This is a reflective infrared (IR) sensor that emits IR and receives back the echo. It is used to sense the presence of objects or surfaces. The detection range is around 1 mm to 15 mm.
The board has a LM393 voltage comparator chip to give out digital output and a potentiometer for sensor sensitivity adjustment. The working voltage of this module is between 3.3V and 5V. There are four pins for output marked as VCC, Ground, DO and AO.
The DO pin gives digital output and you can read it easily with any microcontroller/microprocessor. The TCRT5000 sensor itself emits IR continuously when power is connected. When no reflected IR beam detected i.e. no object is close enough, the D0 pin gives output HIGH. When the reflective IR beam is strong enough, i.e. nearby object is detected, it gives output LOW.
The AO pin gives analog reading that changes the value according to the distance of the object.
There are 2 status indicator LEDs on board. The first one is to tell us the power is connected and the second one is for the status of reflective IR detection. There is also a mounting hole on the PCB so that you can fix the position of this module.
Use cases example:
Obstacle avoidance for autonomous robots
Black and white line detection for track guided cars
Paper detection for shredder machine
User guide:
When using this sensor module for the first time, you'll need to adjust the sensitivity so that it'll detect object correctly.
Connect VCC pin to 3.3V-5V voltage source and GND to ground. The DO pin goes to your microcontroller I/O pin
Turn the potentiometer all the way until you see the detection indicator green LED turned on
Then, turn the potentiometer slowly in the opposite direction and stop right after the green LED turned off
Place an object towards the sensor and you'll see the green LED blink momentarily
The sensor board is now set to detect object.
Technical details:
TCRT5000 infrared reflective sensor
Operating voltage: 3.3V - 5V
Green LED - operational status indicator
Green LED - output status indicator
Green LED ON, output LOW - object detected
Green LED OF, output HIGH - no object detected
A potentiometer that can be used to adjust sensitivity
