TDK's Ultrasonic Time-of-Flight Sensor Enhances Sensing Range and Accuracy for Smart Home Applications

­TDK Corporation announces the start of full-scale production of its InvenSense SmartSonic™ ICU-30201 ultrasonic time-of-flight (ToF) sensor. The ICU-30201 enhances the contextual awareness of products that require accurate presence, proximity, and distance measurements, such as robotics, drones, alarm devices, door locks, camera devices, smart building systems, and more. Mass production began this month, in January 2025.

The extended maximum range of ICU-30201 enables room-scale presence sensing and long-range obstacle detection, which enables a new class of smart home and smart building devices. It is the latest release in the SmartSonic sensor family to embed a more powerful on-chip processor with higher computational power. TDK offers a number of algorithms, including rangefinding and presence-sensing, which run on-chip, offloading the system MCU and saving power, while customers can also write their own algorithms for the sensor. The new bottom port package solution allows easy mechanical integration.

“ICU-30201 represents the culmination of a vision that MEMS ultrasonic time-of-flight is the perfect technology for room-scale true presence sensing,” said Richard Przybyla, senior director of engineering at InvenSense, a TDK group company. “With its enhanced maximum range, low power consumption, and the on-chip processing power to detect minor motions of a human, product designers finally have an option that beats PIR on performance while remaining on a battery-friendly power budget.”

The ICU-30201 integrates a MEMS PMUT (Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer) with an ultra-low power SoC (system on chip) in a miniature reflowable package. Based on ultrasonic pulse-echo measurements, the ToF sensor provides highly accurate and robust range measurements to targets at distances up to 9.5m, in any lighting condition, including full sunlight and independently of the target’s color and optical transparency.

InvenSense’s ultrasonic time-of-flight sensors will be demonstrated by accessibility technology company WeWALK during CES 2025, at the TDK booth #15815 in Las Vegas, January 7-10. Also announced today, WeWALK’s AI-powered Smart Cane 2 uses TDK sensors including the ultrasonic ToF to enable unlimited mobility for visually impaired people.

The ICU-30201, in an ultra-compact package footprint of 5.17 x 2.68 x 0.9 mm3, is now available from multiple distributors worldwide. For additional information or to request a sample, please go here.