The system’s machine learning-based algorithms can detect other vehicles and road objects even if not detectable by drivers
Today’s advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are based on cameras, radar or lidar. As a result, their target objects need to be within the line of sight to be recognised by the system. However, emergency vehicles such as ambulances can be heard much earlier than they can be seen, thus are invisible to ADAS for a long time.
To address this challenge and provide a sense of hearing to vehicles, Infineon Technologies AG together with Reality AI has created an advanced sensing solution that enables cars to ‘see’ around the corner and offer a timely warning about moving objects hidden in the blind spot or are too distant.
The new sensing solution is based on XENSIV MEMS microphones in combination with AURIX microcontrollers (MCU) and Reality AI’s Automotive See-With-Sound (SWS) system. Using machine learning-based algorithms, the system can detect emergency vehicles, cars and other road objects – even if they cannot be seen by drivers or detected by the sensors incorporated in the vehicles’ ADAS. Machine learning also ensures that the country-specific sirens of emergency vehicles are recognised in all parts of the world.
The automotive-qualified XENSIV MEMS microphone IM67D130A has an increased operating temperature range from -40 degrees Celsius to +105 degrees Celsius, allowing various use cases in harsh automotive environments. The low distortions (THD) and the high acoustic overload point (AOP) of 130 dB SPL enable the microphone to capture distortion-free audio signals in loud environments. This permits a reliable classification, even if the siren sound is hidden in the loud background or wind noise. This sound-based sensing technology can also enable other applications in vehicles such as road condition monitoring, damage detection or even predictive maintenance.
For processing the audio signal, the Reality AI software makes use of Infineon’s AURIX TC3x family of MCUs which is widely used across multiple automotive applications. The scalable MCU family offers a range from one to six cores and up to 16 MB of Flash with functional safety up to ASIL-D according to the ISO26262 2018 standard and EVITA full cybersecurity. AURIX TC3x gives customers the performance and flexibility to implement XENSIV MEMS microphones in ADAS use cases.
The XENSIV MEMS microphone IM67D130A can be ordered now in a PG-LLGA-5-4 package.
