ON time, the Total period, and
the average current.
In the second graph, the average current in
blue is exaggerated to be visible, but real
calculations would yield a much smaller
average current.

Pulsed IR, Duty cycle, Average and Instantaneous current.

Now, hands on the circuit that will put all this theory into practice. The CTRL input in the figure, stands for Control,
and this pin should be connected to the source of the low duty cycle pulses discussed above, whether it is a
microcontroller or an LM555 timer that generates the pulses.

The calculations yielded that a 10 ohm resistor is series with the LED D2, would cause a current of approximately 250
mA to flow through the LED. A current this high, would destroy the LED if applied for a long period of time (some
dozens of seconds), this is why we have to send low duty cycle pulses.

The first Op-amp will provide voltage buffer, to enable any kind of device to control the
sensor, also, it will provide the 30mA
base current required to drive the
base of the transistor. The calculation
of the the base resistor R3 depends
on the type of transistor you use, thus
on how much current you need on
the base to drive the required
collector current.

The receiver part of this schematic

functions in the exact same way as in
the first design, refer to the first,
'ALLWAYS ON' design for a
detailed description.

Software based ambient light detection.

When the sensor is controlled by a microcontroller to generate the low duty cycle pulses, you can benefit from the High
and Low pulses to be able to detect any false readings due to ambient light. This is done by recording 2 different
outputs of the sensor, one of them during the ON pulse (the sensor is emitting infra red light) and the other during the
OFF time. and compare the results.

The Idea is enlightened by this graph,

where in the first period, there is low
ambient noise, so the microcontroller
records a "1" during the on cycle, meaning
that an object reflected the emitted IR
Light, and then the microcontroller records
a "0" meaning that during the OFF time, it
didn't receive anything, which is logic
because the emitter LED was

OFF. But study the second period of the graph, where the sensor is put in a high ambient light environment. As you can
see, the the microcontroller records "1" in both conditions (OFF or ON). This means that we can't be sure whether the
sensor reception was caused by an object that reflected the sent IR light, or it is simply receiving too much ambient light,
and is giving "1" whether there is an obstacle or not.

The following table show the possible outcomes of this method.

Output recorded during:
Software based deduction
On pluse Off time
1 0 There is definitely an Obstacle in front of the sensor
The sensor is saturated by ambient light, thus we can't know if
1 1
there is an obstacle
There is definitely Nothing in front of the sensor, the way is
0 0
clear
This reading is un logical, there is something wrong with the
0 1
sensor.

Example C Code for 8051 microcontrollers

#include <REGX51.h>
#include <math.h>

unsigned char ir; // to store the final result

bit ir1,ir2; // the 2 recording point required for our algorithm
delay(y){ // simple delay function
unsigned int i;
for(i=0;i<y;i++){;}
}
void main(){
//P2.0 IR control pin going to the sensor
//P2.1 IR output pin coming from the sensor

while(1){
P2_0 = 1; //send IR
delay(20);
ir1 = P2_1;
P2_0 = 0; //stop IR
delay(98);
ir2 = P2_1;

if ((ir1 == 1)&(ir2 == 0)){

ir = 1; // Obstacle detected
P2_3 = 1; // Pin 3 of PORT 2 will go HIGH turning ON a LED.
if ((ir1 == 1)&(ir2 == 1)){
ir = 2; // Sensor is saturated by ambient light
}else{
ir = 0; // The way is clear in front of the sensor.
}
}
}

Components positioning:
The correct positioning of the sender LED, the receiver LED with regard to each other and to the Op-Amp can also
increase the performance of the sensor. First, we need to adjust the position of the sender LED with respect to the
receiver LED, in such a way they are as near as possible to each others , while preventing any IR light to be picked up
by the receiver LED before it hit and object and returns back. The easiest way to do that is to put the sender(s) LED(s)
from one side of the PCB, and the receiver LED from the other side, as shown in the 3D model below.

This 3D model shows the position of the LEDs. The green

plate is the PCB holding the electronic components of the
sensor. you can notice that the receiver LED is positioned
under the PCB, this way, there wont be ambient light falling
directly on it, as ambient light usually comes from the top.

It is also clear that this way of positioning the LEDs prevent

the emitted IR light to be detected before hitting an eventual
obstacle.

