After releasing an ultra-wideband (UWB) human-presence sensor built into laptop computers less than a year ago, Novelda is now offering its technology for a broader audience, which includes manufacturers of appliances, vending machines and anything that leverages LCD screens. The company claims the technology is the smallest and most accurate such UWB system available. The solution employs UWB radar pulses, and each sensor measures the reflection that returns from anything within the vicinity, enabling it to detect the presence of people.
Novelda’s X4 short-range impulse radar system-on-a-chip (SOC) is designed to be so sensitive, the company reports, that it can detect movements as small as the rise and fall of a person’s breathing or the beat of their heart. Used in indoor applications, consumer electronics and smart building systems, the Novelda human-presence sensor module consists of a UWB chip (the SOC), a printed circuit board and a crystal.
Rather than requiring a unique ID number to identify its target, the UWB radar system transmits a UWB signal, then measures the distance between the sensor and the objects or individuals around it. The UWB presence sensor has been integrated into computer manufacturer Lenovo‘s ThinkPad X1 Nano laptop, as well as five other Lenovo computers, for the purpose of human presence detection for touch-free verification and device access, as well as for automatic locking (see Laptop Employs UWB Radar, Facial Recognition to Authorize Users).
The system is now being used for occupancy and presence detectors. Steinel, for example, offers its True Presence Detector, which leverages the technology to help smart building applications automate ventilation and heating, while also enabling lighting control based on the detection of people’s presence, whether or not they are physically moving.
Eirik Hagem
Based on the successes with the X4 SoC for occupancy sensor and laptop technology, “We see we can now provide a more generic sensor,” says Eirik Hagem, Novelda’s chief commercial officer. The latest X4-based sensor module is slightly larger than the laptop version, measuring 12 millimeters by 12 millimeters (0.5 inch by 0.5 inch), with similar functionality as the device in the laptop but intended for a wide variety of devices and a more general set of use cases, according to Espen Wium, Novelda’s chief product officer.
“We’re targeting all products that have a display,” Wium says, including anything that needs to be turned on in the presence of people, and then turned off as they leave. That includes information screens, vending machines, appliances (such as white goods with built-in LCD screens) and other laptops. No products have been launched with the new X4 module so far, but pilots are currently underway for all product types, Novelda reports. The goal is threefold: to improve interactive experiences for those using the sensors, reduce the cost of powering a device when there is no one around to watch it, and extend the life of the screen by preventing unnecessary back lighting.
For instance, companies that make vending machines plan to build the technology into their products to detect when consumers stop in front of a machine. The sensor setting could be controlled to provide the appropriate read distance according to a specific machine’s requirements. That range could be adjusted for the machine’s location, or it could change according to the time of day. In a crowded train station, for example, the system could be set to detect presence only within half a meter (1.6 feet). If there were times when the station was especially crowded, such as during rush hour, the settings could change to an even shorter range to prevent the LCD screen from lighting up as people rushed by.
The technology is designed to detect not only that someone has come within very close range, but that they have stopped in front of the machine. Once a vending machine’s sensor identifies that an individual has stopped in front of it, the data could prompt its LCD screen to light up and display content, such as advertisements for the drinks contained within, along with instructions for making a purchase. If the individual then walked away or stepped outside the specific read zone, the display would go dark.
Espen Wium
In addition, the technology is being tested by home appliance companies. In this use case, Hagem says, if a stove incorporated an LCD touch screen for users to operate the appliance, the UWB functionality could detect the presence of someone standing immediately in front of it, and then light up the display. In that way, users could avoid having to press a start button, and the product could be ready for any further temperature settings or instructions. The process of detecting presence can take place within a fraction of a second, he adds.
The technology could also be used to detect the presence of people standing very still, by recognizing movements as minute as a person taking a breath. Products with this capability could be applied to such use cases as tracking the respiration rate of a baby. A product provided by MIKU uses an early version of Novelda’s technology to measure infants’ breaths, based on the motion of their chest and other movements, in order to detect sleep patterns and nursey conditions.
According to Wium, the development of new products has always been part of the company’s strategy. “We needed to focus first on the laptop application, but we’ve been working on the general sensor for about a year,” he says. “We always knew there was some potential in this area.” UWB provides some benefits for product manufacturers that other motion- or presence-detection systems might not achieve, the company reports. UWB makes the system highly sensitive, he explains, while it also can be hidden inside a product. The Novelda sensor does not require a lens or hole, which would be necessary for line of sight with other technologies, such as infrared.
Another benefit UWB provides is that it offers high sensitivity while preventing unwanted detections, Wium explains. “This is where we benefit from this precise range measurement with pulse radar,” he states. If users can set a maximum range of 1 meter (3.3 feet), for instance, “There can be an elephant walking just outside that range and it will not be detected.” Some companies are already designing products to accommodate the technology, Novelda reports. A business in the automotive market plans to deploy the system to identify when individuals come within range and then activate a display. The firm has declined to provide specifics about the system, however.
In addition to identifying presence, the could could also provide two levels of range detection in the near future—for instance, one set at 2 meters (6.6 feet) and another set much closer. In that way, an individual standing in front of a vending machine could prompt the screen to turn on, whereas placing a hand very close to the machine might prompt a second response, such as dispensing a product. “We can have a separate detection algorithm to detect that location,” Hagem says.
The long-term plan and vision for Novelda’s technology is indoor localization of multiple people, Hagem says. As the company continues to develop the SoC algorithms, it predicts that its technology will be able to pinpoint multiple individuals, identify where they are located within proximity to each other and the device, and measure vital signs. For such use cases, the company is developing a new product known as the X7.
“Key to all these markets is to make something that’s cost-optimized,” Wium says. The company aims to keep the cost of each device down, in part by streamlining the semiconductor production process. “We’ve been able to take something that’s normally a complex radar system and [compress it] onto a single chip.”