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HC-SR501 Human Sensor Module Pyroelectric Infrared

3.6 out of 5 stars 1,081 ratings
Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
Power Source Corded Electric
Item Weight 10 Grams
Maximum Range 24 Meters
UPC 702082654453 627385135396 610395246251

About this item

  • Working voltage: DC5V to 20V(Static consumption: 65 uAmps)
  • Level output: 3.3V high, low 0V
  • Sensing range: less than 120 degrees cone angle less than 7 m
  • Working temperature: -15 to +70 degrees
  • PCB Dimensions: 32 * 24mm ,screw pitch 28mm ,screw aperture 2mm, sensor lens Dimensions: (diameter): 23mm (default)
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Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1.57 x 1.57 x 1.57 inches; 0.35 ounces
  • Manufacturer recommended age ‏ : ‎ 12 months and up
  • Item model number ‏ : ‎ 3-01-0120-A
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ April 26, 2012
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007XQRKD4
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 out of 5 stars 1,081 ratings

Product Description

HC-SR501 Adjust IR Pyroelectric Infrared PIR Motion Sensor Detector Module

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
1,081 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the motion detector works well, particularly with Raspberry Pi, and appreciate its good range, with one mentioning it can be used up to 20 feet away. The sensor is easy to hook up and customers consider it good value for money. While the sensitivity can be adjusted, some customers find it too sensitive at times. The product receives positive feedback for its quality, though customers note there is zero documentation provided.

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FunctionalitySensor functionalityEase of useQualityValue for moneyRangeSensitivityDocumentation
44 customers mention "Functionality"39 positive5 negative

Customers find that the motion detector works great, with one customer specifically noting its effectiveness with human-size targets and another mentioning its compatibility with Raspberry Pi.

"...This is a really nice module to have if you want to learn how a Pyroelectric Infrared sensor works...." Read more

"Got it working in 10 min. Works pretty good. It's not made for a bread board...." Read more

"...Pros: It works fairly accurately. It can be modified for different sensitivity levels, making it a bit more practical..." Read more

"...This has been working flawlessly for the last few months, and I have absolutely no complaints." Read more

18 customers mention "Sensor functionality"18 positive0 negative

Customers find the sensor works well for detecting human motion, with one customer noting it works effectively even from a distance.

"...Signal goes high (3V) when motion is detected. It detects me pretty much anywhere in my 11 X 20 ft living room. Also detects my dog (45lbs)...." Read more

"Sensor works properly, but can't help but feel it was poorly designed...." Read more

"...A couple caveats: it does sense motion just fine, but it takes a few seconds to "reset" before it will sense motion again...." Read more

"...On the plus side, it is quite inexpensive for what it is and it opens up your projects to a whole new window of possibility...." Read more

16 customers mention "Ease of use"14 positive2 negative

Customers find the motion detector easy to use and hook up, with one mentioning it's readily available on many Arduino websites.

"...does not come with any instructions on how to use this but it is straight forward:..." Read more

"...If you can't or don't want to find the specs, it's still really easy to hook up. 5V VCC, Ground, and a signal pin...." Read more

"...Easy as heck to use and get running. Was up and running within 15 minutes once I figured out how the cables went to the unit...." Read more

"...It is easy to program into sketches-- it's just an input device, so nothing special...." Read more

16 customers mention "Quality"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the motion detector to be of good quality, with one customer noting its extremely reliable performance.

"It arived on time and is in good condition. I haven't had time to work with it much but I did hook it to my Arduino to get 5 volts...." Read more

"Product appears to be good quality and it does seem to work. Again, only 3 stars because there is no documentation...." Read more

"...It is durable ( bought these before) and small enough to not be noticed. Range is nice on it too." Read more

"Great products" Read more

13 customers mention "Value for money"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the PIR sensor to be good value for money, with one mentioning it works well enough for its price point.

"...Works good to detect motion in my unused rooms - very inexpensive intrusion alarm...." Read more

"...On the plus side, it is quite inexpensive for what it is and it opens up your projects to a whole new window of possibility...." Read more

"I chose this rating because the PIR sensor works well enough for the price, but I dinged it because it doesn't come with any sort of..." Read more

"...been a workhorse for the electronics industry, and this one is a great price...." Read more

6 customers mention "Range"6 positive0 negative

Customers like the motion detector's range, with one mentioning it can be used up to 20 feet away.

"Works great with arduino UNO and can be used upto 20 feet away (Maybe more, have not tested it more then 20 ft)...." Read more

"...Range is nice on it too." Read more

"It has a good range, I'd give it 5 stars if documentation and explanation of the components were not scarce...." Read more

"...triggers nicely and very quick. Nice distance range on it as well. The quality is exactly the same as the other sensors just at 1/3 the price...." Read more

15 customers mention "Sensitivity"8 positive7 negative

Customers have mixed experiences with the motion detector's sensitivity, with some finding it extremely sensitive while others report it being too sensitive at times.

