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Micropower Impulse Radar (MIR) sensors — Parallax Forums

Micropower Impulse Radar (MIR) sensors

MatthewMatthew Posts: 200
edited 2004-12-06 01:58 in General Discussion
Has anyone found a Micropower Impulse Radar sensor for distance ranging? From an article I read dated from 1996, the MIR technology could fit on a 4cm square, and measure distances up to 10 meters, and as small as 15cm. They even have a picture of it.

I've looked at about 5 pages worth of Google searches, and none of them appear to be what I'm looking for. Has anyone heard of these small devices? Has anyone worked with them?

Thanks,
Matthew

Comments

  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2004-11-26 23:55
    Is this the device you're talking about?

    http://www.llnl.gov/str/pdfs/01_96.2.pdf

    It was the first search result on Google when searching for your phrase.· I also found several similar articles on this technology.· Perhaps you should try limiting your Google search by using quotes to get an exact phrase match.

    "Micropower Impulse Radar"



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  • MatthewMatthew Posts: 200
    edited 2004-11-27 01:02
    Yes, I did do that. Infact, I made it narrower by searching for

    "micropower impulse radar" distance sensor

    But still no luck.
  • Dave PatonDave Paton Posts: 285
    edited 2004-11-27 16:32
    From what I recall, it was a technology that never made it outside the lab for commercial purposes. The processing required is fairly complex (that's the EE's version of complex BTW), and making them cost effectively appears to be the stumbling block. I'm not terribly suprised to see it's never 'come out' on the public marker either, seeing that cost is such an incredibly important factor. The only reason MELFs are still around is because they're $0.01 cheaper in thousand quantities than 0804s.

    My other thought is that they've been sequestered by the military (as most things from NLs like LLNL can be) for use in mine detection and clearing devices.

    My $0.02...

    -dave

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    Post Edited (Dave Paton) : 11/27/2004 4:34:33 PM GMT
  • MatthewMatthew Posts: 200
    edited 2004-11-27 16:58
    I also recently read somewhere that they had some issues with the FCC about it. Oh well, it did get me excited for a while!

    Thanks you all.
    Matthew
  • BriefmarkBriefmark Posts: 10
    edited 2004-12-05 20:01
    I'm retired from LLNL, and if you go to www.llnl.gov, and from there do a search on MIR, you will get approximately 150 citations. I did not work on the MIR project, but as I recall, one of the commercial applications was a stud finder (Zircon?)--not sure if it ever happened however. Another was an electronic dipstick, which brought a lot of laughs. The project leader, Tom McEwan, left the lab to work on his own, so do a google search on: Tom McEwan mir for more info.

    Hope this helps, Fred

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  • MatthewMatthew Posts: 200
    edited 2004-12-06 01:58
    Wow, thanks Fred! I'm going to call them right away!
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