Mexican Media Brands
Hands-Off Controls: Making a Grand Gesture More Common
Low-cost tech promises to bring touchless systems to mainstream models
#interior #electronics
Share
Automakers began to offer gesture control systems in vehicles just a few years ago. To date, applications have been mostly limited to luxury models such as the BMW 7 Series.
But that soon may change.
Maxim Integrated Products, a San Jose, Calif.-based signal processing specialist, says it has developed a new sensor technology that is significantly smaller and as much as one-tenth the cost of current hand-gesture systems.
How It Works
Maxim’s MAX25205 system uses integrated optics and infrared sensors in place of the time-of-flight (ToF) cameras used in most gesture control systems.
Maxim gesture control system (Image: Maxim Integrated Products)
Coupled with an LED driver and internal low-dropout regulator, the array of 60 photo diodes is about one-fourth the size of a ToF-based unit, according to the supplier. The design also enables the use of a single (4-mm2) microcontroller in place of multiple units and a sophisticated microprocessor.
Maxim claims the integrated MAX25205 unit enables improved performance and less maintenance. The system recognizes nine different types of hand movements—including swipes, rotations, pinches and proximity sensing—with less lag time, the company says.
Formed in 1983, Maxim had 2019 sales of $2.3 billion. The company develops analog and mixed-signal products.
RELATED CONTENT
-
About the 2020 Lincoln Aviator
Successful vehicles tend to be those that are available on a global basis, and increasingly, those vehicles tend to be in the SUV segment writ large.
-
2019 Volvo XC40 T5 AWD Momentum and R-Design
Back in 2004, Volvo introduced a concept vehicle, called “Your Concept Vehicle,” in which case the pronoun essentially referred to women because as the company pointed out, the YCC was “the first car designed and developed almost exclusively by women.” Some would say that Volvo was ahead of its time—way ahead—with this idea.
-
Autoline After Hours: The 2020 Cadillac XT6
Cadillac currently has three non-car vehicles in its lineup, the imposing and possibly venerable Escalade, the XT5, which started its existence as the SRX and is now crushing it in the market, and the most recent, the compact XT4, which is in a sweet spot for those looking to get into the premium portion of the market.