How does it work?
IR Thermo 4 Click is based on the TPiS 1T 1386 L5.5 H, a high-accuracy thermopile sensor from Excelitas, known for its precise temperature measurements in various applications. This sensor, part of the CaliPile™ family, includes factory-calibrated data stored in its EEPROM, ensuring reliable performance out of the box. It has a narrow 5° field of view (FoV), enclosed in an isothermal TO-39 package for rapid adaptation to ambient temperature changes. Additionally, the integrated lens hood minimizes stray light interference and provides thermal stabilization, making it suitable for use in challenging environmental conditions.
Leveraging advanced thermopile technology, the TPiS 1T 1386 L5.5 H sensor offers much more than conventional remote temperature measurements. It can monitor remote object temperatures with fast over-temperature detection, which is ideal for applications such as remote skin temperature monitoring, over-temperature protection, human presence sensing, motion detection, and passive light barriers for people counting. While temperature calculations are performed on the host using the sensor’s calibration data, the sensor continuously monitors for rapid temperature changes, triggering an over-temperature alert when necessary.
The sensor’s output is digitized using a low-noise, high-resolution ADC, and alongside the reference PTAT temperature channel, the data is stored in the sensor’s RAM, accessible via the I2C interface. A sensor’s filter and event logic unit include multiple low-pass filter options and application-specific processing units, which can be configured to send interrupts to the host system. The factory-calibrated data is crucial for calculating both the sensor’s temperature and the temperature of remote objects, and this data must be recalled after each power-up.
As mentioned, IR Thermo 4 Click uses a standard 2-wire I2C communication protocol to enable the host MCU to control the TPiS 1T 1386 L5.5 H. The I2C interface supports clock frequencies up to 400kHz, with the I2C address selectable via the ADDR SEL jumper. Once configured through the I2C interface, the INT pin allows the host to monitor rapid temperature changes and over-temperature conditions.
This Click board™ can be operated only with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before using MCUs with different logic levels. Also, it comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.
Specifications
Type
Temperature & humidity
Applications
Ideal for remote skin temperature monitoring, over-temperature protection, human presence sensing, and motion detection
On-board modules
TPiS 1T 1386 L5.5 H – high-accuracy narrow FoV thermopile sensor from Excelitas
Key Features
Narrow Field of View (FoV), factory-calibrated, high sensitivity, isothermal TO-39 sensor package, I2C interface, built-in ADC, multiple low-pass filters, interrupt support, and more
Interface
I2C
Feature
ClickID
Compatibility
mikroBUS™
Click board size
S (28.6 x 25.4 mm)
Input Voltage
3.3V
Pinout diagram
This table shows how the pinout on IR Thermo 4 Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).
Onboard settings and indicators
Label | Name | Default | Description |
---|---|---|---|
LD1 | PWR | – | Power LED Indicator |
JP1 | ADDR SEL | Left | I2C Address Selection 0/1: Left position 0, Right position 1 |
IR Thermo 4 Click electrical specifications
Description | Min | Typ | Max | Unit |
---|---|---|---|---|
Supply Voltage | – | 3.3 | – | V |
Field of View (FoV) | – | 5 | – | deg |
Sensitivity | – | 60 | – | counts/K |
Temperature Range | -20 | – | +85 | °C |
Software Support
We provide a library for the IR Thermo 4 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 IR Thermo 4 Click driver.
Key functions
-
irthermo4_read_ambient_temp
This function reads and calculates the ambient temperature in degrees Celsius. -
irthermo4_read_object_temp
This function reads and calculates the object temperature in degrees Celsius. -
irthermo4_get_int_pin
This function returns the INT pin logic state.
Example Description
This example demonstrates the use of IR Thermo 4 Click by reading and displaying the ambient and object temperature measurements.
void application_task ( void )
{
float ambient_temp = 0;
float object_temp = 0;
if ( IRTHERMO4_OK == irthermo4_read_ambient_temp ( &irthermo4, &ambient_temp ) )
{
log_printf ( &logger, " Ambient temperature: %.2f degCrn", ambient_temp );
if ( IRTHERMO4_OK == irthermo4_read_object_temp ( &irthermo4, &object_temp, ambient_temp ) )
{
log_printf ( &logger, " Object temperature: %.2f degCrnn", object_temp );
}
}
Delay_ms ( 500 );
}
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.IRThermo4
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.