A new technology developed in Utah is redefining the residential and commercial security detector market. Paul Skelton reports.

Touted at the 2013 US CEDIA Expo as the best new system for whole house control, Xandem Tomographic Motion Detection (TMD) is a market-ready technology used for security, automated lighting, energy efficiency and elderly care. It can be completely hidden, has full-coverage sensing through obstructions and is immune to leading causes of false triggering.

Created by Dr Joey Wilson while studying a PhD in Electrical Engineering and his advisor and Dr Neal Patwari at the University of Utah, using radio wave synergistic sensing, TMD is easily integrated into standard panel equipment for new and existing automation, alarm and energy efficiency systems.

It works by detecting movement through walls and solves industry-wide gaps in aesthetically sensitive areas, dirty and cluttered environments and high value asset protection. 

“While working on our PhDs at the University of Utah we started to develop this technology. Neal and I formed a company to support it but we didn’t really do anything with it – we didn’t have any products or services to offer, but we knew that the technology was going to important,” Joey says.

“Essentially we didn’t know to which application it was most suited. It’s sometimes very difficult to identify where people will care about certain technologies and what they want to do with them.

“One day, I was in my office reading about how traditional motion detection systems work. Being an engineer, I started studying user guides of the popular products being used in security systems, mainly passive infra-red (PIR) sensors, and I realised that I could improve on them.

“I started learning about the industry and realised how weak the existing sensors were, especially for security applications. That was the trigger for me. With our technology you can hide detectors, cover the entire floor plan and it’s impossible to defeat. Everything started to line up for us and we realised that this was the product we needed to build.”

Joey decided to build a prototype of the TMD security system for his own home first and, over the course of a year, ironed out any problems and false alarm triggers.

“Most technologies that are out there now are based on the idea that a sensor is an individual device that has a localised field of view, for example PIRs, which look for heat that is moving against the background. The problem with this is that they’re really ugly, they false alarm easily if, say, sunlight hits them and they’re really easy to defeat – all you have to do is insulate your body from them.

“With our technology, each sensor isn’t a device unto itself. It’s part of a larger network that surrounds the entire area. As the network penetrates the area it creates a full floor plan motion detector system. It doesn’t matter if someone comes in through the wall, the ceiling or the window, in the back or front door, it will detect them because it engulfs the whole area.

“This is because our technology can see through walls and obstructions. The beauty of this is that not only does it provide you with full coverage, but it is also hidden. Nobody knows where the devices are – they’re completely disguised or imbedded inside the walls. This is a huge aesthetic improvement because you get a lot of high-end customers who don’t want to see ugly motion detectors; they want pure aesthetics.”

TMD works by using radio waves as the basis of its sensing. It uses wireless networks that penetrate through solid materials making the system successful even when the devices are placed behind walls, furniture and other obstructions. It’s unlike traditional microwave sensors in that the sensing does not depend on radio wave reflections. The tomographic sensing comes from communicating nodes in a mesh network that sense disruption to the waves as they pass through a defined area.

“If you think about what happens when a transmitter and receiver work together, the transmitter sends a wireless signal that travels through space and goes through walls to a receiver. We use similar signals,” Joey says.

If you walk between the transmitter and receiver, you will disrupt the radio waves as they travels. The Xandem receiver detects that change and can alert system owners that somebody is moving through that area.

 “The uses of this technology are endless. Since our system can quantify motion, our systems can detect the difference between a single intruder and a crowd of people. When parents leave their kids at home, they can be notified if a party is occurring. This is just one example of how Xandem is enabling powerful new applications.

“Essentially, TMD overcomes many of the weaknesses in security, health care and automation as it is complete and hidden detection that is not susceptible to obstructions, temperatures or filth.”

Joey explains that installing TMD is simple.

“Most installers won’t have any problems. You simply power up nodes around the facility. You can use a single loop of wire or daisy chain them. A master unit receives all the signals and sends them to a single unit, which plugs into any standard lighting or security panel. You just plug the wires into the zone inputs of the panel and you’re up and running.

“Installation is very easy; anybody who knows how to install a traditional system is able to install this one as well.”

While Xandem is not yet represented in Australia, the company is looking at distribution options and has sent a number of units out directly to installers.