Microcontroller Based Color Analyzer With Computer Interfacing

Abstract

In textiles and garment related industries, it is often needed to dye fabrics with a particular color. The dye color is usually composed using some base or primary colors (such as red, green and blue). However, it is difficult to identify the exact ratio of primary colors that combine to form a particular color using our eyes. Therefore, to compose the color, many trials and errors are required, which takes huge amount of time and resources. If a system can be developed that can identify the primary color constituents of a color, then the dye could be easily prepared. In this project, we analyzed the red-green-blue (RGB) components of a light (reflected from any colored plain surface) using a color sensor and then display and save the results in a computer. We used a color sensor (TCS230) for analyzing the color, which converts color intensity to frequency. More specifically, its output is a square wave whose frequency is directly proportional to the intensity of light incident on the sensor surface. The RGB components are analyzed using the principles of light reflectivity and some color filters. The computer interfacing is done through Universal Serial Bus (USB). USB was chosen considering the drawbacks of other standard interfacing techniques. We also developed a GUI to display the data on screen and the software stores the analyzed data on a text file for future usage.