Radar sensors detect movements as small as 1/100 of a hair

The new sensor uses millimeter wave radar technology, with world -leading accuracy at an affordable price.

A prototype millimeter-wave radar sensor capable of measuring tiny vibrations. Photo: Omeed Momeni/UC Davis — A prototype millimeter-wave radar sensor capable of measuring tiny vibrations. Photo: *Omeed Momeni/UC Davis*

A team of engineers at the University of California Davis has developed a prototype low-cost, energy-efficient radar sensor that is only as small as a sesame seed and can detect movements as small as 1/100 the width of a human hair, Interesting Engineering reported on October 30. The new research was published in the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

According to the study, the new design makes "mission impossible" possible, allowing the sensor to detect extremely small movements from objects at the microscopic scale. The sensor promises to bring many potential applications in areas such as security, biometric monitoring and assisting the visually impaired.

The sensor prototype uses millimeter wave radar technology. Millimeter waves are electromagnetic frequencies in the range of 30 to 300 gigahertz, between microwaves and infrared. They are used to power high-speed communications networks like 5G and are popular for their short-range sensing capabilities.

Millimeter-wave radars fire fast-moving electromagnetic waves at targets and analyze their movement, position, and speed from the echoes, according to the team. Millimeter waves have several benefits, including being sensitive to subtle movements and being able to focus on extremely small objects.

Most current millimeter wave sensors suffer from power consumption and background noise filtering issues. The UC Davis team also discovered a large amount of background noise while developing their new sensor. When they tried to pick up the subtle signal of a small, thinning leaf, their sensor was overwhelmed and lost signal.

To overcome the noise problem, the team changed the design and structure of the sensor. This change helped remove noise from the sensor's measurements. As a result, the sensor can detect changes in a target's position as small as 1/100 the width of a human hair and identify vibrations as small as 1/1,000 the width of a hair.

According to the research team, this makes the new sensor equal to or better than the world's most accurate sensors. This low-cost device has the potential to help develop advanced millimeter-wave radars in the near future.

Thu Thao (According to Interesting Engineering )

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