help Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Got a great invention idea. Just need to know if you can make an IR Thermometer with the IR in your TV Remote? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero999 Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 No.A remote contains an infra-red LED not a receiver.The wavelength used for infra-red remote controls is too short for monitoring the temperature of items near room temperature.You're better off buying an IR thermometer than making one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Tsekenis Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Agree with Hero.I am posting to advise you not to give away great ideas for free :)Regards,Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
help Posted December 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 Thank you both for your replies. So if it has a receiver it would work? Maybe for checking temperatures of something up close? Like a flame, or the temperature of a wall? And how accurate would it be? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Tsekenis Posted December 11, 2009 Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 When we say infra-red, we mean all the frequencies below what the human eye can see. That is very wide band of infinite frequencies or wavelengths.The IR receiver or transmitter in a remote control system use very different wavelengths than an IR thermometer.For this very simple reason, you cannot use either a receiver or a transmitter for this.IR thermometers that you can buy in shops use a very different kind of sensor, called microbolometer.If you want a reasonably accurate thermometer to measure say the temperature of a wall, than I can reccomend the Fluke 62http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-FLUKE-62-Handheld-IR-Infrared-Thermometer_W0QQitemZ390093115750QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET?hash=item5ad35c9166Alternatively, you can use the TPA81 sensor module (requires microcontroller and programming). This is an array of 8 thermopile elements in a row. You can use it to measure temeprature of objects nearby, very low accuracy but it is great if for example you have a robot and you want it to follow a candle flame.http://www.robot-electronics.co.uk/htm/tpa81tech.htmHope this helps.Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero999 Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 It depends on what you're trying to do. It's pretty easy to just trigger a comparator when a sensor is exposed to heat or cold.Here's an example, Th1 is in a parabolic reflector such as that used by a torch (flashlight in the US), Th2 acts as a compensator, the comparator activates the LED when there's a great enough difference in Th1's and Th2's temperature.Th1 and Th2 need to be as closely matched as possible, use precision thermistors of you can.The comparator could be replaced by a differential amplifier. I got the idea from Forrest Mims Sensor Projects, page 42 & 43 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Tsekenis Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 That's a great 'poor-mas' sensor idea. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
help Posted December 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 Ok, I guess my question is... can you measure heat relatively accurate (at a close distance) with an IR Transmitter/Receiver? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero999 Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 We've already told you, perhaps Mr Caps Lock will make it more clear:NO IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO USE AN INFRA-RED RECEIVER AS A TEMPERATURE SENSOR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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