Temperature IR Bricklet¶

Features¶

• Measures contactless object temperature from -70°C to 380°C
• Configurable emissivity
• Measures ambient temperature from -40°C to 85°C
• Output in 0.1°C steps (16bit resolution)

Description¶

The Temperature IR Bricklet is equipped with a infrared thermometer. It can extend the features of a Brick with the capability of contactless temperature measurement.

You can read out object temperature and ambient temperature in °C. It is possible to define the emissivity of the object you want to measure (most infrared thermometers can't do this) . With configurable events it is possible to react on changing temperatures without polling.

Technical Specifications¶

Resources¶

• MLX90614 datasheet (Download)
• Schematic (Download)
• Outline and drilling plan (Download)
• Source code and design files (Download)
• 3D model (View online | Download: STEP, FreeCAD)

Test your Temperature IR Bricklet¶

To test a Temperature IR Bricklet you need to have Brick Daemon and Brick Viewer installed. Brick Daemon acts as a proxy between the USB interface of the Bricks and the API bindings. Brick Viewer connects to Brick Daemon. It helps to figure out basic information about the connected Bricks and Bricklets and allows to test them.

Connect the Temperature IR Bricklet to a Brick with a Bricklet Cable (see picture below).

If you connect the Brick to the PC over USB, you should see a new tab named "Temperature IR Bricklet" in the Brick Viewer after a moment. Select this tab. If everything went as expected the Brick Viewer should look as depicted below.

Point the Bricklet in different directions. The Brick Viewer will show the ambient temperature (the temperature of the room) and the object temperature of the object you point at.

For accurate object temperature measurements it is possible to configure the emissivity of the material you point at. Enter 0xFFFF = 65535 for an emissivity of 1.0.

After this test you can go on with writing your own application. See the Programming Interface section for the API of the Temperature IR Bricklet and examples in different programming languages.

Case¶

A laser-cut case for the Temperature IR Bricklet is available.

The assembly is easiest if you follow the following steps:

• Screw Bricklet to top plate with spacers at the bottom and long screws from the top,
• build up side plates,
• plug side plates into top plate and
• screw bottom plate to bottom spacers.

Below you can see an exploded assembly drawing of the Temperature IR Bricklet case:

Hint: There is a protective film on both sides of the plates, you have to remove it before assembly.

Programming Interface¶

See Programming Interface for a detailed description.