Sensors are usually used to sense various states of the environment, such as temperature, humidity or motion state. Sensors that transmit data in combination with wireless technologies such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi are ubiquitous in homes and businesses, and have created a promising market in the electronics industry – especially in the Internet of Things (IoT).

The development of sensors has introduced many new technologies to improve monitoring of the surroundings, and mmWave radar is one of them. With this new sensing solution, the applications for detecting, positioning and tracking humans, animals, or generally moving objects, will be revolutionized. mmWave radar enables the rapid detection of the position of nearby objects with high sensitivity and high accuracy without considering the surroundings.

mmWave radars have some unique features, for example, they can work within a distance from a few centimeters to a few hundred meters and operate without a direct line of sight (for example, through drywall or plywood), and are also highly adaptable to environmental conditions (darkness, etc), such as in the face of sunshine, smoke, fog, or haze.

Human presence detection will be one of the target markets for mmWave radar. Compared with current infrared and ultrasonic sensors, mmWave radar offers many benefits. For example mmWave radar is less sensitive to ambient temperature or surrounding environment. An example: The traditional smart lights of passive infrared (PIR) detection cannot really detect people who are not moving and the practical effects of these seemingly smart sensors in real life are not satisfactory. However, sensors based on mmWave radar technology provide higher accuracy for lighting or air conditioning control in smart buildings/homes. Its combination with video can greatly reduce detection errors in the IP camera field.

Additionally, mmWave radar systems can guarantee security in locations where video recording is not allowed, such as toilets or lockers. mmWave radar can add a variety of intelligent functions to automatic doors, by detecting the presence of people and indicating their movement direction. By that the opening of the door is only triggered when necessary and aircons only running when the room is occupied. There with radar saves energy consumption at the same time.

The industrial field is another key application of mmWave radar technology, the use of which can sense the human body to improve the safety of operators near heavy machinery, such as robots or construction equipment.

The number of applications is endless. Smart cities are another area that could benefit from mmWave radars. Monitoring of traffic conditions for vehicles and pedestrians and the corresponding adjustment of the sequence of traffic lights are only two examples.