Sharp Optical Dust Sensors

The GP2Y1010AU0F and GP2Y1014AU0F from Sharp are the most common and widely used optical air dust sensors tailored for sensing dust particles.

An infrared emitting diode (IRED) and a phototransistor are diagonally arranged into these devices, which allows detection of the reflected light of dust in air. It is very effective in detecting very fine particles like the cigarette smoke.

These Sharp products are probably true for all the cheap (i.e. hobbyist) optical dust sensor using the infrared light scattering technique. The sensor module has a 6-pin connector and the electronic inside the shell is split in two parts, the IRED (emitting part) and the phototransistor (receiving part).

The provided analog output is proportional with the concentration of the dust particle in the air.

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