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Application Report
Designing a Low-Cost, High-Accuracy Infrared
Thermometer

ABSTRACT
An infrared (IR) thermometer can measure temperature without contact, which can help ease the spread of a
contact infection. Highly-accurate, non-contact temperature measurement is one such necessity that is needed
everywhere to identify persons at risk. This design demonstrates a low-cost, high-accuracy IR thermometer
solution capable of sensing accurate temperature up to a distance of 10 cm. The design uses a 24-bit sigma-
delta ADC and an ultra-low-noise signal chain to provide small offset and drift with temperature. The design
implements a complete solution with a low-cost MCU, LCD interface, and GPIO controls. The design operates
from a 3-V AA battery down to 2.2 V and has < 1 μA of total standby current consumption making it ideal for
battery-powered systems.

Table of Contents
1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................2
2 Key Specifications and Features.......................................................................................................................................... 2
3 System Design Challenges and Part Selection................................................................................................................... 3
3.1 Design Challenge #1: Accuracy of Medical Measurement.................................................................................................3
3.2 Design Challenge #2: Maximize the Battery Power of the System.................................................................................... 4
3.3 Design Challenge #3: Quickly Generate a Measurement.................................................................................................. 4
4 IR Thermometer: Hardware Design.......................................................................................................................................5
4.1 Low-Noise Signal Chain Design.........................................................................................................................................6
4.2 System Power Generation and Management.................................................................................................................... 7
4.3 Microcontroller Section and LCD Display...........................................................................................................................7
4.4 Power ON, Automatic LCD Backlight Circuit and EEPROM.............................................................................................. 9
5 Software.................................................................................................................................................................................10
6 Test Results........................................................................................................................................................................... 11
6.1 Board Images................................................................................................................................................................... 11
6.2 Test Setup for Evaluating the Thermometer.....................................................................................................................12
6.3 Test Procedure................................................................................................................................................................. 12
7 Test Results...........................................................................................................................................................................13
7.1 Current Consumption....................................................................................................................................................... 13
7.2 Electrical Noise................................................................................................................................................................ 13
7.3 Thermal Measurements................................................................................................................................................... 13
8 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................................ 14
9 References............................................................................................................................................................................ 14

Trademarks
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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Introduction www.ti.com

1 Introduction
An IR thermometer can measure temperature without contact, which can help ease the spread of a contact
infection. A high-performance analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is required to sample high-precision signals
collected by the analog infrared temperature sensor – typically, a single pixel thermopile sensor. The
thermometer provides temperature readings by placing the sensor near the object without actually touching it. It
provides portable and instant on-the-spot readings to screen patients and gauge the health of a person while still
limiting exposure risk of the tester.
This application note describes in detail the complete design of an IR-based thermometer for patient monitoring.
The design is implemented using a thermopile infrared sensor which produces an analog voltage proportional to
the temperature difference between the object and the ambient. Figure 1-1 shows the system-level block
diagram of the IR thermometer. The key advantage of this architecture is that it provides very high performance
at a very low cost.
Reverse Polarity Protection

Boost Ideal Diode

TPS61023 LM66100

3.3 V BATT+
Battery
Diode ORing Voltage
ENABLE Monitoring
Thermopile: Object temperature
Thermistor: Ambient temperature
ADC
Buzzer Battery
OUT1 ADC
Analog PWM
AMP
Infrared
TLV2333
Sensor ADC Load Switch
OUT2 PWM TPS22919
MSP430I2040
LCD Backlight
GPIO
Up to 32 segment display Power ON/OFF
ISR

System Interface GPIO C/F

GPIOs (12
ADC Measurement EEPROM
I2C
SPI (optional for display) (Optional)
Power

Figure 1-1. System-Level Block Diagram of the IR Thermometer Design

The heart of the system is the MSP430I2040, 16-MHz metering AFE with four 24-bit sigma-delta ADCs, two 16-
bit timers, 16KB flash, and 1KB RAM, which provides exactly the adequate resources to implement the
temperature measurement. It controls the complete system, in terms of power management, small signal
measurement, digitization, and user interface such as display, input buttons, buzzer, and so forth.
2 Key Specifications and Features
The thermometer has the following specifications and features:
• High temperature accuracy up to ±0.2°C with distance up to 10 cm can be obtained by precise calibration of
the sensor (this design does not incorporate calibration)
• Object measurement range of 30°C to 45°C with an ambient temperature range of 16°C to 40°C (supports
from 0°C to 50°C)
• Supports up to 32-segment LCD using the GPIO pins, additional support of I2C and SPI based smart LCDs
• °C/°F temperature display, changeable using a push button
• Automatic turn ON/OFF of backlight LED; battery reverse polarity protection

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3 System Design Challenges and Part Selection

For a high-level overview, read the technical article How to design an infrared thermometer quickly.

