Development of a "respiration rate sensor" that enables construction of a detection system that monitors unattended children and pets in cars

• March 06, 2019

OMRON Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd. (Head office: Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, President: Katsuhiro Wada, OAE below) is a subsidiary of OMRON Corporation (Head office: Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto City; CEO: Yoshihito Yamada) responsible for automotive business. OAE has developed a "respiration rate sensor" that uses radio waves to detect the presence of an occupant in a vehicle more accurately than by capturing subtle chest movements that occur when a life form breathes.

This sensor can accurately detect objects with subtle body movement, such as a child who is deep asleep, by a technology that captures smaller body movements as compared to the conventional ultrasonic method. For example, by combining this sensor with the "Onboard driver monitoring sensor" ^*1announced in 2017, it only detects subjects that cannot vacate the car on their own, such as children, pets, and adults who have lost consciousness. It is possible to build a system that sets off an alarm only in necessary cases.

OAE will start offering samples of the "respiration rate sensor" to automakers in the fall of 2019, aiming for mass production at the end of 2021.

In recent years, leaving children alone in vehicles has become a social problem that frequently results in infant deaths from heat stroke in vehicles with high temperature environments. Under these circumstances, the Euro-NCAP, a vehicle safety evaluation organization in Europe, announced that it would include a system for detecting a child left alone in vehicles as an item for safety evaluation from 2022^*2. Therefore, automakers are developing a detection system that detects children and pets left alone in vehicles and informs drivers and their surroundings. OAE will provide sensing devices to auto manufacturers such as "respiration rate sensor" and "driver watch onboard sensors" to accelerate the construction of a detection system for monitoring unattended occupants.

OAE will continue to contribute to the realization of a safe, secure and comfortable car society by promoting the development of sensors that monitor safety inside and outside the vehicle, making use of the core technology "Sensing and Control + Thinking".

Product name	Respiration rate sensor
Appearance
Use	Detection of the presence and position of the occupant in the vehicle (Breathing movements of the chest)
Installation location	ceiling of the vehicle
Max range Maximum detection range	～2m *Target value
Detection accuracy	respiratory rate±2bpm(stopped) *Target value
Size	W50*D50*H20mm *Target value
Power consumption	0.5W(Average) *Target value
Start of production	End of year 2021 *Target timing

Combination of sensors that reliably identify the occupants who require rescue