The thermal sensor’s wide field of view helps monitor large areas, making it suitable for elderly care, building management, and counting people.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has launched the MelDIR-brand 80×60-pixel thermal-diode infrared sensor (MIR8060C1), featuring a 100°×73° field of view—more than double the field of view of the company’s current thermal-diode sensors. This expanded field of view improves the sensor’s ability to detect people and objects and reduces the number of sensors required to monitor large areas.
The company claims that the sensor can be used in elderly care facilities to monitor residents’ movements and behaviour, helping ensure safety and improve care. In smart buildings, it can optimise building management systems, such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), by detecting occupancy and monitoring energy efficiency. Retailers and public spaces can use it for people counting to assess crowd density and manage foot traffic.
The sensor reduces the effect of incident light that can distort thermal images and uses a new lens design for a wider field of view. This enables broad area monitoring with a single sensor, reducing system costs while maintaining 80×60-pixel detection for accurate identification and behaviour monitoring. Device manufacturers will have access to integration tools to speed up product development.
The broader field of view improves detection and reduces the number of sensors required to monitor large areas, thereby helping to lower system costs. The new sensor requires fewer units to cover wide spaces, such as a 660sqm office while maintaining thermal sensitivity and accurate detection.
The sensor detects temperatures between -5 and +60°C, has a frame rate of 4/8 fps, and has a temperature resolution (NETD) of 180mK. It operates with a current consumption of 50mA or less and features a serial peripheral interface (SPI). The product meets the RoHS requirements, which limit the use of certain harmful substances in electrical and electronic equipment.
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