3.1 Design Challenge #1: Accuracy of Medical Measurement

A high level of precision for each measurement is required, down to ±0.2°C. While the signal from thermopile is
very small (less than a few mV), the variation with temperature is even smaller and can be < 10 µV/°C for some
sensors. Figure 3-1 shows a reference curve of one such sensor showing thermopile output versus object
temperature. Precisely and accurately measuring such a signal in a noisy environment is a challenge.

Reference Curve
Ambient Temperature = 25°C
x Sensor output voltage Sensor: TS318-11C55
range for the desired Vactive: output range for 30°C ± 45 °C @ 45 °C ambient
temperature range Vsen
Vactive = 1.75 ± 0.4 = 1.35 mV
x The average sensitivity is
Savg =
87.5 + 80
= 83.75 µV/°C
83.8 uV/C in the range of 2
interest

~1.75 mV

Vsen = 4 mV S45 = 87.5 µV/°C

~0.4 mV S30 = 80 µV/°C

Range where maximum

accuracy is required

Actual data from the sensor data sheet

shall be used for LUT creation

Figure 3-1. Typical Reference Curve of a Thermopile Sensor Showing Example Calculations and Range
of Measurement

3.1.1 TI Solution: Pre-amplification Using LNA to Remove Effect of ADC Offset and Drift
TI precision op amps have extremely low offset voltage and temperature drift. This allows small voltage signals
to be amplified.
TLV333:
• Ultra-low input offset voltage, 15 μV (max) optimized to measure low voltage signals
• Low offset voltage drift 0.02 μV/°C (max)
The pre-amplification stage is necessary to gain the signal and must have extremely low offset and offset drift
errors in the system. If the signal is fed directly to the ADC of the MSP, the offset and drift parameters of the
ADC will cause the error to be very high.

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3.2 Design Challenge #2: Maximize the Battery Power of the System
The batteries of the thermometer need to last for 1,000+ measurements and it must minimize current draw when
turned off.

3.2.1 TI Solution: TI has High-Efficiency DC/DC With Ultra-low IQ, MSP430I2040 With Ultra-low lpm
Current Consumption.
TPS61023:
• < 100-nA ultra-low shut down current
• < 21-μA quiscent current
• > 83% efficiency at 10-μA load
• > 90% efficiency at 1-mA to 2-A load
Power Optimization using MSP430I2040: The enable of the regulated 3.3-V supply is controlled by an
MSP430 which only turns on the system supply whenever the user wants to take thermal measurements.

3.3 Design Challenge #3: Quickly Generate a Measurement

3.3.1 TI Solution: MSP430 Family

The MSP430 family of products combines an ADC, LCD driver, and processing into one chip ensuring that
results are quickly calculated.

MSP430I2040:
• Integrated 24-bit, sigma-delta analog-to-digital converters
• Internal low-noise reference to minimize power supply noise which can affect the measurement

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4 IR Thermometer: Hardware Design

A voltage is developed across a metal if the ends are placed at different temperatures. This phenomenon is
called the Seebeck Effect. Two dissimilar metals connected at one end (called a thermocouple) will also produce
a voltage difference between them due to the Seebeck effect. Modern technology makes it possible to produce
thermopile sensors consisting of hundreds of thermocouples in a very small area.
Figure 4-1 shows such a temperature sensor with four leads coming out of it. Two leads are for the thermopile
output where the potential due to the Seebeck effect is generated and another two leads are for the thermistor
leads which are used for ambient temperature measurement.

Figure 4-1. Temperature Sensor Composed of Thermopile Sensor and Thermistor

Figure 4-2 explains the reason for using two sets of sensors. To know the temperature of the object, one must
know the voltage developed when IR light falls on one end of the thermopile sensor. The voltage (ΔV) will be
proportional to the temperature difference (ΔT). Knowing ΔT (using LUT corresponding to ΔV) and ambient
temperature TCOLD (in Figure 4-2), the object temperature can be determined.
V1

Voltmeter

¨V = V1 ± V2 = 4.0 mV

±
V2 'V S THOT T COLD
Hot Junction Cold Junction Voltage 'V
100°C 0°C 4 mV THOT T COLD
S Must be
150°C 50°C 4 mV
200°C 100°C 4 mV known

If the ambient temperature and the voltage difference due to the Seebeck effect is known, the object temperature can be calculated.

