阅读说明：本技术 用于工厂和物流自动化的雷达传感器 (Radar sensor for factory and logistics automation ) 是由 罗兰·韦勒 丹尼尔·舒尔特海斯 于 2020-02-18 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种用于工厂和物流自动化的雷达传感器,其包括雷达电路装置,该雷达传感器包括用于产生、发射、接收和评估孔径角小于5°的雷达测量信号的雷达芯片。雷达芯片的截面面积小于1cm～2并产生频率超过200GHz的雷达测量信号。(A radar sensor for factory and logistics automation, comprising a radar circuit arrangement, which radar sensor comprises a radar chip for generating, transmitting, receiving and evaluating radar measurement signals with an aperture angle of less than 5 °. Radar apparatusThe cross-sectional area of the chip is less than 1cm 2 And generates radar measurement signals with frequencies in excess of 200 GHz.)

1. A radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) for plant and logistics automation, comprising:

a radar circuit arrangement (505) comprising a radar chip (506) configured for generating, transmitting, receiving and evaluating radar measurement signals;

a housing (510) in which the radar circuit arrangement is arranged, and wherein the cross-sectional area of the radar chip is less than 1cm²；

Wherein the radar measurement signal has a frequency in excess of 160GHz and is focused such that the resulting beam aperture angle is less than 5 °.

2. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of claim 1,

wherein the cross-sectional area of the radar chip (506) is less than 0.25cm²。

3. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of claim 1 or 2,

wherein the housing (510) has a width of at most 2cm, a height of at most 5cm, and a depth of at most 5 cm.

4. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of any one of the preceding claims,

wherein the housing (510) has a screw-in thread (511) with a diameter of at most 1.91cm or 0.75 inches.

5. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of any one of the preceding claims,

wherein a modulation bandwidth for modulating the radar measurement signal generated by the radar circuit arrangement (505) exceeds 4GHz, in particular exceeds 10GHz, in particular 19.5GHz or 31.5 GHz.

6. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of any one of the preceding claims,

wherein the frequency of the radar measurement signal generated is between 231.5GHz and 250 GHz.

7. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of any one of the preceding claims,

wherein the housing (510) comprises a lens (507) configured for focusing the transmitted radar measurement signal.

8. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of claim 7.

Wherein the diameter of the lens (507) is less than or equal to 20 mm.

9. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of any one of the preceding claims,

wherein the radar circuit arrangement (505) comprises a lens (512) configured for focusing the transmitted radar measurement signal.

10. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of claim 9,

wherein the diameter of the lens (512) is 10mm or less.

11. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of claim 9 or 10,

wherein the distance between the lens (512) and the radar chip (506) and/or the lens (507) is between 5mm and 50mm, in particular below 30 mm.

12. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of any one of the preceding claims,

wherein the radar circuit arrangement (505) comprises a radar chip (612) in which an antenna (607) is integrated.

13. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of any one of the preceding claims, comprising a communication circuit (502),

wherein the radar sensor is configured to detect a change in the physical measurement variable in real time, i.e. reliably within a predetermined time period, and to transmit the change via the communication circuit.

14. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of any one of the preceding claims,

wherein the radar sensing appliance includes a plurality of independent transmit/receive channels and/or a plurality of radar chips (506, 1301, 1302, 1303, 1304, 1305, 1306) to provide redundancy for safety critical applications.

15. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) of any preceding claim, comprising:

a 4-20mA two-wire interface (106) configured to transmit the measurement to an external process control system (110) and to receive energy required to operate the radar sensor.

16. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) according to any one of the preceding claims, configured as a level radar.

17. The radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a plug-in connector (511, 513, 514) configured for mounting the radar sensor in an opening of a container provided with an internal thread with a socket wrench.

18. Use of a radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) according to any one of claims 1 to 17 instead of an optical sensor in the field of factory and logistics automation, in particular in safety-critical fields such as automatic emergency shutdown of machines or systems.

19. Use of a radar sensor (100, 102, 103, 501, 701, 1000, 1100, 1200) according to any one of claims 1 to 17 instead of a grating laser sensor.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to factory and logistics automation. In particular, the invention relates to radar sensors for plant and logistics automation, the use of such radar sensors in place of optical sensors in the field of plant and logistics automation, and the use of such radar sensors in place of grating laser sensors.

