Tips while using GP2Y1014AU0F Dust Sensor (Based on our testing and learnings)

In the previous video, we have talked about the pin out of the GP2Y1014AU0F Dust Sensor. Link below.

https://embeddeddesignblog.blogspot.com/2025/12/dust-sensor-gp2y1014au0f-pinout.html

Why GP2Y1014AU0F Dust Sensor Needs Careful Handling

In this post, let us at some of the precautions, while using the Dust Sensor. Without these precautions, you might find using the sensor very difficult. The connectivity looks simple but few precautions are must.

GP2Y1014AU0F dust sensor testing setup

• When we are interfacing dust sensor to a microcontroller, don't drive the LED pin directly from microcontroller pin. The sensor isn't working, to find the root cause, we couldn't find proper electrical specifications from the datasheet. The below connection diagram gives how to connect the GPIO pin of microcontroller to GP2Y1014AU0F.

We used the below control circuit for pulse input to GP2Y1014AU0F.

• Any deviation from the R-C values (R1 and C1) will not give reliable output from the sensor. Ensure that exactly 150 ohms and 220 uF are used. When we buy this sensor, vendor or distributors are providing these components along with the sensor.

Correct LED Drive Timing Is Critical

• As per the datasheet, the recommendation of the pulse width is 0.32ms +/- 0.02ms as per below table from datasheet.

We have applied a pulse of 433 us and data is read reliably from the sensor.