Thermographic sensing redefined with 32x24 IR array

Melexis introduces the MLX90642, a revolutionary thermographic sensor featuring a 32x24 pixel IR array that redefines market expectations. It provides a drastically improved signal-to-noise ratio, global shutter readout, and onboard temperature calculation at a competitive price point. The device enhances performance in smart cooking, HVAC, fire hazard prevention, power electronics overheating detection, and hotspot localisation.

Accurately detecting temperature through non-contacting sensors is a crucial safety need in various industries, from consumer goods to industrial designs. Nevertheless, such systems' designers encounter many challenges that necessitate resolution. Cost and accuracy are often the key bottlenecks within these challenges, as is the necessity to include an additional MCU alongside existing thermography sensors to compute and enable precise temperature matrix output, further increasing costs and component count.

Enclosed within a compact four-lead TO39 package, the device offers seamless integration, which is improved by its factory calibration, permitting direct temperature reporting without a dedicated MCU. This functionality enables it to drive smaller, more efficient, and lower-cost designs. Performance is also redefined with the device. It features accurate low-noise operation with a Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference (NETD) of 65mK at a 2Hz refresh rate. The refresh rate can be configured up to 16Hz as required. It delivers a robust design with improved immunity to external thermal gradients and a wide working temperature of -40C to 85C.

The device's functionality plays a pivotal role in improving thermal image quality and precision, surpassing existing solutions. For consumer applications such as cooking or HVAC control, the sensor can help enable closer monitoring, increased efficiency, better user satisfaction, and safety, and it can pave the way for smart applications that mandate greater feedback to automate usually manual tasks.

This technology's remarkable combination of performance and cost, as well as its accuracy and intelligent integration, will serve as a platform for the creation of new smart designs that can enhance the sustainability and functionality of operations. Examples of these applications encompass AI-enhanced machine vision, such as smart building occupancy monitoring or gesture recognition services. These applications necessitate heightened accuracy and reduced noise, thus enabling extended detection distances with high refresh rates.

To cater to a wide array of operations, the sensor is available in two field of view options: 45° x 35° and 110° x 75°, both featuring 768 highly accurate IR pixels. The MLX90642 demonstrates a current consumption of 28mA, a 3.3V supply voltage, and an I2C-compatible digital interface to further ease integration considerations. The device is backed by the company's robust and highly scalable manufacturing systems and extensive application knowledge, making it well-equipped to cater to the large array of applications that it can address.

"With the new MLX90642, Melexis is setting a new standard for thermal sensing," said Joris Roels, marketing manager at Melexis. "This sensor redefines the balance of performance and cost, enabling a wider range of intelligent and sustainable products."