Worldwide availability of MEMS-based sonar on ultrasonic ToF sensors

TDK Corporation has released the Chirp CH-101 MEMS-based ultrasonic ToF sensor. This ToF sensor uses a tiny ultrasonic transducer chip to transmit a pulse of ultrasound and then listen for echoes rebounding from targets in the sensor’s field-of-view. By calculating the ToF, the sensor can define the location of an object relative to a device and trigger a programmed behaviour.

The company's MEMS ultrasonic technology leverages a proprietary ToF sensor in a 3.5mm x 3.5mm package that consolidates a MEMS ultrasonic transducer with a power-efficient DSP on a custom low-power mixed-signal CMOS ASIC. The sensor manages a mixture of ultrasonic signal-processing functions, allowing customers flexible industrial design options for a wide variety of use-case scenarios, including range-finding, object-detection/avoidance, presence/proximity sensing, and position-tracking.

The device is the first commercially available MEMS-based ultrasonic ToF sensor intended for consumer electronics, AR/VR, drones, IoT, robotics, automotive, and industrial market segments. The company's MEMS ultrasonic product portfolio also comprises the sensor for room-scale sensing applications, and Chirp SonicTrack, a comprehensive hardware-software system solution allowing inside-out 6-DoF controller tracking for AR/VR/MR systems.

“The CH-101 sensor is the culmination of years of development based on a breakthrough innovation in piezoelectric-MEMS technology and low-power ASIC design, resulting in high-performance, low-power ultrasonic sensing in a tiny package,” said Michelle Kiang, CEO, Chirp Microsystems, a TDK Group Company. “For the first time, product designers have available a new ToF sensor option to enable new functionalities and improve user experience in a broad range of consumer products. CH-101-based Chirp SonicTrack provides 6DoF controller tracking in HTC’s new Vive Focus Plus All-in-One VR system, which is in mass production today, and both CH-101 and CH-201 sensors are being designed-in by leading consumer brands in smart speakers, robotic vacuum cleaners, PCs, and many more products. We expect to see several additional product launches powered by TDK’s MEMS ultrasonic products in the next 12 months.”