"...Pros: It works fairly accurately. It can be modified for different sensitivity levels, making it a bit more practical..." Read more

"...At first I pluged it in to 3.3V but the LED just went on and off so I pluged it in to 5 volts and it seems to be working...." Read more

"...Low and High sensitivity. This one has a pot that controls the sensitivity and another for the timeout (according to another post)...." Read more

"...I need to set up a more controlled test or maybe the sensitivity adjustment isn't working on my unit." Read more

12 customers mention "Documentation"0 positive12 negative

Customers report that the motion detector lacks documentation and comes without any instructions.

"...It does not come with any instructions on how to use this but it is straight forward:..." Read more

"...This can get very confusing when programming something for it...." Read more

"This PIR works fairly well. It comes with no documentation, but it's fairly straightforward...." Read more

"...No documentation, so you do have to search around a bit, but there are several "user manuals" out there on the web." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Markus Twain
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good for learning about human sensors and how it works. Perfect for rough applications.
    Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    This sensor is only for rough applications, it is not recommended that you use this for accurate sensitive projects.

    This is a really nice module to have if you want to learn how a Pyroelectric Infrared sensor works.
    Due to the fact that this senses Infrared radiation, light shining directly on the module will cause it to send a signal as if a human were actually there when in reality it isn't.

    It is best recommended if you position the sensor facing away from light for better results.

    It does not come with any instructions on how to use this but it is straight forward:

    Using the conventional current theory, you'd want to connect the POSITIVE terminal to Vcc pin and the NEGATIVE terminal to GND pin. The OUT pin is the signal pin where the sensor will tell you if it detects a human.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • K. Johnson
    1.0 out of 5 stars Piece of junk.
    Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Regardless of the settings I use on the potentiometers, I cannot get this device to work as advertised. In fact, the ONLY way I can get it to trigger is to shake the unit out of frustration. I've tried various versions of sketches from many different sources, and I can only conclude that this is sensor is either very poorly designed, broken, or both.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • PattyCO
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great for the price.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Got it working in 10 min. Works pretty good. It's not made for a bread board. A few jumper wires and it was connected directly to my Arduino with no breadboard. Specs are readily available by Googling HC-SR501. If you can't or don't want to find the specs, it's still really easy to hook up. 5V VCC, Ground, and a signal pin. Signal goes high (3V) when motion is detected. It detects me pretty much anywhere in my 11 X 20 ft living room. Also detects my dog (45lbs). Works good to detect motion in my unused rooms - very inexpensive intrusion alarm. I haven't played with the delay or sensitivity because it works as is for my needs. It will connect to most any microcontroller, not just the Arduino. I have it connected to a PIC12F675. For the price, it does the job quite well.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • S. L.
    4.0 out of 5 stars surprisingly low power; wide input voltage
    Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This item has several model names and different variations.

    There's a voltage regulator that accepts voltages from 5 to 24vdc.

    At 5vdc it takes about 60micro amps. I'm running this on 12vdc and at that voltage it uses about 76micro amps.

    The middle pin, output, puts out 10mA and 3.3vdc. so if you connect a green LED from the output pin to ground (negative), you'll see a dim glow when you put your hand in front of it.

    You can directly drive an NPN transistor.

    If you move around in front of the unit, it sends out an "on" pulse, then off. Even if you keep on moving it will still shut off. After a few seconds, it will switch on again if you move. So its on again, off again. Think of those annoying public toilet sinks that are "touchless". So if you want this to be a bathroom light for example, you'll need a separate timer - think of something similar to a computer screen saver, as long as you keep moving your mouse.

    Here's one being powered up:
    [...]
    [...]
    22 people found this helpful
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  • Jonathan Carofilis
    3.0 out of 5 stars Works, but Poor Design
    Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Sensor works properly, but can't help but feel it was poorly designed. The capacitors on the corners are almost equal in length to the pins on the sensor, therefore making it nearly impossible to plug it directly into a breadboard. Also the flimsy plastic dome pops right off if you touch the underside of the circuit.

    Pros: It works fairly accurately.
    It can be modified for different sensitivity levels, making it a bit more practical

    Cons: Poor design.
    Need famle-to-male breakout to work properly
    Plastic dome falls off too easily
    One person found this helpful
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  • Gene328
    5.0 out of 5 stars I Like It
    Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    It arived on time and is in good condition. I haven't had time to work with it much but I did hook it to my Arduino to get 5 volts. When I move in front of it the L E D goes on and off. At first I pluged it in to 3.3V but the LED just went on and off so I pluged it in to 5 volts and it seems to be working. I read somewhere that I might have to experment a little to get it to detect Humans.
    So, I don't know just what that means but I'm going to find out. Check back, When I find out I'll let you know.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Gc
    2.0 out of 5 stars It's a gamble
    Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I have read some of these reviews and some come with the jumper version and some does not. Mine did NOT, and it works horribly. It basically sends an ON and OFF pulse. When the pulse is ON, it will check for movement. If movement is found, then it will stay ON. Realize the problem? It will only check during an ON pulse, so if someone moves when it is OFF pulse, then motion is not detected. If you set the time interval longer, then it will stay ON when there is no movement. This can get very confusing when programming something for it. From what I have read, the jumper can set it to continuous monitoring, which is what I probably wanted. However, I cannot just put a jumper since the jumper setting is soldered in place. Purchase this product carefully, they all look the same, but they are not. That said, mine didn't work so accurately, you literally have to dance in front of it for detection, even when the sensitivity is maxed. I recommend just going to eBay and getting one that specifically has a jumper.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Jason Wright
    5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely reliable, great price
    Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    As a novice in the embedded field, I struggled to get this working at first. I set up my arduino to check the signal from the sensor every 50ms, and there appeared to be many false-positives returning from the sensor.