Figure 4-2. Object Temperature Calculation

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4.1 Low-Noise Signal Chain Design

The signal output of the thermopile sensor TP+ and TP– is fed to a low offset drift op amp with a gain of 201.
The signal is offset by VREF. The differential signal is fed to the 24-bit ADC on channel 0 of the MSP430I2040 for
digitization.
As illustrated in Figure 3-1, designing the front end requires that the range of the input must be calculated.
Assume that the thermopile signal (Vtc) varies between –1 mV to 3 mV as shown by the red marking (Vsen) in
Figure 3-1 to cover the range of object temperatures with ambient variation, which gives Equation 1:

Vtc 1 mV to 3mV 4 mV range (1)

This signal is amplified using one channel of the TLV2333 device with a maximum offset of 15 μV. The gain is
given by Equation 2:

§ R3 ·
V OUT ¨¨ 1 ¸ u V tc V REF1 201 u V tc u V REF1
© R 8 ¸¹ (2)

This VOUT is sent to the ADC in differential mode as shown in Figure 4-3. The ADC input will be varying from
201 × Vtc which will be 201 mV to 603 mV (for best performance the signal range should be in ±928 mV).
The system requires a DC voltage shift to the input to have sufficient offset to have a negative signal as well
(when ambient is higher than the object temperature, the thermopile output will be negative). This is done by
using another channel of the TLV2333 which serves two purposes. First, it provides a buffer for the thermistor
voltage measurement, the output is also used as a reference or DC offset for the thermopile measurement.
Note that the input impedance of the ADC in the MSP430I2040 is of the order of 200 kΩ. The typical thermistor
output will vary from 35 kΩ at 50°C to 331 kΩ ay 0°C (from the TS318-11C55 data sheet). To measure the
signal, a buffer between the thermistor and the ADC channel is absolutely necessary.
The thermistor voltage is measured using a resistor divider followed by the buffer which is used from the second
op amp in the TLV2333. Equation 3 calculates the VREF range:

3.3
VREF1 (R19 RNTC ) u
RNTC R17 R19 (3)

Equation 3 shows that VREF1 varies between 383 mV (for RNTC 35 kΩ) to 993 mV (for RNTC 331 kΩ). The
value of RNTC at 25°C is approximately 100 kΩ, which translates to VREF1 of 550 mV.
C1 C4 ain Stage
35V Vtc = -1mV to 3 mV 0.1% 35V Vout = (1+ Rx/Ry) x Vtc + VREF1
U1 1uF Vtc = TP+-TP- R3 1uF VREF1 - 200mV < Vou t < VREF1 + 600mV
Preliminary 200k
0.1% U3A
TP+ 1 3 TP- R8 2 Differential Signal: to be digitized
TP+ TP- VREF1 VREF1 R9
1.00k 1 V_TP+
A V_TP+
TP+ 3 1.0k
NTC+ 2 4 NTC-
NTC GND
TLV2333IDGKR C7
C9 35V
A TS318-11C55 35V 1uF C10

Thermopile Sensor
1uF
Thermopile Amplifier 35V
1uF

GND
R14
VREF1 V_TP-
GND 1.0k
C16
35V
1uF
3V3

GND
R1 U3B
1.00M VREF1
6
0.1% 7 R47 R21 VREF1_ADC
B
5 100 1.0k
2
4

TLV2333IDGKR C22 C20

R19 0.1µF R2 434153017835 S3 0.1µF
C14 102k 0
35V 0.1%
1
3

1uF
NTC+
GND

R59
Divider; can be used to modify the VREF value to get in range of ADC DNP
47.0k

GND
GND

GND

Thermistor measurement and reference voltage bias generation

Figure 4-3. Low-Noise Small Signal Chain Implementation

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4.2 System Power Generation and Management

