The Adafruit IR Break Beam Sensor is a two-part sensor consisting of an infra-red emitter and a separate infra-red receiver which react when an object interrupts the beam between them. They are faster and more targeted than PIR sensors and less expensive than sonar sensors. These are the 5mm version with a range of up to 500mm. You can power them from 3.3 to 5V DC, but you will get a more powerful IR beam at 5V. The receiver is open collector and requires a pull-up resistor to interface to a microcontroller. If the MCU doesn't have one built-in, you can always add 10kΩ between the two wires from the receiver. It is possible to drive a relay or an LED up to 100mA without the aid of a microcontroller, which might be useful come Halloween.
Supplied as a fully assembled and tested IR sensor/emitter pair. Adafruit provide a free tutorial on break beam systems to help get you started.
- Sensing distance up to 500mm
- Transmit/receive angle: 10°
- Power supply: 3.3 to 5V DC
- Supplied with 250mm pigtails
- Dimensions: 20 x 10 x 8mm (0.8 x 0.4 x 0.3in)
- Adafruit part no.: 2168
*Customers looking to resell on eBay or Amazon should contact Adafruit directly.
*Customers looking to resell on eBay or Amazon should contact Adafruit directly.