    I later realized that the sensor will output HIGH on occasion just to signal that it is still active. Under a constant stream, the output looks something like: "0000000000111100000000001111" always with 4 HIGH in a row.

    In my loop that checks if the sensor is actually "tripped" I simply checked for combinations of HIGH in groups more than 4. This has been working flawlessly for the last few months, and I have absolutely no complaints.
    99 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Praveen kumar
    5.0 out of 5 stars good product
    Reviewed in India on September 21, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    but the there is no precise or dezire output
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  • alain boissy
    5.0 out of 5 stars parfait
    Reviewed in France on August 20, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    parfait plus que dans mes attentes, petit, montage sur un raspberry pi pour faire une alarme au top
    Report
  • Adrián
    5.0 out of 5 stars Buena calidad
    Reviewed in Spain on October 10, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Me llegaron en el día que se indicaba y van bien protegidos en una caja y además en sobres de plástico antiestático.
    Aunque no llevan instrucciones o serigrafiado qué pin es cada uno o qué hace cada porenciometro, una búsqueda rápida por google te soluciona el problema.

    Por el momento he podido probar solo uno de los cinco que vienen en la caja, pero a falta de hacer alguna que otra prueba más parece que funcionan bastante bien.
    Customer image
    Adrián
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Buena calidad

    Reviewed in Spain on October 10, 2018
    Me llegaron en el día que se indicaba y van bien protegidos en una caja y además en sobres de plástico antiestático.
    Aunque no llevan instrucciones o serigrafiado qué pin es cada uno o qué hace cada porenciometro, una búsqueda rápida por google te soluciona el problema.

    Por el momento he podido probar solo uno de los cinco que vienen en la caja, pero a falta de hacer alguna que otra prueba más parece que funcionan bastante bien.
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  • SolarMan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Passive infrared movement sensors.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    These are very easy to get started with as there are only 3 connections. All the complexity is hidden. They work well as a human movement sensor. I just need to decide what that killer project will be. These are cheap enough to mess about with even without knowing their final purpose. Definitely a fun building block. An idea might be to power down a microprocessor LED display if no one is looking it it.
    There seems to be some misprints on the quiescent power supply current. I think the units should be ~65 micro not milli amps.
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  • Marco
    5.0 out of 5 stars Sempre utili
    Reviewed in Italy on October 6, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Il prodotto arriva ben protetto, impacchettati ad uno ad uno dentro una busta antistatica e spediti dentro un contenitore di cartone.
    Non ci sono bisogno di tante spiegazioni per questo sensore, facile da usare e con tanto supporto in rete.
    Si presta a tante applicazioni,specialmente nell'ambito della domotica. Spesso capita infatti di dover controllare il passaggio di una persona o un animale domestico, e un sensore PIR e' probabilmente il modo piu' facile ed economico di implementarlo. Averne 5 a disposizione permette di coprire piu' stanze e/o piu' angolature.
    Sicuramente consigliato!

    The product arrives well protected, packed one by one in an antistatic bag and shipped in a cardboard box. There is no need for a lot of explanation for this sensor, which is easy to use and has a lot of support on the net. It lends itself to many applications, especially in the field of home automation. It often happens in fact to have to control the passage of a person or a pet, and a PIR sensor is probably the easiest and cheapest way to implement it. Having 5 available allows you to cover more rooms and / or more angles.
    Definitely recommended!
    Customer image
    Marco
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Sempre utili

    Reviewed in Italy on October 6, 2019
    Il prodotto arriva ben protetto, impacchettati ad uno ad uno dentro una busta antistatica e spediti dentro un contenitore di cartone.
    Non ci sono bisogno di tante spiegazioni per questo sensore, facile da usare e con tanto supporto in rete.
    Si presta a tante applicazioni,specialmente nell'ambito della domotica. Spesso capita infatti di dover controllare il passaggio di una persona o un animale domestico, e un sensore PIR e' probabilmente il modo piu' facile ed economico di implementarlo. Averne 5 a disposizione permette di coprire piu' stanze e/o piu' angolature.
    Sicuramente consigliato!

    The product arrives well protected, packed one by one in an antistatic bag and shipped in a cardboard box. There is no need for a lot of explanation for this sensor, which is easy to use and has a lot of support on the net. It lends itself to many applications, especially in the field of home automation. It often happens in fact to have to control the passage of a person or a pet, and a PIR sensor is probably the easiest and cheapest way to implement it. Having 5 available allows you to cover more rooms and / or more angles.
    Definitely recommended!
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