The system requires a battery input source whose voltage can vary from 2 V to 3 V. The LM66100 provides
battery reverse polarity protection to the system. This battery voltage is fed to a boost device (TPS61023) to
generate a regulated 3.3-V system voltage. To conserve power drain from passive and other devices, the 3.3 V
is controlled by a BOOST_EN signal. When boost is not enabled, only the MCU, MSP430I2040, gets power from
the battery and is running in LPM4.5 mode. The battery voltage is ORed with 3.3 V, when the system is active,
3.3 V takes over.
The same pin of the MCU is like a PWM which serves multiple functionalities, to Enable boost, run the buzzer
with PWM. Note that the peak detector circuit keeps the Enable HIGH during PWM.
L1

2.2uH
Reverse polarity pro tection
U9 U8
Regulated 3.3V System Vo ltage Generation J1
5 3 T_PLUS 6 1 1
SW VIN OUT IN
2
3V3 .3V R30
0
6 VOUT EN 2 BOOST_EN 5 ST GND 2
PEC01DAAN
1 4 C2 C6 4 3
FB GND N/C CE
R35 C5 0.1µF 33µF
R20 453k 1.1pF
100k C25 C3 TPS61023DRL LM66100DCKR

2
PWM Signal fro m MCU 22µF GND
R26 1 Q1 BC857C-7-F GND
100k 22µF R36 GND GND
D3 100k

3
BOOST_EN 0.1%
BOOST_EN_SIG
1N4148X-TP 3 Supply Generation
R28 GND
C26 R52 680 Ultra low Iq and shutdown current
0.1µF 100k Buzzer Alarm
Peak detector LS1
1
2 SMT-0540-T-2-R
3 NC
SMT-0540-T-2-R
GND

GND

Figure 4-4. System Power Management and Protection

4.3 Microcontroller Section and LCD Display

The heart of the system is the MSP430I2040 device which controls multiple peripherals and complete
management in terms of power, display, measurements, timing, and so forth. The MCU in standby mode sleeps
in LPM4.5 mode with a current system draw of < 1 µA and 3.3-V rail cutoff while essentially removing excessive
power loss.
Upon detection of button press (S1) on P2.2, the system wakes up and turns on the power for various
functionalities. When in sleep mode, the battery provides power to the MCU and when 3.3 V is on, it takes over
due to the ORing diode D4. Figure 4-5 shows the schematic of the microcontroller section.
3V3
3V4

D4 Diode OR-ing for MCU pow er

BAT54C-7-F
1

3 MCU_VCC R31 Vref_ADC = 1.158V (internal)

33.0
V_TP+ - V_TP- = -1.158V to +1.158V
2

C8 C12 For performance, V_TP+ - V_TP- = -928 mV to +928 mV

6.3V 0.1µF
BATT_PLUS 10µF U4
LCD GPIOs
13 VCC P1.0/UCA0STE/MCLK/TCK 17
SEG0
ADC Measurements P1.1/UCA0CLK/SMCLK/TMS 18 SEG1
V_TP+ 1 19 TP_SM_1MM
A0.0+ P1.2/UCA0RXD/UCA0SOMI/ACLK/TDI/TCLK SEG2
GND V_TP- 2 20 TP1
A0.0- P1.3/UCA0TXD/UCA0SIMO/TA0CLK/TDO/TDI SEG3
3 A1.0+ P1.4/UCB0STE/TA0.0 21 SEG4
LCD GPIOs & I2C
4 A1.0- P1.5/UCB0CLK/TA0.1 22 TP2
SEG5
VREF1_ADC 5 A2.0+
PGA Gain = 1 P1.6/UCB0SCL/UCB0SOMI/TA0.223
R37 0
SEG6
TP_SM_1MM
47.0k 6 R38 0 I2C_SCL
A2.0- P1.7/UCB0SDA/UCB0SIMO/TA1CLK24
V_BATT_ADCin 7 R39 0
A3.0+ SEG7
J2 GND AVSS 8 25 R41 0 I2C_SDA
A3.0- P2.0/TA1.0/CLKIN
1 P2.1/TA1.1 26 Wake up from LPM4.5
2 RESET R40 0 15 27 R32 0 R42 0 I2C_SCL
RST/NMI/SBWTDIO P2.2/TA1.2 ON/OFF
3 TEST R34 0 TST 16 28 R33 0 R43 0
TEST/SBWTCK P2.3/VMONIN COM0 SEG6
4 29 R44 0 R50 0 I2C_SDA
P2.4/TA1.0 COM1
AVSSR16 0 11 30 R45 0 R51 0
ROSC P2.5/TA0.0 COM2 SEG7
PTT-104-01-L-S C11 31 R46 0
P2.6/TA0.1 COM3
50V 9 32
VREF P2.7/TA0.2 BOOST_EN_SIG
ESD Protecttion 1100pF
14 VCORE AVSS 10 AVSS ON/OFF: W akeup fro m LPM4.5
0 ohm resistor C19 12
DVSS
0.1µF 33
PAD
C13 R53
0.47µF 22k
M SP430I2041TRHBR

