TDK Corp has begun production at scale for its ultrasonic time-of-flight (ToF) sensors design for presence and motion detecting and proximity sensing in robotics, smart home and mobile devices.
Called InvenSense SmartSonic, the family of ultrasonic ToF sensors integrate a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) with a low power system-on-chip (SoC) in a miniature reflowable package. The ToF sensor provides millimeter-accurate and range measurements to targets at distances up to 5 m and in any lighting condition like full sunlight.
TDK said the sensor enables devices to gain accurate obstacle avoidance or proximity/presence sensing. The ICU-20201 embeds a more powerful on-chip processor with higher computational power. This processing capabilities allow fitting and running a wide range of application algorithms on-chip to offload system MCU power completely.
Other features of the sensors include:
- Ultra-low power
- Compact size; miniature ultrasonic sensor
- Wide operating range from 20 cm to 5 m
- Works in any lighting condition
- Detects objects of any color and optical transparency
- Customizable field of view up to 180°
- 3.5 mm x 3.5 mm x 1.26 mm, 8-pin LGA package
