Mitsubishi Electric's Latest MelDIR Thermal Sensor Doubles Your Field of View
New lens design improves thermal sensitivity and more than doubles how much of room the sensor can see, the company claims.
Mitsubishi Electric has teased an upcoming MelDIR thermal-diode infrared sensor that, it says, offers mode than double the field of view of its existing product line: the 100°×73° 80×60-pixel MelDIR MIR8060C1.
"The expanded field of view," the Japanese electronics company says of its upcoming thermal sensor, "will reduce the number of sensors required to effectively monitor large areas, contributing to the safety, security and convenience of solutions for monitoring elderly care facilities and building air-conditioning systems, counting people, and measuring body temperatures."
Designed as a successor to the current MelDIR MIR8060B1, the MelDIR MIR8060C1 shares the same 80×60 resolution for 4,800 measurement points but doubles the field of view from 78°×53° to 100°×73° — allowing a single sensor to cover an entire room. Other improvements include improved thermal sensitivity and components designed to avoid blurring from light in the area.
The company has also promised the release of a demonstration kit and reference designs for implementations — plus tools for training artificial intelligence (AI) models capable of monitoring posture, counting people, and measuring body temperature.
Mitsubishi Electric claims that the new sensor allows for complete coverage of a 30×22m (around 98×72') room in just 40 sensors, compared to 96 sensors for the earlier MelDIR MIR8060B1 — but is not sharing pricing information until the official launch on January 6, 2025.
Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.