What is color Sensor? Colour sensor is a such type of sensor which has a property to analyze different types of colors such as green ,blue or red etc. This sensor uses light source for analyzing the color, means fist it emits the light through LEDs source and then absorb this light which come back after the collision of any specific object or thing. On the basis of this reflected light, the controller which have used with sensor analyzer colour of that specific thing or object. So many color sensor are available in market but here we will only talk about TCS 230 color sensor which is easily interface with microcontroller or Arduino board. It has been using in different applications such as in quality control system ,environmental system and packing control system etc. This type of sensor is easily available in market or online shop. A simple TCS 230 color sensor is shown in figure 1
Figure 1 TCS 230 Color Sensor
Pin Configuration of TCS 230 Colour Sensor
TCS 230 sensor consists of eight pins which are used for different configurations. The pin configuration TCS 230 sensor is shown in figure 2.Because this color sensor is interfaced with any controller therefore it is also powered up with the help of that controller and its pins are connected to controller according to below table
| Number of Pin | Configuration |
| 1,2 | These are S0 and S1 input pins. These are frequency selection pin and are used for input frequency selection. |
| 3 | This is OE input pin and is enable pin. It is used for enabling low frequency signal fo. |
| 4 | This is ground or GND pin and is used for supplying ground to color sensor.
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| 5 | This is VDD or power pin and is used for supplying power of color sensor. |
| 6 | This is output pin and is used for output frequency selection. |
| 7,8 | These are S2 and S3 input pins. These are input selection pins and are used for providing input to photodiode. |
Figure 2 Pin Configuration of TCS 230 Sensor
Working Principle of TCS 320 Color Sensor
TCS 320 sensor works on the principle of light reflection procedure. This sensor mainly consists of 8*8 array of photo diodes and current to frequency converter. Because in this sensor light is reflected back towards color sensor therefor this light is sensed by photo diodes. Then this reading of photo diodes is received by current to frequency converter which converters this reading into square wave. The frequency of this square wave is directly proportional to intensity of light and finally this wave is received by controller such as microcontroller or Arduino etc. which tells the color of that specific thing or object.
If we see the deep look to TCS320 sensor then we can easily analyze how it detects the different colors. Actually, the photo diodes of color sensor have three different color filters and each color filter has 16 diodes which are connected in parallel with each other . Similarly, first one color filter shows red color, second one shows green color and third one shows blue color. There is another forth one filter which has no color. For the selection of these color filters S0,S1,S2 and S3 pins are used which are selected automatically through logic program.
How to Interface TCS 320 Color Senor with Arduino Board?
For sensing the color of any object or thing, a controller is necessary with this color sensor for interfacing purposes. Here we shell tell the user how interface the color sensor with Arduino board. For interfacing this color sensor with Arduino board wiring or connections are made according to figure 3 and pin configuration is used according to above table.
Figure 3 Interfacing of TCS 320 Color Sensor with Arduino Board
After making connection, a logic program is written for proper working of this color sensor. This logic program is written in Arduino register library and then it is up load in Arduino board with the help of Arduino IDE software. Then it is powered on when it is powered on then its LEDs are powered on automatically. Similarly, when any colored thing is placed in front of this color sensor then it tells the color of that specific thing.
Alternative Sensor Module
APDS9960, BH1750, VL53L0X, DHT22, LM35, TLE4999I3, CCS811, BMP280, HC-SR505, MQ137, TMP36, A3144, PT100 RTD, Flex Sensor, Heart Rate Pulse Sensor, BMP180, MPU6050, Infrared Obstacles Avoidance Sensor, shock sensor module, MQ-2 gas sensor, rain detector, Soil Moisture Sensor YL-69 or HL-69, flame sensor, Hall effect sensor, DHT11, MPX4115A, adxl335, FSR 400, STM32F4