Radar Sensors & Systems
Emerging radar applications are touching a diverse range of applications, including automotive, industrial, agricultural, and infrastructure. Radar system solutions are highly specialized and able to meet the demanding needs for accuracy, real-time performance, and reliability in extreme weather conditions.
Enhancing Sensing Applications with Radar
An established technology for collision detection in vehicles for over twenty years, radar is an ideal all-around sensor modality supporting a variety of functions, including park assist, automatic braking, adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane-change assist, blind spot detection, and in-cabin vital sign detection. The increasing number of short-, mid-, and long-range radars now being incorporated into vehicles mandates cost-effective solutions – solutions such as indie’s highly integrated, low-power radar hardware and software technologies that support high-precision radar sensing for real-time object detection and distance measurement. Radar is also a key modality for industrial environments, with high-precision and real-time monitoring used to detect fuel level measurement in tanks, speed monitoring in conveyor systems, and object detection in robotic automation, enabling early detection of potential failures.
indie offers high-performing analog front-end devices for continuous wave (CW) and frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) operation in the 24, 60, 77, 120, and 240 GHz ISM (Industrial-Scientific-Medical) bands. ISM bands can be used without a license in most countries. The higher frequency bands, 120 and 240 GHz, are particularly interesting: the smaller wavelength enables a smaller antenna footprint, higher measurement accuracy, and better micro-doppler detection than in the lower bands. Furthermore, the larger available bandwidth increases the range resolution, i.e., the capability of radar to differentiate targets that are close to each other.
Radar Advantages
- 4D Radar: 2D (Azimuth-Elevation), Distance, Doppler (Velocity)
- All Weather Performance: Rain, Fog, Dust, Particles
- Performance in Dark and Low-light Environments
- Low Power, Cost and Compute Requirements; Complements Camera and LiDAR
- Large Field of View (FoV)
- Antenna in Package: Small Footprint (no RF on PCB) for Simplified Design
- License-free ISM Bands
- Increased Accuracy; Better Micro-doppler due to Smaller Wavelengths in 120 and 240 GHz bands
- Better Range Resolution due to Larger Bandwidth within the 120 and 240 GHz bands
- Range Resolution up 3.3mm (theoretical value corresponding to 45 GHz bandwidth in 240 GHz ISM Band)
Radar Applications
- Distance Measurement
- Speed Measurement
- Object Detection for Collision Avoidance
- Automatic emergency braking, collision avoidance, and automatic cruise control
- Agricultural Sensors
- Gesture Recognition for Human-Machine Interface
- Human Presence Detection
- Patient Vital Sign Examination
- Child Breathing and Sleep Monitoring
- Packaging Quality Control
- Thickness Measurement of Non-conductive Materials (layer thickness measurement of up to 3.3 mm)
- Predictive Maintenance: Vibration Analysis of Rotating Machines
- Traffic Flow Monitoring and Traffic Management Systems
Enhancing Sensing Applications with Radar
Automotive
Smart City
Smart Factory
Bio Sensing
Robotics
Smart Agriculture and Forestry
Sports
New!
Radar and Vision Fusion Whitepaper
Using Radar and Vision Fusion for Improved Low-light Pedestrian Detection
Sensor fusion between radar and vision processing offers richer data for the vehicle to interpret, even in various environmental conditions. By enhancing the number of detection points – especially in challenging low-light environments – there is an increase in the accuracy of both distance and velocity data.
Automotive
- Front-looking and corner radar
- Adaptive cruise control (ACC)
- Collision detection, automated emergency braking (AEB)
- In-cabin radar
- Seat occupancy detection, child presence detection
- Driver monitoring, vital sign and drowsiness detection
- Proximity and intrusion alert, low power sentry mode
- Gesture recognition
- Intelligent airbag deployment
Adaptive street lighting powers up light intensity on demand and saves energy in sleep mode
Motion sensors, object detection to control door openers, automated lighting, security surveillance
Driver assistance systems
Intelligent analysis of occupancy and consumer adoption and usage patterns
Traffic control for a safer and more liquid traffic flow, and thus fewer emissions
Smart City
- Parking management systems
- Real-time monitoring of availability of parking spaces
- Automotive in-chassis applications
- Gesture recognition for touchless display control
- Driver alertness, passenger presence detection
- Automated trunk and door control for protection of cyclists
- Roadway inspections while driving
- Seamless and reliable detection of roadway defects
End-of-line inspection of workpieces like bottles, boxes or plastic containers
Detection of extraneous matters in food industry
Measurement of filling level inside storage tanks for liquids and bulk solids
Accurate position recognition of a workpiece
Smart Factory
- Non-destructive material testing
- Quality control of nonmetallic materials like inclusions or thickenings
- Thickness measurement
- Thickness measurement of non-metallic parts such as plastic tube extrusions
- Precise and reliable determination of the thickness of paint and powder coatings
- Level measurement
- Precise detection of material cone geometry
Spectroscopy on the basis of various absorption coefficients of organic and non-organic materials
Lighting control in operation rooms
Hygienic non-contact measurement of respiration and pulse to monitor patient’s condition
THz radiation for a marker-free DNA analysis; replacement of current analysis methods using fluorescent markers
Bio Sensing
- Positioning
- Monitoring of patient rooms and corridors for falling persons
- Gas analysis
- High-frequency gas sensors for detection of combustible and toxic gases, and for oxygen deficiency
- Ambient Assisted Living
- Detection of unusual inactivity while respecting patient privacy
Rapid sensing of surroundings to prevent collisions
Presence and motion detection for direct interaction with humans
Accurate positioning of cylinder piston while penetrating high-pressure high-temperature hydraulic oil
Robotics
- Service robots & automated vehicles for professional use
- Environment detection for autonomous on-demand material deliveries in production lines
- Obstacle detection, approach velocity and distance measurement for safe transport of important loads, e.g. in warehouses
- Industrial robots
- Exact determination of own position and position of workpieces
Precise and flexible maintenance inspections of difficult-to-access areas, components or surfaces
Localization through widespread farmland
Measuring of crown height, monitoring of density and shape of trees, estimation of timber volume and biomass
On-demandspreading of beneficial insects in case of pest infestation
Ad-hoc adaption of harvesting systems according to crop volume (grain)
Non-destructive detection of structural inconsistencies or damages to blades of wind turbines
Smart Agriculture and Forestry
- Drones / UAVs for inspections
- Non-destructive detection of structural inconsistencies or damages to blades of wind turbines
- Precision farming
- Yield mapping, soil moisture measurement, status monitoring of crop growth, crop classification
- Environmental perception for agricultural vehicles
- Precise alignment of the accompanying vehicles
Vital sign monitoring
Prosthetics adjustment and individualization
Observation of traffic approaching behind the bike
Sports
- Sports performance optimization
- Analysis and tracking of complex courses of movements (golf, javelin, and discus throw)
- Optimization of speed and accuracy of body movements
- Detection and tracking of sporting objects in motion
- Tracking of trajectory of flying objects like balls, discuses, arrows
- Support for sporting marksmen and avoidance of hunting accidents
- Referee assistance in ball games
- Supervision of health status of athletes
- Real-time monitoring of human muscle activity
- Biomechanics
- Position control of supporting exoskeletons