RF-based child occupation detection in the vehicle interior

The authors report about a commercial development of a radar-based presence detection for automotive interior applications. The major focus is the detection of forgotten children on the rear bench of a vehicle in order to save them from hyperthermia. The occupancy decision criteria is primarily derived by a measured quantity called R-value. Critical occupancy states are verified by a correlation-based approach, fulfilling automotive safety requirements, which allows the detection of newborns. Thus, the sensor can also be used for other applications, e.g. rear bench seat belt reminder functionality. Due to the Doppler-based approach the sensor can further be applied for vital sign monitoring of breathing and heart beat for autonomous driving applications.