Hi,
I am using infrared distance sensors (standard Sharp gp2d12), and I need to hide them behind some kind of fabric or plastic.
I have tried numerous things that I have lying around, but all materials are "seen" by the sensor. Does anyone know a material that would completely pass the infrared beam without obstructing or reflecting it?
Cheers
Something like the filter from an old remote-control?
Wratten 87-something-or-other gel filter (Warning: not cheap).
I tried the inside of an old floppy disk. The problem seems to be that even material which pass infrared also reflect a certain amount which is enough to be picked up by the sensor.
For now I decided to place the sensors were they have a clear view, because I don't have the time nor money to keep searching for a solution right now.
If you mount whatever you use to screen the sensor from view with the plane of the filter not at right angles to the axis of the sensor's beam, you may find it more tolerant of the filter.
But you probably already tried that.
If you have a webcam or camcorder, you may well find that it is sensitive to IR.... so watch the sensor on the webcam... if it IS sensitive to IR, the sensor's IR emitter will look white... and you can see how much different materials degrade the IR passing through them.
OR... maybe it would suffice to mount the sensor up close behind an opaque screen, with small holes in the critical places, if your goal is to enhance the appearance or stealth of the unit.
DigiKey sells IR windows for Serpac enclosures. These are separate end-plates made to go on those boxes....all different sizes. A small one runs about $2.50, and you can get first class mail shipping from them for $2.change.
Thanks for all the tips, I will try them out.
Cheers
I think I understand your problem, I'm not sure if the sensor you are using is one unit or your own though, but perhaps you could just put something in between the sender and reciever and then use a cover scavenged from a remote or anything.