Mitsubishi Electric Infrared Sensors "MelDIR" Advanced Temperature Detection for a Smart Society

Mitsubishi Electric is identified as a world leader in manufacturing high-quality electrical and electronic equipment. The brand believes in creating a vibrant society by fostering technological innovations and enhancing its services and creative powers. Moving on the same lines, it has released a Thermal Diode Infrared sensor “MeIDIR”. The new sensor is here to meet the growing demand for conventional infrared sensors that are widely used for temperature measurements by detecting the infrared radiation of objects.

Besides meeting the growing demand, this new sensor technology features a wide field of view and offers high pixel and thermal resolution to accurately distinguish between humans and other heat sources, further identifying specific human behavior like running, walking, raising hands, etc. without expensive infrared camera, which is hard to distinguish by present PIR sensors.

What is Thermal Diode Infrared Sensor?

The new Mitsubishi Electric Diode Infrared sensor relies on thermal technology that the company previously developed to be used in the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 named DAICHI-2 or ALOS-2. The sensor is designed with 80x60 high pixel resolution, 78°x53° field of view and 100mK thermal resolution for better efficiency in identifying humans and objects. This is the second generation of the MeIDIR sensor announced in 2019.

Applications of Infrared Sensor Across Different Industries

• COVID-19 Management: The worldwide spread of COVID-19 forced people to adapt to a new way of life. From having to follow social distancing norms to temperature checks before entering public places, a lot has changed. Technology, including infrared sensors, has played a major role in supporting these changes. Infrared sensors are versatile devices that allow for contactless body temperature checks and help classify abnormal body temperature at entry points of public places like airports, malls, etc.

• Building Management: Thermal diode infrared sensors can be used to detect heat output from the occupants of a building. When integrated with Building Management Systems and HVAC systems, these sensors can help in heat load detection by the BMS. In turn, this data can be used for Efficient HVAC Control to ensure temperature requirements are met throughout the building, even as the heat load varies throughout the day.
• Crowd Control: Thermal diode infrared sensors measure temperatures by detecting the infrared radiation of objects. They offer high pixel thermal resolution that can be used to distinguish between people and other heat sources. These features together offer a simple solution for allowing security personnel to keep a tab on the number of people in any public space at any time, like a shopping mall, railway stations, etc.

• Hospitals: Infrared sensors can be used to measure body temperature of patients. The system does not require human intervention for recording these vitals, which also help ensure patient privacy while making it easier for doctors and healthcare professionals to monitor a number of patients with ease. As a note, MelDIR cannot be used for medical diagnosis.

• Security: These sensors can pick up heat signatures from various objects in their field of view. They can detect and identify types of heat source and specific human behavior which is hard to distinguish by present PIR sensors, and a target heat souse or a threshold limit for the same can also be set, the crossing of which can trigger a light, camera, alarm, etc. This is why IR sensors find wide usage in high-security applications to help detect trespassing, even at remote locations.
• Manufacturing: Feature in the temperature detection of the thermal diode infrared sensor has many applications, one of which is monitoring machine temperatures on the shopfloor. This helps detect if any machine is nearing a temperature that may cause overheating or a breakdown, so appropriate steps may be taken to keep the situation under control. This can help units avoid unnecessary downtime and loss of profits. Additionally, temperature detection of the thermal diode infrared sensor is useful equipment to control temperature with temperature measurement.

Here are the new sensor features:

1. High Field of View and Pixel Resolution

Compared to the conventional 80x32 pixel resolution, the thermal diode infrared sensor comes with the same package size but a high field of view and pixel resolution. This leads to accurate processing of infrared data supported by a 2-4 times larger detection area.

2. Superior Imaging

The thermal diode infrared sensor comes with a 4/8 fps (selective) frame rate that is twice the specifications of the conventional MeIDIR and optimized sensitivity corrections for superior thermal images. These features seamlessly work together for the accurate identification of fast-moving heat sources.

3. Improved User Support

Customers can make use of application samples, evaluation kit, application-specific reference designs to support sample evaluations, and the development of the thermal diode infrared sensor. These user support tools further assist in the right product planning and design.

4. Environment Friendly

The thermal diode infrared sensor is developed and designed following the directives of the Restrictions of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS). This embraces the spirit of eco-friendly development by the brand’s environmental statement.

Advantages of the Thermal Diode Infrared Sensor

Mitsubishi Electric’s unique thermal diode infrared sensor technology gives the ability to acquire detailed thermal images and improves the identification of people and other objects. This, in turn, makes it ideal for use in crime prevention, high-security areas, surveillance monitoring, people counting systems, temperature-sensitive equipment, and other new normal applications for a smart society.

With 100 years of experience in providing reliable and high-quality products, Mitsubishi Electric is a recognized world leader in enriching society with its innovative technology. The new thermal diode infrared sensor technology will have a crucial role to play in helping the surveillance, security, HVAC, and smart building markets.