Bengaluru: New IISc radar chip can see through walls

Imagine a type of hand-held radar unit that would allow you to see through walls or automatically scan a person entering an airport terminal for concealed, non-metal weapons.

This is the basis of a new radar-emitting chip measuring smaller than a grain of rice, developed by researchers working at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

Most people consider radar in terms of detecting objects. Signals are bounced off an object and the time it takes for the signal to return to the receiver is used to calculate the distance and speed of the object. But radio waves can also penetrate walls. The extension of this principle enables ‘Through-the-Wall Radar’ (TWR), explained Associate Professor Gaurab Banerjee of IISc’s Electrical Communications Engineering Department, who with a team of six students, is the brainchild behind the breakthrough.