vayyar

Meditemi monitors COVID-19 symptoms with a 4D radar

Posted on by Techtime

Meditemi will incorporate the 3D radar sensor of the Israeli company Vayyar into its personal robot, in order to upgrade the robot’s remote monitoring capabilities and help identify COVID-19 symptoms. Using Vayyar’s radar, Meditemi will be able to measure, from a distance of one yard and in less than 10 seconds, adjacent people’s body heat, as well as breathing and heart rates. Consequently, Meditemi will be able to analyze the symptoms and display on its monitor the risk level posed by each individual with regard to COVID-19 contraction.

Meditemi is a joint venture established in Hong Kong by the Israel-based Temi Global, which developed the temi personal robot; and the German Medisana, which markets personal healthcare products. Medisana is a subsidiary of the Chinese electronics corporation Ogawa. The joint venture was founded with the intention of marketing in Europe, under the auspices of the well-established brand-name Medisana has in Germany, a variant of the temi robot that is adapted to the world of personal health.

The Collaboration was born in the COVID-19 Department

Temi is a personal robot that is a hybrid of an Android-based tablet and a mobile robotic platform, operated by voice instructions and hand gestures. The robot is capable of obstacle detection and path planning, knows how to identify its owner and follow it, and perform various tasks, all without the need for a keyboard or touch screen.

The collaboration between Vayyar and Meditemi was conceived in the COVID-19 department at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, as part of a pilot program exploring the use of a variety of remote sensing solutions. Rotem Geslevich, Vayyar’s director of business development in Europe, told Techtime: “There are a lot of possibilities for integration between the two devices, and the first thing we thought about was to come up with a solution that would provide more comprehensive monitoring of COVID-19-related symptoms, and not just of fever.”

The first application in the world of robotics

Vayyar has developed a multiple-antennas and high-frequency RF sensor (3GHz-81GHz) capable of providing a 4D (position and movements) image in 360-degree of the environment without the use of a camera. In contrast to various optical means, the sensor is also capable of detecting information hidden by objects. Consequently, it can discover hidden items, as well as monitor the vital signs of humans located behind walls.

The company’s technology may have many potential applications in the fields of smart home planning, the automotive industry, retail, security, medicine, consumerism industry, and more. About two years ago, Vayyar used its technology to issue a wall-mounted sensor that remotely detects cases of elderly people falling at home, nursing homes or hospitals.

Vayyar’s radar will also be used in Meditemi, allowing it to remotely detect falls among the elderly, in which case the robot will be able to approach the senior and allow him or her to communicate via video call or call for help. “Detecting falls transforms the robot into a solution tailored specifically to the well-being of seniors. It is the first product of its kind in the market of personal robotics.”

Vayyar Launched a Single-Chip Automotive Radar

Posted on by Techtime

Vayyar Imaging from Tel Aviv, announced the launch of its first automotive 4D point cloud application on a single radar chip. 4D point cloud transforms radar technology by constructing a real-time, high-resolution 4D visualization of both in-cabin and car exterior environments. Vayyar’s Radar on a Chip (ROC) has 48 transceivers at 76-81GHz which allows over 2,000 virtual channels. The chip also consists of an internal DSP for real-time signal processing.

This new chip is a variation of its basic technology of 3D radar in a chip. Its former chips consisted of  40 Transceivers array (40 Tx/Rx) and a 72 transmitters and 72 receivers array chip, covering the imaging and radar bands from 3GHz-81GHz with  in one chip. The new CMOS SoC from the company is dedicated to Automotive applications. Along with the antenna array, it creates point cloud which displays the dimension, shape, location and movement of people and objects, enabling the classification of the car’s environment.

“Vayyar is the first to close the gap between the robustness of radars and the resolution of LiDAR and optics,” said Ian Podkamien, Director of Automotive Business Development for Vayyar Imaging. “Our real-time, 4D point cloud solution can work in any environmental condition. We believe our sensors will create a shift in the way the automotive industry will use radar in the future.”

Vayyar is already working in cooperation with big industry leaders. Together with Mini-Circuits, it offer microwave transceiver project kits for for students and university programs in electromagnetic theory, RF/microwave engineering, RF systems, and radar technology. Valeo chose Vayyar’s technology for its automotive sensors to enhance infant passenger safety in vehicles, and Faurecia, one of the world’s leading automotive technology companies, has recently chosen Vayyar’s radar sensors for their automotive “Cockpit of the Future.” The two companies will work together to optimize vehicle safety with constant monitoring and automatic alert services.

Vayyar Imaging was established in December 2011 by the chairman and CEO Raviv Melamed with VP Research and Development Miri Ratner and CTO,Naftali Chayat. Melamed previously held the role of VP and GM of the Mobile Wireless Group at Intel Corp. On December 2017, Vayyar have closed a $45 million financing round co-led by Walden Riverwood and ITI. It brought total capital raised by the company to $79 million USD.