While most people may swear that they'd never do it, the fact is that drivers do sometimes forget that they've got an infant or pet in the car, leaving them in the parked vehicle to potentially overheat or freeze. A newly-developed radar sensor, however, could keep that from happening.
Developed by scientists at Canada's University of Waterloo, the disc-shaped device is just 3 cm (1.2 in) in diameter, and is designed to be mounted on the car's ceiling or rearview mirror. It's powered by the vehicle's battery, but otherwise operates wirelessly.
Whenever the driver leaves the car, the sensor automatically sends out radar signals, which reach all areas of the cabin. If those signals are subsequently reflected back to the sensor by a living infant or animal, an artificial intelligence-based algorithm running on the device's microprocessor automatically identifies the telltale subtle body movements associated with breathing.
From there, the idea is that the sensor will sound an alarm to alert the driver, and will prevent the vehicle's doors from locking. The system is said to be 100-percent accurate at detecting living beings within cars.
