Overview

The AMG8833 is a 64-pixel ($8 \times 8$) MEMS thermopile infrared array sensor manufactured by Panasonic under the Grid-EYE brand. Unlike single-point contactless non-contact infrared thermometers (such as the MLX90614), the AMG8833 acts as a low-resolution thermal camera, outputting a matrix of 64 independent temperature readings over $I^2C$ at frame rates up to 10 Hz.

Measuring surface temperatures from $0^\circ\text{C}$ to $80^\circ\text{C}$ with a $60^\circ$ viewing angle, the AMG8833 can detect human presence, movement direction, hot spots, and thermal gradients. It is widely used in DIY thermal cameras, smart home occupancy detection, HVAC control, and robotic heat tracking.

Quick reference

Pinout

Standard 6-pin 0.1" (2.54 mm) header or Qwiic / STEMMA QT connector:

Specifications

Pixel Layout & Data Registers

The 64 thermal pixels are arranged in an $8 \times 8$ matrix. Pixel data registers start at address 0x80 through 0xFF (2 bytes per pixel, 12-bit 2's complement format):

• Pixel 1: 0x80 (Low Byte), 0x81 (High Byte)
• Pixel 2: 0x82 (Low Byte), 0x83 (High Byte)
• ...
• Pixel 64: 0xFE (Low Byte), 0xFF (High Byte)

$\text{Temperature } (^\circ\text{C}) = \text{Raw 12-bit Signed Integer} \times 0.25^\circ\text{C}$

Wiring

Example

#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_AMG88xx.h>

Adafruit_AMG88xx amg;

float pixels[AMG88xx_PIXEL_ARRAY_SIZE];

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println(F("AMG8833 thermal camera test"));

  bool status = amg.begin(0x69); // Default address 0x69
  if (!status) {
    Serial.println("Could not find a valid AMG8833 sensor, check wiring!");
    while (1);
  }
  Serial.println("AMG8833 initialized.");
}

void loop() {
  // Read all 64 thermal pixels into array
  amg.readPixels(pixels);

  Serial.println("--- 8x8 Thermal Frame (°C) ---");
  for (int i = 1; i <= AMG88xx_PIXEL_ARRAY_SIZE; i++) {
    Serial.print(pixels[i - 1], 1);
    Serial.print("\t");
    if (i % 8 == 0) Serial.println();
  }
  Serial.println();

  delay(1000);
}

Common mistakes

• Expecting high-resolution optical images: The AMG8833 is an $8 \times 8$ grid (64 pixels total). Producing smooth thermal images requires applying bicubic software interpolation (e.g. upscaling to $24 \times 24$ or $32 \times 32$ in code).
• Measuring temperatures $>80^\circ\text{C}$: Temperatures exceeding $80^\circ\text{C}$ cause sensor output registers to saturate.
• Ignoring thermal stabilization warm-up: Allow the sensor 30 seconds after powering on for internal silicon temperatures to stabilize.

Notes

• AMG8833 vs MLX90640: AMG8833 is $8 \times 8$ (64 pixels, $0.25^\circ\text{C}$ resolution); MLX90640 is $32 \times 24$ (768 pixels). AMG8833 is simpler and cheaper for basic presence detection.