Researchers develop matchbox-sized radar
Register for free and continue reading
Join our growing army of changemakers and get unlimited access to our premium content
The compact and low-cost radar could prove useful in many IoT applications
Spotted: Researchers have created a radar that can fit inside of a matchbox and is sensitive enough to detect when someone sitting nearby is breathing.
It was developed by a team at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and researchers at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The compact and low-cost radar produces continuous pulses of short wavelength radio waves that can detect small-scale changes.
“Current radar modules are large and bulky,” KAUST’s Seifallah Jardak told newatlas.com. “They also lose out on key details because they operate using long radio wavelengths. We wanted to develop a low-power, portable radar.”
The new radar is a fraction of the size of an ordinary radar and weighs just 150 grams. It is powered by a small battery and can track the speed and direction of an object moving 12 metres away. The radar can currently run up to eight scans per second, which is fast enough for real-time monitoring.