Several years ago, Matthew Carey lost a friend in a terrible car accident after the friend's car hit some debris on the highway and went out of control. Under normal conditions, the car's sensors would have detected the wreckage in plenty of time, but it was operating in conditions that render all modern vehicle-mounted sensors useless: fog and bright morning sunlight. Radar does not see small objects well, lidar limited by fog and cameras blinded by glare. Carey and his co-founders decided to create a sensor that could do the job. terahertz thermal imager.
Historically, terahertz frequencies were the least used part of the electromagnetic spectrum. People struggled to send them by air even short distances. But thanks to intensive engineering developments and improvements in the frequency of silicon transistors, the radiation terahertz Radiation over hundreds of meters is now possible. teradarA Boston startup co-founded by Carey has succeeded in creating a sensor that can meet the automotive industry's 300-meter range requirement.
Company came out of stealth last week With the chips, he says, it can provide 20 times the resolution of car radar, seeing in all weather conditions and costing less than lidar. The technology is an “extended combination of lidar and radar,” Carey said. The technology is being tested by automakers for use in cars that will be produced in 2028, he said. This will be the first such sensor to hit the market.
“Every time you open up a part of the electromagnetic spectrum, you open up a whole new way of looking at the world,” Carey says.
Terahertz Imaging for Automotive
The Teradar system is a new architecture that incorporates elements of traditional architecture, Carey said. radar and camera. Terahertz transmitters are arrays of elements that generate electronically controlled beams, and sensors like imaging chips in the cell. The beams scan the area and the sensor measures the time it takes for the signals to return, as well as where they return from.
Teradar system can control beams terahertz radiation no moving parts.teradar
Based on these signals, the system generates a point cloud similar to that created by lidar. But unlike lidar, there are no moving parts. These moving parts significantly increase the cost of lidar and expose it to wear and tear out of the way.
“This is a sensor that [has] the simplicity of radar and the resolution of lidar,” Carey says. Whether it replaces any technology or becomes a complement depends on automakers, he adds. The company currently works with five of them.
Terahertz transistors and circuits
That Teradar has come this far is partly due to advances in silicon transistor technology, particularly the ever-increasing maximum frequency of devices that modern foundries can supply, Carey says.
Ruonan Hanan MIT electrical engineering professor who specializes in terahertz electronics agrees. These improvements have led to improvements in the efficiency of terahertz circuits, their output power, and the sensitivity of receivers. In addition, chip packaging, which is key to efficient radiation transmission, has been improved. Combined with research into circuit and system design, engineers can now use terahertz radiation in a variety of applications, including autonomous driving and safety.
However, “it is quite difficult to provide the performance required for real and safe self-driving, especially over long distances,” says Han. His lab at MIT was working on terahertz radar and another schemes for several years. The company is currently focused on developing lightweight, low-power terahertz sensors for robots and drones. His lab has also launched an image processing startup. Cambridge Terahertzaimed at taking advantage of the frequency band in safety scanners that allow you to see through clothing and detect hidden weapons.
Teradar will also explore applications outside automotive sector. Carey notes that although terahertz frequencies do not penetrate the skin, melanomas at these wavelengths have a different color compared to normal skin.
But for now, Carey's company is focused on cars. And in this area I had to ask one question: could Teradar technology save Kit Kat, feline unfortunately, shot down Waymo self-driving car in San Francisco last month?
“It would probably have saved the cat” says Carey.
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