Grid-EYE Click

How does it work?

Grid-EYE Click is based on the AMG8853, an infrared array sensor from Panasonic Semi. It can detect the absolute surface temperature of an object without any contact, even a moving object such as a moving hand. The sensor senses the heat, so you don’t need light to form a picture. The temperature measuring range is from -20°C up to +100°C with a viewing angle of 60 degrees and a 5m detecting distance. It can be used in various applications. The AMG8853 has a built-in thermistor for suppressing ambient temperature noise. Infrared waves are outside the visible spectrum of the human eye, just like radio waves. Even though people can’t see infrared waves, they can certainly feel them in the form of heat. Our bodies emit heat or infrared radiation, and the AMG8853 thermal array sensor can detect it.

Grid-EYE Click uses a standard 2-Wire I2C interface to communicate with the host MCU, supporting fast mode. The I2C address can be selected over the ADDR SEL jumper with 0 selected by default. The AMG8853 works at 5V, and to work with a 3.3V logic level, this Click board™ features the PCA9306, a dual bidirectional I2C bus, and an SMBus voltage-level translator from Texas Instruments. The sensor features an interrupt function over the INT pin. For logic level translation of the interrupt pin, this Click board™ uses the SN74LVC1T45, a single-bit dual-supply bus transceiver with configurable voltage translation and 3-state outputs from Texas Instruments.

This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VCC SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can use the communication lines properly. Also, this Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

Specifications

Pinout diagram

This table shows how the pinout on Grid-EYE Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).

Notes	Pin					Pin	Notes
	NC	1	AN	PWM	16	NC
	NC	2	RST	INT	15	INT	Interrupt
	NC	3	CS	RX	14	NC
	NC	4	SCK	TX	13	NC
	NC	5	MISO	SCL	12	SCL	I2C Clock
	NC	6	MOSI	SDA	11	SDA	I2C Data
Power Supply	3.3V	7	3.3V	5V	10	5V	Power Supply
Ground	GND	8	GND	GND	9	GND	Ground

Onboard settings and indicators

Grid-EYE Click electrical specifications

Software Support

We provide a library for the Grid Eye Click as well as a demo application (example), developed using MIKROE compilers. The demo can run on all the main MIKROE development boards.

Package can be downloaded/installed directly from NECTO Studio Package Manager(recommended), downloaded from our LibStock™ or found on Mikroe github account.

Library Description

This library contains API for Grid Eye Click driver.

Key functions

• Generic write function.

• Generic read function.

• Write data function

Example Description

64 individual thermal sensors build an image on a display. The detecting distance is 5m.

 void application_task ( void ) 
 { 
     uint8_t i; 
     uint8_t j; 
     uint16_t grid_array[ 64 ]; 
     uint16_t grid_array_tmp; 

     grideye_read_grid( &grideye, &grid_array ); 

     for( i = 1; i < 9; i++ ) 
     { 
         for( j = 1; j < 9; j++ ) 
         { 
             log_printf( &logger, "| " ); 
             grid_array_tmp = grid_array[ i * j ]; 

             log_printf( &logger, "%d ", grid_array_tmp ); 
         } 
         log_printf( &logger, " rn" ); 
         log_printf( &logger, "-------------------------------------- rn" ); 
     } 
     Delay_ms( 1000 ); 
 }

The full application code, and ready to use projects can be installed directly from NECTO Studio Package Manager(recommended), downloaded from our LibStock™ or found on Mikroe github account.

Other Mikroe Libraries used in the example:

• MikroSDK.Board
• MikroSDK.Log
• Click.Grideye

Additional notes and informations

Depending on the development board you are using, you may need USB UART click, USB UART 2 Click or RS232 Click to connect to your PC, for development systems with no UART to USB interface available on the board. UART terminal is available in all MIKROE compilers.

mikroSDK

This Click board™ is supported with mikroSDK – MIKROE Software Development Kit. To ensure proper operation of mikroSDK compliant Click board™ demo applications, mikroSDK should be downloaded from the LibStock and installed for the compiler you are using.

For more information about mikroSDK, visit the official page.