The present invention discloses an infrared obstacle detection method and device and a robot. The method comprises the following steps: controlling an emission module to radiate infrared light to the outside; acquiring first infrared light received by a first reception module and second infrared light received by a second reception module, wherein the first reception module is disposed relative to the emission module such that the first infrared light comprises reflected light obtained by reflecting, by an obstacle, the infrared light radiated by the emission module to the outside and infrared light in ambient light, and the second reception module is disposed relative to the emission module such that the second infrared light is the infrared light in the ambient light; and comparing the first infrared light and the second infrared light, and determining that the obstacle is detected when an energy difference between the first infrared light and the second infrared light is larger than a preset threshold.