CIE Components in Electronics
Following the successful 2015 launch of its Evaluation Kit with 1st Generation of Grid-EYE sensor, Panasonic Automotive & Industrial Systems is now launching a new 2nd Generation Grid-EYE Evaluation Kit. The kit comes with two major updates: an improved Grid-EYE 2nd Generation sensor and improved software. A further addition to the new Evaluation Kit combines the “nanopower” PAN1740 Bluetooth Smart module and a microcontroller on one PCB. By introducing this latest 2nd generation Grid-EYE Evaluation Kit Panasonic enables customers to develop rapid prototypes and quickly build their own “Internet of Things” applications.
Mubeen Abbas, product marketing manager, Panasonic Device Solutions Business Division comments: “The launch of our new Grid-EYE evaluation kit enables our customers to develop new and exciting applications. We have improved our PC software and are working further to launch people detection, counting and tracking software into the market very soon. We also have an iOS smartphone app which customers can download for free to test the basic sensor functionality. We are focussed on enabling our customers to effortlessly and rapidly test our sensor in different ways for various applications. This paves the way for designers to use our new Grid-EYE sensor for their new and existing designs and speed-up their product development.”
The new Grid-EYE 2nd Generation Evaluation Kit is based on the AMG8834 Grid-EYE sensor and benefits from an improved NETD (Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference) of 0.16°C at 10Hz and of 0.05°C at 1 Hz. The detection distance for the new sensor has improved from 5m up to 7m.
With these features, the Grid-EYE sensor opens the door to a huge variety of new applications, ranging from energy savings in the lighting industry, domestic appliances (e.g. air conditioners, microwave ovens), safety and security systems (e.g. lifts, automatic doors, elevators, kiosks), and the medical industry (e.g. patient fall detection and patient positioning). Further examples include hot-spot detection, human detection inside vehicles for consumer comfort and contactless temperature measurement in industrial applications. Grid-EYE is also able to detect people and effectively differentiate them from other heat sources such as displays or heaters. Moreover, as Grid-EYE is an infrared sensor, detection of people is measured almost independent of ambient light conditions. Another significant advantage of the Grid-EYE sensor is that its use does not intrude on personal privacy, unlike cameras.
