In our bright, shiny and very colourful world, many of us couldn’t imagine being unable to identify specific colours and shades, as colour-sensing is simply a natural part of being alive for us. However, electronics don’t necessarily see in colours, and Light-Based Sensors can only really read the frequency or light energy amplitudes that are bouncing off or being absorbed into the sensing elements. Fortunately for us, some very smart people have already taken the entire colour spectrum that we can see, and broken it down into simplified wavelengths and groupings for us to understand in a quick and concise manner, and this is precisely what we use to translate the signals that Colour-Sensors use, to values that we can understand as real colours in the real world.
This GY-31 TCS3200 Colour Recognition Sensor Module is one such module that is excellent at identifying colours or light wavelength frequencies, allowing both humans and robots to identify colours remotely. This offers a whole range of benefits, as it allows us to build cool projects that can identify colours, enabling us to create systems that can, for example, identify when water is muddy or contaminated, differentiate between similar objects of varying colours, or even monitor plant health by revealing precise colour values that the leaves or stems are producing.
In terms of functionality, these Sensors are surprisingly accurate, but are only limited by the relatively short sensing distance of 10mm.
GY-31 Color Sensor Module is made using IC TCS3200, a programmable color light to a frequency converter. It has configurable silicon photodiodes and a current to frequency converter in a single monolithic CMOS Integrated Circuit. Its output is a square wave having a 50% duty cycle with frequency directly proportional to irradiance (light intensity). This module can be directly interfaced with Microcontrollers, Arduino Boards, Raspberry Pi, etc.
Features:
- High-Resolution Conversion of Light Intensity to Frequency
- Programmable Color and Full-Scale Output Frequency
- Power Down Feature
- Stable Temperature Coefficient
- Communicates Directly to Microcontroller
Specifications:
- Chip: TCS3200
- Input voltage: DC 2.7 – 5.5V
- Use bright white LED lights
- Best detection distance: 1cm
GY-31 TCS3200 Color Sensor Pinout
This Module has the following pins:
- VCC: Module power supply – 2.7V to 5.5V
- GND: Ground
- OUT: Output signal
Control pins:
- S0: Output Frequency Scaling Selection Input
- S1: Output Frequency Scaling Selection Input
- S2: Photodiode Type Selection Input
- S3: Photodiode Type Selection Input
- LED: LED control
