RIOT100 can be used for controlling lights, security systems, warehouses, street lighting, escalators, elevators and automatic doors.

RIOT100 Radar
Human Presence Detection

RIOT100 Human Presence Detection
  • Extremely reliable human presence detection sensor
  • Detects micromovements whether people are moving or standing still
  • Custom detection range up to 20 m
  • Provides maximum energy savings for smart lighting and IoT systems
  • Fully anonymous
  • Optimal for lighting, smart home, building automation, hospitality, warehouse, street lighting, and security systems
  • Invisible, seamless integration behind non-conductive materials (glass, plastics, wood, ceramics)
  • Low-latency detection
  • Requires no external data processing
  • Optional interfaces: WiFi, KNX

Why RIOT100?

human presence detection radar

Precise micromovement detection

Human presence detection with radar means no more waving to turn the lights back on. Detects micromovements whether people are walking, sitting, or standing still.

human presence detection custom solution

Customizable solution

In contrast to off-the-shelf solutions, the RIOT100 sensor and its algorithms can be tailored to your specific use case, with development support from our engineers.

human presence detection radar integration

Invisible Integration

Works flawlessly behind materials like glass, plastic, wood, ceramics. The modules are simple to install in most application cases, and tamper-resistant.

human presence detection radar

Privacy-friendly

Guarantees full privacy protection, capturing no visual data. Ideal for use in restrooms or workspaces where camera use is prohibited.

human presence detection energy savings

Maximum energy savings

The low-power module can turn off lights and HVAC systems when a room is determined to be vacant – saving on energy costs.

human presence detection energy savings

Configurable detection range

The range of human detection can be defined within 20 meters. Every movement out of the range will be ignored.

human presence detection features

Multifunctional

Detects motion and presence, shows movement direction, distance, and speed, simultaneously detects multiple objects.

wifi radar sensor

Optional wireless communication

Connecting to a daughterboard enables the possibility of connecting to pre-existing Wi-Fi infrastructure.

Case Study: Powering seamless smart lighting control with human presence detection for Firefly

The Project

Firefly is a Netherlands-based provider of smart lighting solutions for offices, warehouses and exterior installations. Their flagship product, the Smart Fly, was created as a fully wireless, plug and play module for both new and existing lighting systems, designed to seamlessly integrate into modern smart building environments.

The Solution

NOVELIC’s RIOT100 human presence detection sensor a uses a more robust mmWave radar technology – being able to detect people even if they are not moving. The module houses the sensor MMIC, antenna and processing chip on a 30x30mm PCB, which is easily integrated into compact IoT modules.

Off-the-shelf radar presence sensors are usually not fit for both indoor and outdoor applications, or require a complex setup procedure for optimal performance. NOVELIC’s engineers worked with the Firefly team to tweak the algorithms for the desired application scenarios, giving Firefly a degree of flexibility in development and integration typically not afforded by off-the-shelf sensor vendors. The result is a system that installs 4x faster and requires zero technical setup on site.

The team from NOVELIC was extremely helpful. We needed to fine-tune the algorithms together, and immediately, when we ran into some issues, they flew in their people, and together with our hardware engineers, resolved them quite quickly.

Frank Visser, Founder & CEO at Firefly

radar presence detection

RIOT100 Applications

Lighting control human presence detection

Lighting control

Micromovement detection makes RIOT100 radar sensor superior to PIR sensors, keeping the lights on as long as there are people present in the area, even if they are standing still. Distance and movement tracking enables you to turn the lights on and off as people are moving, ideal for staircases and hallways. Easily set up different detection zones with custom lighting settings and limit detection with one click.

RIOT100 is not affected by high temperatures, which makes it ideal for outdoor use in hot climate zones where PIR sensors become unreliable. Invisible integration behind non-conductive materials makes RIOT100 perfect for luxurious lighting, as it does not disrupt the design.

hospitality presence detection

Hospitality

RIOT100 is an excellent power control solution for hotels and other hospitality businesses, integrating into existing KNX systems. mmWave radar signal does not go through walls and the detection distance can be set to any desired value under 25 meters, minimizing false detection. Unlike PIR sensors, RIOT100 can detect people sitting still or sleeping and won’t turn the lights or AC off as long as someone is occupying the room.

The sensor can be placed behind non-conductive materials so it is invisible to guests, enabling sleek room design and eliminating attempts to hack the sensor. RIOT100 has signal filtering that will recognize common hacking attempts with moving objects and ignore them.

Security systemss

Security Systems

Camera-based security systems require a lot of power and video data storage. RIOT100 is ideal as a complementary sensor that will keep cameras in standby mode until movement is detected. Ensures next-level security by providing precise information on the distance and movement of intruders. Works flawlessly in poor lighting and detects targets behind obstacles that are invisible to cameras.

Anonymous detection makes RIOT100 radar sensor a perfect solution when cameras cannot be used for privacy reasons. The sensor can be invisibly placed behind different materials, making it impossible for intruders to detect and disable it.

street lighting sensors

Street Lighting

By using RIOT100 radar sensors to detect passing vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians, street lights can be turned on only when necessary, providing municipal governments with significant power savings in areas with variable traffic density.

Compared to PIR sensors, our solution has lower latency, as well as fewer false positives due to vegetation and wind.

