GY-906 MLX90614ESF Non-Contact Infrared Temperature Sensor Module IIC I2C Serial for Arduino

Sensor works great! Field of view is 90 degress. A bit wide for my preference, I'd prefer 10 degrees or less.Here's some python code that reads this sensor on a beaglebone black, hook up as shown in the BBB cloud 9 i2c temp sensor example. (pins 9 - 19 and 9 - 20 for i2c, power to 3.3v and gnd to gnd.)python code:import smbusimport timebus = smbus.SMBus(2) # Bus Number 2address = 0x5a # Device address by defaultwhile True: temp = bus.read_word_data(address, 0x07) # 0x07 is the IR temp register to read.Seriously why don't mfg-ers or resellers post examples like this for arduino, Beaglebone, Rasperry pi, in all relevant languages.

There are a few things to consider here - this model comes in different packages, different voltages etc. and this seller doesn't differentiate. This seems to be a 5V module with a regular to 3.3v - which means those of us that uses 3.3V devices are "not getting the full bang for the buck". I'll remove the regulator and give the unit the voltage it requires, and hopefully it solves what I'm seeing.I have this unit working - took a bit of tweaking though. There are several Arduino libraries that covers this unit, but the actual coding isn't too complex if you had to make it from scratch; I ended up using the DFRobot_MLX90614 library since it uses the native Wire interface and doesn't mess with everything else I have (hint - careful with Adafruit) and ESPHOME is a relatively simple setup with this library. HOWEVER, every initial reading of either ambient or object temperature fails. All subsequent reads work just fine, so in the end that was a simple fix. I suspect this is due to using 3.3V on the VIN pin, so I'm hoping this goes away when that's fixed.What I'm not so happy about is the temperature difference. Even sitting just a foot away from the sensor it barely measures above room temperature (about 2 degrees centigrade). I almost have to put my hand over the sensor (not touching) to see it go up significantly. So the spectrum it covers seems extremely wide. If the device keeps the sensor values relatively constant, I can still use any temperature difference to detect a human presence but that's for more testing.You should know what you're getting into - it's definitely not on the cheaper side when coming to sensor objects for basic Arduino stuff.

Summary: My GY-906 breakout module with the Melexis P/N MLX90614ESF-BAA-000-TU sensor on it did exactly what it was supposed to do. However, two of five stars are removed because (1) the seller did not provide a schematic (I attached one to this review), and (2) the seller did not prominently specify the full MLX90614ESF part number on the Amazon for sale page. WARNING: This module has a version BAA MLX90614 on it. Before you buy, be sure you can use a single thermopile sensor with a wide 90 degree Field of View (FoV)! Otherwise go to the Melexis site and look for a different version of the MLX90614 part with a narrower FoV. Melexis specifies parts down to 5 degrees FoV, but they get expensive.Full Review:What was sent to me was the GY-906 breakout module with a Melexis P/N MLX90614ESF-BAA-000-TU sensor on it The specification for the MLX90614ESF-BAA-000-TU part are: -40C-85C ambient temp., -70C-380C object temp., TO-39-4 package, 3V Vdd, Single Thermopile (Zone), 90 degree Field of View (FoV), ships from the factory in a tube.On the back of the board there is a tiny LDO linear voltage regulator and its two attendant input/out capacitors to ground. The voltage regulator is used to drop 5V to 3.3V which this MLX90614ESF-BAA-000-TU part uses for Vdd. There are also two 4.7 KOhm SMBus/I2C resistors which pull-up the SDA and SCL data output pins to 3.3V. (Two 10 KOhm resistors would be better in my opinion.) I attach a (ugly) reverse-engineered schematic for the GY-906 breakout module to this review.I tested the module with an Arduino Nano and the Adafruit MLX90614 driver. It works as advertised. There are more sophisticated drivers out there for this part compared with the Adafruit driver. But I'm lazy.I wish the seller would have prominently displayed the full MLX90614 part-number on the Amazon page before I purchased this module, then I would have spent more and bought a different MLX90614 version from the likes of Digi-Key. (I later found out in the Q&A after purchase that this is a BAA version part.) The problem is the wide 90 degree FoV MLX90614ESF-BAA-000-TU part on this module is too wide to make this thing truly useful, for me anyway.I may be able to narrow the FoV significantly if I affix a long tube over the end of the sensor. The problem is that the inside of the tube must have a very low emissivity mirror-like (e.g. PVD/CVD) coating, otherwise you would be (mostly) measuring the temperature of the inside of the tube, not the target object. Obviously, a re-calibration look-up-table will need to be generated after adding the tube. But where am I going to get a tube like that in the first place?Melexis does make versions of this part with smaller FoV specifications, down to 5 degrees for example. However expect to pay around $50 for the best 5 degree part in unit quantity. Digi-Key sells them.

I'm working on a personal project to build a non-contact thermometer as a concrete project to help teach me PIC programming, I2C, PCB design, and enclosure design for 3D printing. This breakout board has been convenient for prototyping on a breadboard (see picture). Also the price of the board rival the quantity one price for the sensor alone, so it's a good deal.Some things to note. The MLX90614 sensor comes in different sub-models. This board uses the BAA sub-model, which is what I wanted. It's not strictly medical accuracy--for that you need the more expensive DCI sub-model--but IMHO is good enough to screen for high fevers. I'm not allowed to put a non-Amazon URL here, so you'll have to google for the Melexis datasheet on the MLX90614; you'll have to read the datasheet to understand how to control the sensor. For what it's worth, I'm controlling the sensor in my application from a PIC16LF19156 8-bit microcontroller with a built-in I2C/SMBus interface.The board has a 3.3V regulator on it, but I've run it at 2.8V without modification. According to the datasheet, the sensor needs at least 2.6V to operate. The board contains pull-up resistors for SCL/SDA and a filter capacitor across power/ground.This board has behaved just as I expected and has been very convenient. I'm glad I bought it.

This worked great when interfaced via the I2C bus with an Aurduino Mega 2560. My only complaint is there's no documentation. I did find enough info to get it going by searching the internet and looking at other user comments. The on-board IR chip runs on 3.3 volts, BUT there's also an on board voltage regulator on the breakout board. The board runs on +5 volts as a result. Demo software can be found on SparkFun.com. Google "MLX90614_Serial_Demo." This version of the IR chip appears to measure both the object temperature and the ambient temperature. I don't have an accurate digital thermometer to evaluate the accuracy, but it appears to be in the right ballpark.