GND

SPY-BI-WIRE Interface GND

GND
Change connector if required
Modify accor ding to LCD design
R17
3V3
0 J4
1
R4 R5 R6 R7 SEG0
2
47.0k 47.0k 47.0k 47.0k SEG1
3
SEG2
4
SEG3
COM0 SEG4
5 ample
6
COM1 SEG5
SEG6
SEG7
7
8
Temperature
37.5C
9
COM2
COM3
10
11
Low Battery
LoB
12

R10 R11 R12 R13 M22-2511205

47.0k 47.0k 47.0k 47.0k

Connector for 32 Segment LCD Display

SEGx lines are operated at 2 levels VCC and GND
GND COMx lines are operated at 3 levels VCC, VCC/2 and GND

Figure 4-5. Microcontroller Section Implementation

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Software LCD: The design uses onboard GPIOs to implement the LCD display functionality. It has 12 GPIOs (8
SEG and 4 COM pins) to support up to 32 LCD segments. The implementation is done in software and is
available through TI for evaluation. For detailed information on similar implementation, see Software Glass LCD
Driver Based on MSP430 MCU.
Especially for one-third bias LCD driving using GPIOs, the TIDA-00848 reference design from TI that shows an
alternative, patent-pending solution can be used with any TI MCU without an on-chip display module. Using a
few resistors and GPIO control software, the LCD drive functionality was implemented on a CC1310 Wireless
MCU. Users can implement the same architecture using the MSP430I2040. One additional PWM pin is needed.
The ON/OFF pin can be used in this case (multi-purpose), since after turn on, the ON/OFF pin has no use while
the system is working. It can be configured into a PWM pin to support the display. Small hardware modifications
are required, contact TI on E2E for more details.

Figure 4-6. Example Implementation Using Same ON/OFF pin as PWM Output

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4.4 Power ON, Automatic LCD Backlight Circuit and EEPROM

The system wakes up when the S1 button is pressed which goes to pin 2.2 of the MSP430I2040 and this wakes
up the MCU from LPM mode. Simultaneously, the load switch TPS22919 enables the backlight power and the
LCD backlight turns on for a specified time interval set by the time constant of the RC network C17 and R23.
Figure 4-7 shows the corresponding circuitry.
BATT_PLUS

RST 3 TST
IO1 IO2
R27
1 47.0k
NC
4 2 TST
GND NC
.8V
R49 V_BATT_ADCin
1.0k

2
4
434153017835
GND S2
C21 C23

ESD Protection 0.1µF 17.4k 0.1µF

1
3
3V3
GND
R24 R25
C18 2.2k 2.2k GND
35V U5
1uF 4 VCC WP 5 Increase divider resistors to reduce current consumption
I2C_SCL 1
SCL
Battery Vol tage Measurement
I2C_SDA 3
SDA VSS 2 C/F selection
AT24C02C-STUM-T U3C
GND
R48 8 4
3V3 V+ V-
Slave Address : Ah 33.0
GND TLV2333IDGKR
C15
I2C EEPROM 1uF 35V

Baclinght LED connector GND

Remove and directly connect across LED

R57 0
3V3 DNP

J3
MCU_VCC R56 1

1
100 2
D1
PEC01DAAN LTST-C190GKT
Green

2
2
4

S1 LED for test

434153017835
1
3

GND
D2 C24 U7 R54
35V 680
ON/OFF 1uF 1 IN OUT 6
1N4148X-TP
R22
4.70k
3 5 100
ON QOD

4 N/C GND 2
R23
GND C17 10M TPS22919DCKR
35V
1uF GND

GND

Backlight Power for 10s

ON/OFF switch to be used in conjunction with Backlight ON/OFF

Other subsytems

Figure 4-7. Power ON/OFF and LCD Backlight Circuit

The battery voltage is monitored on the second channel of the ADC and the same is also used as a selection
switch between C/F displays of temperature. The same ADC channel is periodically sampled and button press
and battery voltage is measured using a resistor divider network. The I2C EEPROM (optional) is provided for
storing sensor data and other system parameters such as calibration data, sensor constants, and so forth. ESD
protection on the Spy-Bi-Wire interface is also placed.

