Turning a pyroelectric infrared motion sensor into a high-accuracy presence detector by using a narrow semi-transparent chopper
Abstract
Pyroelectric infrared (PIR) sensors are the most popular presence detectors. However, their applications are limited to motion detection only, as the pyroelectric sensing element is only sensitive to radiated heat power fluctuation. Here, this letter reports a chopped PIR (C-PIR) presence sensor, capable of detecting both the stationary and the moving occupants at high accuracy by introducing a narrow semi-transparent optical chopper to shutter the incident radiation periodically. More importantly, even though the narrow chopper can efficiently shutter the unidirectional infrared (IR) power radiated by stationary occupants, it has near-zero influence on the omnidirectional power radiated from the ambient environment. Therefore, the voltage difference generated by the C-PIR sensor between occupied and unoccupied scenarios can be directly used for identifying the presence of stationary occupants with high-accuracy. For moving occupant detection, the optical chopper can barely affect the variation of the radiated power and thus lead to the same high-accuracy detection as the on-board PIR. An approximate theoretical model is created to illustrate the physics and dynamics of IR radiation shuttered by the optical chopper. Parametric studies, experimental characterization, and empirical analysis were performed to obtain the optimal setting of the chopper in terms of its thickness and chopping frequency.more »
- Authors:
-
- Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
- Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1510954
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1412622
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AR0000531
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Applied Physics Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 111; Journal Issue: 24; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
Citation Formats
Liu, Haili, Wang, Ya, Wang, Kevin, and Lin, Hanbing. Turning a pyroelectric infrared motion sensor into a high-accuracy presence detector by using a narrow semi-transparent chopper. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1063/1.4998430.
Liu, Haili, Wang, Ya, Wang, Kevin, & Lin, Hanbing. Turning a pyroelectric infrared motion sensor into a high-accuracy presence detector by using a narrow semi-transparent chopper. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4998430
Liu, Haili, Wang, Ya, Wang, Kevin, and Lin, Hanbing. Mon .
"Turning a pyroelectric infrared motion sensor into a high-accuracy presence detector by using a narrow semi-transparent chopper". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4998430. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1510954.
@article{osti_1510954,
title = {Turning a pyroelectric infrared motion sensor into a high-accuracy presence detector by using a narrow semi-transparent chopper},
author = {Liu, Haili and Wang, Ya and Wang, Kevin and Lin, Hanbing},
abstractNote = {Pyroelectric infrared (PIR) sensors are the most popular presence detectors. However, their applications are limited to motion detection only, as the pyroelectric sensing element is only sensitive to radiated heat power fluctuation. Here, this letter reports a chopped PIR (C-PIR) presence sensor, capable of detecting both the stationary and the moving occupants at high accuracy by introducing a narrow semi-transparent optical chopper to shutter the incident radiation periodically. More importantly, even though the narrow chopper can efficiently shutter the unidirectional infrared (IR) power radiated by stationary occupants, it has near-zero influence on the omnidirectional power radiated from the ambient environment. Therefore, the voltage difference generated by the C-PIR sensor between occupied and unoccupied scenarios can be directly used for identifying the presence of stationary occupants with high-accuracy. For moving occupant detection, the optical chopper can barely affect the variation of the radiated power and thus lead to the same high-accuracy detection as the on-board PIR. An approximate theoretical model is created to illustrate the physics and dynamics of IR radiation shuttered by the optical chopper. Parametric studies, experimental characterization, and empirical analysis were performed to obtain the optimal setting of the chopper in terms of its thickness and chopping frequency. Experimental results reveal that the C-PIR sensor can detect stationary occupants for up to 4.0 m and moving occupants for up to 8.0 m, while maintaining an accuracy of 100%. The field of view of the C-PIR was found at 110° horizontally and 90° vertically, consistent with that of the on-board PIR sensor.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4998430},
journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
number = 24,
volume = 111,
place = {United States},
year = {2017},
month = {12}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:

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Works referencing / citing this record:
An Integrated Thermopile-Based Sensor with a Chopper-Stabilized Interface Circuit for Presence Detection
journal, September 2019
- Moisello, Elisabetta; Vaiana, Michele; Castagna, Maria Eloisa
- Sensors, Vol. 19, Issue 18
Figures / Tables found in this record: