Contactless IR thermopile array sensor measures entire specified area

Panasonic's Grid-EYE infrared array sensor is now available from TTI Europe. Contrary to conventional thermal sensors that only measure temperature of a certain point-of-contact, Grid-EYE, based on Panasonic’s MEMS technology, can measure temperature of the entire specified area without any contact; in other words, it is a 'contactless thermopile array sensor'. Sixty-four pixels yield accurate temperature measurement over a viewing angle of 60 degrees provided by a silicon lens. Grid-EYE uses an I²C communication interface, enabling temperature measurements at frequencies of 1 or 10 frames/sec. Also available is a Grid-EYE sensor evaluation kit which combines a 'nanopower' PAN1740 Bluetooth Smart module and a microcontroller on one PCB. By combining its new IR sensor technology with Bluetooth technology and software for IR detection of people and objects in a single evaluation kit, Panasonic is enabling customers to develop rapid prototypes and quickly build their own wireless sensor Internet of Things applications, says the company.