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5 Software
Figure 5-1 shows the software flow diagram of the code implemented in the IR thermometer design. Each step in
the diagram is self-explanatory. Download project collateral and source code discussed in this application report
from http://www.ti.com/lit/zip/sboa501. The software does not include any calibration routine and it must also be
must implemented by the customer. The software implements a look up table for the TS-308-11C55 sensor from
TE connectivity and implements very basic calculations of the temperature.

Initialize MSP430I2040 DCO Clock

Initialize LCD

Initialize 24-bit
Sigma-Delta ADC

Initialize Timers

Yes
'LVSOD\ ³/R%´ RQ /&' Battery Low?

No
Enable Booster Convert
Beep Piezo

Start Capturing Temperature data

Check Buttons

Yes
On/Off Button? Restart 15 second timeout

No

Yes
Button 2? Switch between °F and °C

No

Calculate Object temperature

(compensation routine)

Display Temperature on LCD

Timeout?

Yes

Shutdown

Figure 5-1. Software Flow Diagram

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www.ti.com Test Results

6 Test Results

6.1 Board Images

Figure 6-1 and Figure 6-2 show the board images of front side (right) and back side including the mounted
sensor (left). The dimension of the board is 29 mm × 30.84 mm.

Figure 6-2. Back Side Board Image

Figure 6-1. Front Side Board Image

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6.2 Test Setup for Evaluating the Thermometer

Figure 6-3 shows the test setup which is used to evaluate the IR thermometer design. To simulate the object
placed at a distance, a Fluke 4180 IR calibrator is used to vary the object temperature. A high-precision 61/2 digit
multimeter and voltmeter are used to measure the input current and ADC voltages, respectively. The experiment
was performed in the lab ambient temperature of in the the range 19°C to 23°C

Black Body
Fluke 4190 IR
Calibrator

Black Body is placed back at a

distance of 5 cm from the the
Thermopile sensor to simulate
object. (Black body accuracy: 0:5 °C)

Thermopile Sensor
Backlight
Power
Precision Voltmeter
(measure voltage at ADC channels)
1. Thermopile Voltage
2. Thermistor Voltage

MSP430I2040

DC Power
Supply

Up to 3 V LCD Connector

Multimeter Input Connector

(measure input current)

Figure 6-3. Test Setup to Evaluate the Thermometer

6.3 Test Procedure

To evaluate the performance of the IR thermometer board, two categories of tests were conducted:
1. Electrical Noise in the system without the thermopile sensor mounted
a. Instead of a thermistor, a known resistor is placed
b. Instead of a thermopile, a high-precision DC supply (order of mVs) is placed
2. Thermal measurements with the thermopile sensor mounted on the board as described in the Test Setup
section

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7 Test Results

7.1 Current Consumption

Active current – 36 mA (complete system running including LCD)
Standby – 0.1 μA (with R27 Removed), 47.6 μA (with R27 placed); modify divider R27 accordingly to achieve the
desired current

7.2 Electrical Noise

Table 7-1 shows the circuit level test results without a sensor to show low noise in the signal chain. The noise is
the measure of the maximum ADC reading fluctuations with known values of thermistor resistor and known
thermopile input voltage (0.1 mV–1 mV).

Table 7-1. System Noise Results

Noise (mV) Resulting Temp Error (°C) Allowable Noise for ±0.2°C (mV)
–0.395 –0.023 6.914

7.3 Thermal Measurements

Table 7-2 shows the data collected at 36 °C (black body temperature). The following calculations are done by
following the compensation described by Thermopile Sensor for Contactless Temperature – TE connectivity. In
the table, VTP is the thermopile voltage (gained), VNTC is the thermistor voltage, TSEN is the ambient
temperature and TOBJ is the calculated object temperature.
Table 7-3 shows the data obtained at various set point temperatures of the black body. The data is taken at
30°C, 36°C, 37°C, and 40°C. The columns show average, maximum, and minimum values obtained doing a
similar experiment as shown in Table 7-2. The last two columns show the deviation from the average value.

