IWR1642BOOST: Reading Z values from the mmWave out-of-the-box demo

Herman Stubeda

Part Number: IWR1642BOOST
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: IWR1443BOOST

Hello,

I have just started testing the mmWave sensor on the development board. I am parsing the serial data that is sent when the out-of-the-box demo is running on the board. I can see the X and Y 2-byte fields showing accurate positions. Using them, I was able to determine the horizontal field of view of the sensor. I also want to find the vertical field of view, for which I need the Z values. However, the Z field is always 0 for all objects in all data frames. Is this a limitation of the demo itself? How can I go about configuring the sensor to output the Z values for all objects?

Here's a diagram of the horizontal field of view. There are three trials superimposed on one graph, where I slowly bring an object closer to the coordinate y-axis where the sensor is located at the origin. I want to accomplish something similar for the vertical field of view.

The sensor configuration file is attached. profile.cfg

Thanks for your time.

Herman

over 7 years ago

0 Akash Gondalia over 7 years ago

TI__Guru 50240 points

Hello Herman,

So this is going to be a limitation not of the device but of the embedded antenna in the PCB. Since the two Tx antenna are on the same relative height, it is going to be difficult to obtain any elevation (z-coordinate) information.

This is different with the IWR1443BOOST where there are three Tx antennae with one sitting a little higher than the other two in the PCB. This allows for 15 degrees of elevation detection in either direction for a 30 degree field of view.

Outside of these boosterpacks, these limitations can be corrected with a custom antenna design but this is a different question entirely.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Cheers,
Akash

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IWR1642BOOST: Reading Z values from the mmWave out-of-the-box demo