Another important issue about components positioning, is the distance between the receiver LED and the Op-Amp.
which should be as small as possible. Generally speaking, the length of wires or PCB tracks before an amplifier should
be reduced, otherwise, the amplifier will amplify - along with the original signal - a lot of noise picked up form the
electromagnetic waves traveling the surrounding.

Here is an example PCB where the distance between the LED and the Op-Amp is
shown. Sure this distance is not as critical as you may think, it can be up to 35mm
without causing serious problems, but trying to reduce this distance will Always give
you better results.

Actually, when I design the PCB, I start by placing the receiver LED and the Op-
Amp, as near to each others as possible, then continue the rest of the design.

An example PCB construction

Here is an example construction of the PCB for the High Range, Pulsed IR proximity sensor.
You can download here the project folder containing the schematic, the PCB design, and an example code for 8051
microcontroller to send the low duty cycle pulses.
 In this design, the LM358 Op-Amp is mounded
on the copper side, to save some space. The POT is
the potentiometer used to adjust sensitivity.

As explained before, the sender and receiver LEDs

are on both sides of the PCB.

Testing the High range Pulsed IR sensor

The last step, is to test the performance of the pulsed IR proximity sensor. To do this, I connected the sensor to a 89S52
microcontroller, loaded with a program to generate pulses with a duty cycle of approximately 1.6. at a frequency of
3Khz. LEDs are deigned to operate at very high frequencies, so you don't have to worry about the response time. To
make sure your duty cycle calculations are correct, let the sensor running for a minute, and check with your fingers the
temperature of the IR sender LED. If its not hot, then everything is alright. On the other hand, if the LED is getting hot,
to an extent that you can feel it, there is probably something wrong, you should then try to decrease the duty cycle, or
increase the series resistor, in order to decrease the average current flowing into the LED.

Then, you can start testing the range of the sensor, and experiment it in different ambient light conditions, but the
potentiometer may have to be adjusted carefully, to cope with ambient light.

In the example C code above, the final output of the sensor appears on the pin P2_3 of the microcontroller, as explained
before.

Related Tutorials
Ambient light ignoring infra-Red proximity sensor, using 40Khz IR receiver IC
Proximity sensors at BEAM circuits,an overview about IR (InfraRed), Acoustic, Capacitive and Inductive procimity
sensors.

Download the zip file for the High range sensor.

containing the PCB, Schematic and Example 8051 C51 code.
[note: i use ExpressPCB(FREEWARE) to design the schematics and the PCB]

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Discussion (Last 15 posts preview...)

Preview of the last 15 messages discussing this page. Messages are sorted from the newest to the oldest.

Follow this discussion in the Full-featured forum

Posted by:
kaviyar ['Quote ]
Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
asu
on: 04
Nov 2009 i want clear detail for this project pls send

Posted by:
pratik2 ['Quote ]
Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
0990
on: 19 Oct
2009 i have some doubts-

1. can i use this same circuit(design 1) for a line follower

2. i am using lm324 in place of lm358 and rest everything same...will it make any difference??
3. y r u using such higher values as 470 ohm in sender circuit and 3k8 ohms in receiver circuit. can i use
any lower value in place of these two values such as 100 ohms as a value of R7.
4. how we have to set tht 10K Pot......how can we measure the voltage....by a multimeter i guess??
5. if i use an ir receiver diode in place of ir led in receiver circuit will it make any difference??

**pls rply its really urgent**

Posted by:
svignes ['Quote ]
Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
h90
on: 12 Oct
2009 Can I use this sensor for line-tracking? And is it possible to get these kind of sensors as 8-cell arrays (similar
to LED and LDRs) ?
http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1134

Posted by:
svignes ['Quote ]
Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
h90
on: 12 Oct
2009 Sir,
I'm building a robot now and I would like to use line-tracking sensor which can detect white reflective tape
on a black background. The distance from which it can sense the line needs to be approximately 3-5 cm
(height of chassis from the ground). Is it advisable to use IR proximity sensors for this?
I checked the line tracking sensors at http://www.ikalogic.com/tut_line_sens_algo.php. The speed at which
it detects is important and hence I think IR proximity sensor is better than LED and LDRs. Most of the Line
tracking sensors I found online have a very low sensing distance of 1-12 mm (like this one
http://www.trossenrobotics.com/p/I2C-Li ... ensor.aspx).
Can you please advice which one will be better for me to use? And is it possible to get a detailed description
of "IR proximity sensor used for line-tracking" as it's mentioned for LED and LDR sensor?
Thank you very much.