Table 7-2. Temperature Data for Black Body set at 36°C

Readings Black Body Measured Calculations
Set Temp
Black Body VTP (mV) VNTC (mV) TSEN (°C) TOBJ (°C) SCALING
Temp (30\31.7)
1 36 35.7 186.58 576.17 23.79262688 38.44000253 36.13360238
2 36 35.8 185.53 576.64 23.75020865 38.32693104 36.02731518
3 36 35.7 189.4 577.53 23.6698454 38.52675126 36.21514619
4 36 35.8 187.58 577.75 23.64997237 38.37995567 36.07715833
5 36 35.5 186.6 576.96 23.72131993 38.37608767 36.07352241
6 36 35.8 187.03 576.77 23.73847341 38.42219174 36.11686024
7 36 35.8 190.28 578.34 23.59666097 38.52179452 36.21048685
8 36 35.6 189.64 578.45 23.58671905 38.46747604 36.15942748
9 36 35.7 191.22 579.76 23.46825916 38.47037531 36.16215279
10 36 35.7 189.59 578.04 23.6237713 38.49792268 36.18804732
11 36 35.7 187.31 577.02 23.71590256 38.42129665 36.11601885
12 36 35.7 188.25 577.45 23.67707117 38.45212682 36.14499921
13 36 35.7 190.51 578.23 23.60660211 38.54715792 36.23432844
14 36 35.5 187.57 578.82 23.55327225 38.29063466 35.99319658
15 36 35.8 187.66 577.81 23.64455191 38.38063967 36.07780129
16 36 35.7 190.18 577.99 23.62828912 38.54374163 36.23111713
17 36 35.8 186.46 576.69 23.74569523 38.38852466 36.08521318
18 36 35.8 188 577.74 23.65087576 38.41045416 36.10582691
19 36 35.7 187.35 577.1 23.70867902 38.41750379 36.11245356
20 36 35.8 185.93 576.07 23.80165018 38.40231967 36.09818049

SBOA501 – NOVEMBER 2020 Designing a Low-Cost, High-Accuracy Infrared Thermometer 13

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Table 7-2. Temperature Data for Black Body set at 36°C (continued)
Readings Black Body Measured Calculations
Set Temp
Black Body VTP (mV) VNTC (mV) TSEN (°C) TOBJ (°C) SCALING
Temp (30\31.7)
21 36 35.8 183.33 574.23 23.96756299 38.37036272 36.06814096
22 36 35.8 182.54 573.53 24.52925434 38.8284961 36.49878633
23 36 35.7 188.45 574.98 23.89996203 38.67059541 36.35035969
24 36 35.7 186.56 576.03 23.80525932 38.45016222 36.14315249
25 36 35.7 187.51 576.27 23.78360293 38.49747329 36.18762489
26 36 35.6 191.88 577.56 23.66713562 38.69947706 36.37750843
27 36 35.8 185.19 575.51 23.85216866 38.39626997 36.09249378
28 36 35.8 188.04 576.21 23.78901738 38.53990008 36.22750608
29 36 35.8 188.98 576.62 23.75201398 38.5724176 36.25807255
30 36 35.6 190.41 578.01 23.62648201 38.55833052 36.24483069
Average 36 35.72 187.85 577.01 23.73343019 38.4755791 36.16704436

Table 7-3. Temperature Data Collected at Various Set Points of Black Body
Black Body TOBJ (avg) TOBJ (max) TOBJ (min) TOBJ (max) – TOBJ (avg) TOBJ (min) – TOBJ (avg)
Temperature
30 29.75545216 30.09368583 29.51515572 0.338233667 – 0.240296446
36 36.16704436 36.49878633 35.99319658 0.331741975 – 0.173847779
37 37.40582747 37.82919839 37.05760415 0.423370918 – 0.348223324
40 40.62476939 40.8565339 40.32927866 0.231764509 – 0.295490737

8 Conclusion
The Fluke BB at a given temperature has 0.2°C (±0.1) maximum deviation as per the specification. Our results
show a deviation of more than 0.5°C (Max – Max). There could be several reasons for a deviation greater than
the black body.
• Data mentioned does not include any kind of sensor calibration. For example, thermal oil bath calibration at
multiple points would increase the accuracy significantly.
• Sensors picking up reflections from other sources. (the tests in the laboratory could not be performed in
perfectly isolated settings).

9 References
• Texas Instruments, Software Glass LCD Driver Based on MSP430 MCU Application Report
• Thermopile Sensor for Contactless Temperature – TE connectivity

14 Designing a Low-Cost, High-Accuracy Infrared Thermometer SBOA501 – NOVEMBER 2020

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