Trying To Build Automatic IR Temp Sensor Prototype

Help & Support Robot Parts
1

I am in the development phase of a prototype I am building. The product will be an IR Temp sensor mounted on a device that will aim the sensor in the X - Y direction to preprogrammed coordinates. The movement of the device will be achieved via smart servos mounted to hardware similar to a Pan-Tilt camera module. We are unsure of the servo sizing currently but they will need to move approximately .5 lbs in a range of 180 degrees X and Y.

We want the servo to move to a specified X, Y coordinate, then have a datalogger capture the temperature reading from the IR sensor and log the date, time, and temp. Then the module will move to the next X, Y location and repeat this process for as many as 50 X, Y coordinates.

Once the device completes the logging of the temp for all X, Y coordinates, it will return to coordinate #1 and remain at rest for approximately 1 hour and then repeat this process.

The data that is logged for all 50 coordinates will then be uploaded to a server via the internet.

We would like recommendations for all hardware components and software components to achieve the above tasks including controlling the servos and their locations, capturing the temp from the IR sensor, logging the resulting temps (date, time, and temp), compiling that data, uploading that data to the net or to a server. Please let us know what hardware and software you can assist me with and what items I may need to seek from other sources.

I am a novice and just have no idea where to start.

Thanks in advance for the help everyone!

2

Hi,

First, you will need to choose the IR Temperature Sensor. We have a large selection of temperature sensors that you can find through this link.
Here is some examples of IR Temperature Sensors :

]IR Temperature Sensor Breakout - TMP007/:m]
]PhidgetTemperatureSensor USB IR Temperature Sensor/:m]
]Non-contact IR Thermometer Sensor/:m]
]IR Temperature Sensor 3.3V Click Board/:m]
]IR Temperature Sensor/:m]
Here is also a link to our Smart Servo category. The most popular Smart Servos would be the Dynamixel AX-12A and the HerkuleX DRS-0101.

If you choose to go with the Dynamixel, you could probably use the Smart Servo Controller for Arduino to control the servo with an Arduino UNO Microcontroller Board.
Data logging can be achieved into an SD Card using an SD Card Module for example the DFRobot SD Card Breadboard Adapter and data could be sent to a server using an Ethernet Shield like the Ethernet W5200 Shield for Arduino (which also has an SD Card writer/reader on-board) or wirelessly with a Wifi Shield like the Cytron ESP8266 WiFi Shield.
The advantage of using an Arduino UNO for control and data logging, is that you can find a lot of sample codes and examples online since the Arduino is the most popular microcontroller board on the market and it’s suited for beginners to learn about programming microcontrollers.