Warehouse Presence Detection Sensor

Warehouse Presence Detection

Our radar sensors can be configured to cover large spaces, such as warehouses, with different mounting options. Mounted on a ceiling with a height of 8 meters (26 feet), one sensor can cover an era of up to 80 m² (820 square feet).

The sensors can detect workers, as well as forklifts, enabling reliable lighting and HVAC control, providing power savings for different sizes of warehouses.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

How do RIOT100 presence and motion sensors work?

Many people who look for motion and presence sensing solutions are already familiar with Passive Infrared sensors. In contrast to PIR sensors, RIOT100 radar sensors are an active technology which emits electromagnetic radio waves that bounce off objects in their environment. When these waves return to the sensor, the time delay and changes in frequency provide information about the distance, speed, and movement of objects or people in the area. This data is then used for various applications such as building automation, occupancy detection, and security.

What are the benefits of using RIOT100 sensors for building automation?

RIOT100 sensors can enhance building automation by reliably detecting the presence of people in rooms or hallways. Our radar sensors can detect people even if they are not moving. This makes them the ideal choice for applications like hotel room presence detection, an application where the user is not moving around a lot when they are sleeping. This allows for automatic control of lighting, HVAC systems, and security devices, leading to improved energy efficiency, reduced operational costs, and better overall comfort for occupants.

Can RIOT100 sensors be used for occupancy tracking in office spaces?

Yes, radar sensors can accurately track occupancy in shared spaces, such as meeting rooms or open-plan offices. This data can be used to monitor space utilization, improve resource scheduling, and optimize office layouts for better collaboration and comfort.

Are radar sensors safe?

Yes. Even though our RIOT100 motion and presence sensors are using the Radar principle of emitting electromagnetic waves and evaluate the return signals that bounce off objects, which brings the picture of airport and ship radars into people’s minds, RIOT100 sensors are generally considered safe for home use and office use. The radio waves emitted by radar sensors are non-ionizing and fall within safe limits, similar to those used by devices like Wi-Fi routers and even a lot lower than cellphones. The levels of electromagnetic radiation emitted by these do not pose any known health risks to people or pets.

Can RIOT100 sensors be used for people counting?

RIOT100 sensors are tailored for motion sensing and reliable presence detection. Even though it is possible to get an understanding of how much movement is going on in a certain area, RIOT100 sensors are not intended for all people counting applications out of the box. There are certain plausible scenarios – such as detecting people in front of a marketing display and counting the number of times someone stays in front of such a display for a certain time. This can be done with the right configuration of the sensor and the host system. However, applications like constantly receiving an accurate count of the number of people present in a meeting room are not supported by RIOT100. If you are looking for such solutions, please reach out to our sales team.

Will RIOT100 sensors detect people or moving objects through walls?

The frequency at which our RIOT100 sensors operate are less prone to pass through walls than older microwave sensor solutions which work on frequencies closer to the WIFI band. Brick or concrete walls shield the RIOT100 signals completely and will confine detection to only the room the sensor is installed in. Very thin drywall materials, certain glass materials, and most draping materials can theoretically let the RIOT100 signals pass through. In order to mitigate unwanted detections in such a case, our RIOT100 sensors offer a distance limiting feature which will ignore movement outside a user definable area.

How can I use RIOT100 sensors in my application?

The RIOT100 motion and presence sensors are electronic components which are intended to be integrated into the PCB of host systems such as luminaires, HVAC control panels, or building automation equipment. The sensors are equipped with a 2.54mm pin header which can be soldered directly onto the host PCB directly or plugged into a 2.54mm connector.

What information does the RIOT100 sensor provide and what kind of processing is needed on my host system?

The RIOT100 sensors do not require any signal processing to be done on the host system. They come with their own integrated radar processor which takes care about all elements of the operation such as frequency control, signal processing and object detection. The sensors provide 3 GPIO outputs which can be configured to trigger based on motion patterns, distances or presence detection. This can be done by the user in the field or during production and is stored in persistent memory. In addition to this very simple interface, the RIOT100 sensors also provide a UART and I²C serial interface, which provides all information about the detected objects such as movement direction, velocity and distance. This information can of course be used in the host system to build very specific applications.

Can the RIOT100 sensor be used together with popular ecosystems such as Arduino, ESP32 or Raspberry Pi?

Yes, this is a very typical scenario. Due to the digital interfaces, RIOT100 sensors can be connected to such devices either by just using the GPIO pins as an interrupt trigger or by reading the complete object list via one of the serial interfaces which are 3.3V compatible UART or I²C.

How can I make sure the RIOT100 sensor will work in my application?

We are offering an evaluation kit for the RIOT100 sensor family. This kit includes the radar sensor itself, a USB adapter board to connect it to a PC and a GUI which offers all customization options and can display all data the sensor can provide. In addition to the use in combination with a PC and the GUI, the USB adapter board has LED indicators for all GPIO pins and can be powered by any 5V USB supply such as a phone charger or power bank. This makes it ideal to evaluate the sensors performance by looking only at the status LEDs without the need to connect it to a PC.

How RIOT100‘s Human Presence Detection Works

RIOT100 Human Presence Detection Sensor Overview

human presence detection radar

Advanced Motion & Presence Detection

advanced motion and presence detection

Wide Custom Detection Range

360 degree human presence detection

Up to 360° Field of View

Maximum energy savings

Maximum Energy Savings

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