TMOS-based infrared sensor opens up new applications

It is in stock at Anglia Components.

STMicroelectronics infrared sensors have been designed to accurately detect object movements and sense human presence by measuring the infrared radiation of objects within their field of view.

There are several different technologies to support infrared-based sensors, and ST offers the TMOS infrared sensor solution to detect human or object presence and movement detection with high accuracy and low-power consumption, directly with a digital interface.

The STHS34PF80 infrared sensor is based on TMOS technology which stands for Thermal MOS.

It works by integrating the infrared radiation emitted by objects in its field of view (FoV) and then concentrating this radiation onto a MEMS-thermally-insulated gate using ST's state-of-the-art MEMS technology.

TMOS technology sensors feature an isolated MOS transistor array, when the infrared radiation reaches the gate of the array it biases the MOS transistors which can then be used to remotely sense temperature of objects or people.

This innovative technology offers many advantages to system designers since it shows much greater sensitivity with respect to other competing technologies like PIR, furthermore it has the added capability to sense non-moving targets.

These two key benefits enable new and improved applications and can provide significant system cost reductions, by removing, for example, infrared concentrators like Fresnel lenses typically needed for such competing technologies.

The STHS34PF80 sensor has been designed to measure the amount of infrared radiation emitted from an object within its field of view, the sensed information is then digitally processed by an onboard ASIC, which can be programmed to monitor motion, presence, or an overtemperature condition.

The sensor has exceptional sensitivity and can detect the presence of a human being at a distance up to four meters without the need of an optical or fresnel lens.

It is suitable for a wide range of applications including Industrial automation, Predictive maintenance, Smart home/building control and monitoring, Lighting, Energy saving appliances and Security.

The TMOS Sensor is housed in a small 3.2 x 4.2 x 1.455 mm 10-lead LGA package and has an operating temperature range of -40°C to +85°C.

The STEVAL‑MKI231KA demonstration board is available to support system designers.

The demonstration board is a kit made up of a PCB, mounting the STHS34PF80 low-power, high-sensitivity infrared sensor for presence and motion detection, which is connected through flat cable to a generic adapter board (STEVAL‑MKIGIBV5) to make it compatible with the STEVAL‑MKI109V3.

A plastic holder with a Fresnel lens (TMOS63-10) is also provided in the kit to verify best performances of the device.

The demonstration board can be plugged into a standard DIL 24 socket. The kit provides the complete STHS34PF80 pinout and comes ready-to-use with the required decoupling capacitors on the VDD power supply line.

This adapter is supported by the STEVAL‑MKI109V3 motherboard, which includes a high performance 32‑bit microcontroller functioning as a bridge between the sensor and a PC, on which it is possible to use the downloadable graphical user interface (Unico-GUI), or dedicated software routines for customized applications.

Anglia are offering customers a FREE evaluation board and samples of the STHS34PF80 low power TMOS Infrared Sensor from STMicroelectronics.