Posted by:
['Quote ]
Re: Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1

Quoting jaydu1904: thank you Sir, bt if I use those blue/black IR LEDs that i am getting here, will the circuit work properly or not??
Also I have another doubt, if I want to use a photo detector diode in the Receiver part of the circuit(instead of IR LED), will there be
any changes in the circuit??(Because photo diode is connected in reverse bias)

thanks again...
ikalogic
on: 02 Oct
2009
I am not quite sure of the result, I know it will work, but how good? i dont know. You have to try
different configurations.
Posted by:
jaydu1 ['Quote ]
Re: Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
904
on: 02
Oct 2009 thank you Sir, bt if I use those blue/black IR LEDs that i am getting here, will the circuit work properly or
not?? Also I have another doubt, if I want to use a photo detector diode in the Receiver part of the
circuit(instead of IR LED), will there be any changes in the circuit??(Because photo diode is connected in
reverse bias)

thanks again...

Posted by:
['Quote ]
Re: Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1

Quoting jaydu1904: hello Sir,

How an IR LED looks like??? Bcoz one that is shown in images here is transperant, whereas one i've got here is bluish black in colour.
Are the same or will it make some difference??
I know it sounds a fullish kind of quetion bt still please let me know...
ikalogic
on: 02 Oct thanking you...
2009

it is not a foolish question at all! on the contrary, when i was testing my IR sensors, i always got much
better results with transparent IR leds than with opaque ones. I am however unable to give you a certain
reason for that!

Posted by:
jaydu1 ['Quote ]
Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
904
on: 02
Oct 2009 hello Sir,

How an IR LED looks like??? Bcoz one that is shown in images here is transperant, whereas one i've got
here is bluish black in colour. Are the same or will it make some difference??
I know it sounds a fullish kind of quetion bt still please let me know...

thanking you...
Posted by:
['Quote ]
Re: Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1

Quoting Rafrussel: hello..could some one help me: I need a circuit of a sensor and their components using PIC16f84...thankyou for
you time

ikalogic
on: 02 May
2009 That same circuit will work with any µC, including PIC.

http://www.ikalogic.com/ir_prox_sensors.php
http://www.ikalogic.com/ir_prox_sensors_40khz.php

Posted
by: ['Quote ]
Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
rafrus
sel
on: 02 hello..could some one help me: I need a circuit of a sensor and their components using PIC16f84...thankyou
May for you time
2009

Posted
by: ['Quote ]
Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
sukr
ut
on: 15 hello sir.
Apr i have finished making the ir sensor.
2009
so do u need to add program with ir sensor zip file to microcontroller.
as when u connect sensor the o/p isnt changing on display.?
reply immediately.

Posted
by: ['Quote ]
Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
sukr
ut
on: 12 hi,do we have to burn program given for ir sensor in microcontroller along with the code for the digital
Apr tachometer.
2009
Poste
d by: ['Quote ]
Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
the
jud
ge this is probably a noob question, but what's the amp rating for the different 5v inputs?
on: also, is the on/off "switch" between the output label and ground?
02
Apr
2009

Poste
d by: ['Quote ]
Re: Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
mak
sa
on: 02
Mar Quoting sumanfiem:
2009
Quoting sumanfiem: Sir,
I'm interested in having an IR Proximity detector circuit that gives an analog output and not digital...i.e, I want to know exactly how far is
the bot from an obstacle. What changes would you suggest in your above circuit that would make this possible?
Thank you

since op amp output will swing from 0 to 5v if it sense something, i think is hard to do but if u use ranger or
sonar sensor u could do that, because apparently i use those method for my sumo robot. so the ranger will send
signal and receive the signal back after that it will calculate it for u then i use adc to convert to digital as my
input function.

Posted by:
sumanf ['Quote ]
Re: Infra-Red proximity sensors PART 1
iem
on: 28 Feb
2009
Quoting sumanfiem: Sir,
I'm interested in having an IR Proximity detector circuit that gives an analog output and not digital...i.e, I want to know exactly how far is
the bot from an obstacle. What changes would you suggest in your above circuit that would make this possible?
Thank you

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