Dream RF’s DreamHAT+ is a mmWave Radar HAT+ for the Raspberry Pi 4B and 5, designed around Infineon’s BGT60TR13C 60 GHz mmWave radar chip with four integrated antennas (1x Tx, 3x Rx) for directional sensing and motion tracking.
Like other 24GHz or 60GHz mmWave solutions we’ve seen in the past, for instance Seeed Studio’s mmWave Human Detection Sensor Kit, Sparkfun’s Pulsed Coherent Radar Sensor, and RoomSense IQ ESP32-S3 room monitor, the DreamHAT+ is designed to sense tiny movement within a room or outside (since it works through walls) for human presence detection, fall detection, etc… in applications such as robotics and smart home automation.
mmWave DreamHAT+ radar specifications:
- Radar chip – Infineon BGT60TR13C XENSIV 60 GHz radar sensor
- Operating Frequency – 58 – 63.5 GHz
- Transmission Bandwidth – 5 GHz
- Output Power – <10 mW
- EIRP: <15 dBm
- Detection Range – 0.1 – 15 m
- Range Resolution – 3 cm
- Field of view – 40° horizontal; 65° vertical
- Analogue-to-Digital Converter (ADC) – 3x ADC channels, 12-bit resolution, up to 4MSps
- Integrated Antennas – 1x Tx antenna, 3x Rx antennas, 5 dBi (max) gain
- Supply Voltage – 1.8V
- Host interface – SPI and IRQ pin via 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO header
- Misc – Power and activity LEDs
- Power Supply – 5V via 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO header
- Power Consumption – 0.5 W typical
- Dimensions – Conforms to the Raspberry Pi HAT+ specification
Millimetre-wave FMCW radar technology offers an alternative to camera-based computer vision solutions supporting gesture recognition, presence detection, and indoor tracking, in a way that respects privacy and works in low light, smoky, and foggy environments where traditional cameras would normally struggle.
The DreamHAT+ board comes with four 25mm standoffs, a booster header, and eight screws, and can be used with a Raspberry Pi 5 with an active cooler attached. The company provides schematics, assembly instructions, and a setup guide on its website. You’ll also find Python code samples shared in a (trigger warning) ZIP file! on GitHub. This includes UDP data streaming visualization, tracking, and offline processing demos.
You’ll also find a few demos on YouTube, including the one embedded below for showcasing person tracking with 2D visualisation. It can detect very small movements, and some 60GHz sensors can even detect breathing (not sure about that specific one).
Dream RF’s mmWave DreamHAT+ radar board is sold on Shopify (99.99 GBP) or Piromoni for $110.83. Another way to evaluate the BGT60TR13C radar sensor is through the Infineon CY8CKIT-062S2-AI Evaluation Kit, based on a PSoC 6 microcontroller and equipped with a range of sensors from Infineon for about $40.
Via Hackster.io
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Weird. I’d expect them to sell a small module meant to attach to whatever you want, similar to the HLK-LD6001A. Bare IC would be great for someone making a high volume product but not great for hobbyists. The Pi Hat…seems both overly expensive and impractical. I’d rather not have to orient the whole Pi in my desired direction. In fact, why would I use a Pi with this? I’d rather a smaller form factor better for using with an ESP32* or RP2xxx. The eval kit is closer but still seems a little bit overkill. I don’t really want to use their microcontroller; I’d rather bring my own.