Background

In factory and logistics automation, optical sensors are used, for example, to measure distance values or angle values. Other examples of applications are speed detectors or sensors for identifying the presence of persons. These optical sensors can be designed, for example, in the form of a grating in order to identify whether a person is approaching a hazardous area.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost alternative to known optical sensors, in particular to grating sensors.

This object is achieved by the features of the independent claims. Further developments of the invention emerge from the dependent claims and the following description of the embodiments.

A first aspect relates to a radar sensor for factory and logistics automation. The radar sensor comprises a radar circuit arrangement with a radar chip, which is designed to generate, transmit, receive and evaluate radar measurement signals. There is provided a case in which a radar circuit device is arranged, wherein a cross-sectional area of a radar chip is less than 1cm²And the frequency of the generated radar measuring signal exceeds 160GHz, TechIn particular over 200GHz, and the radar measurement signal is focused such that the resulting beam aperture angle is less than 5 °, or at least less than 10 °, in particular even less than 3 °.

For example, the cross-sectional area of the radar chip is less than 0.25cm²。

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the width of the housing is 2cm or less, the height is 5cm or less, and the depth is 5cm or less.

The housing height extends in the measuring direction, i.e. in the direction in which the radar sensor emits its measuring signal.

For example, the housing has a screw-in thread with a diameter of up to 1.91cm or 0.75 inches. The housing may also have a screw-in thread with a diameter of up to 1.27cm or 0.5 inches.

For example, the housing is designed to be cylindrical.

According to a further embodiment, the modulation bandwidth for modulating the radar measurement signal generated by the radar circuit arrangement exceeds 4GHz, in particular exceeds 10GHz, in particular 19.5GHz or 31.5 GHz.

According to an embodiment, the radar sensor is configured to generate and transmit an FMCW signal (frequency modulated continuous wave signal).

According to another embodiment, the frequency of the generated radar measurement signal is between 231.5GHz and 250 GHz.

According to another embodiment, the housing comprises a lens (or two or more lenses connected in series) configured to focus the transmitted and/or received radar measurement signals.

The diameter of the lens is, for example, 20mm or less.

According to a further embodiment, the radar circuit arrangement (instead of or in addition to the housing lens) comprises a (further) lens configured to focus the emitted radar measurement signal before it reaches the housing lens.

The diameter of the lens is, for example, 10mm or less.

For example, the lens is placed directly on the radiating element of the radar circuit arrangement.

According to a further embodiment, the distance between the housing lens and the radar chip and/or the further lens is between 5mm and 50mm, in particular below 30 mm.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the radar circuit arrangement has a radar chip with an antenna integrated therein, on which antenna a lens, if provided, is placed.

According to a further embodiment, the radar sensor comprises a communication circuit, wherein the radar sensor is configured to detect in real time a change in the physical measurement variable measured by the radar sensor and to transmit the change, for example, to the remote control via the communication circuit.

In the context of the present invention, "real-time" is understood to mean that changes in the physical measurement variable are reliably detected and transmitted over a predetermined period of time. In this case, it may also be referred to as a soft real-time requirement. Hardware and software must ensure that undue delays, such as may prevent compliance with real-time conditions, do not occur. The processing of the data does not have to be too fast but must be guaranteed to be fast enough for the respective application.

According to another embodiment, the radar sensor comprises a plurality of independent transmit/receive channels and/or a plurality of radar chips in order to provide redundancy for safety critical applications.

According to another embodiment, the radar sensor comprises a 4 to 20mA two-wire interface configured to transmit measurements to an external process control system and to receive the energy required for operating the radar sensor.

According to a further embodiment, the radar sensor is configured as a fill level radar.

In particular, the radar sensor may have a plug connector configured for mounting the radar sensor in an opening provided with an internal thread of a container (in which the filling material is present) with a socket wrench.

Another aspect relates to the use of the radar sensor described above and below in place of an optical sensor in the field of factory and logistics automation, in particular in safety critical fields (e.g. automatic emergency shutdown of machines or systems).

Another aspect relates to the use of a radar sensor as described above and below instead of a grating laser sensor.

Other embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The illustrations in the drawings are schematic and not drawn to scale. If the same reference numbers are used in the following description of the figures, they refer to the same or similar elements.

Drawings

FIG. 1 illustrates a factory system having a radar sensor in accordance with an embodiment.

Fig. 2 shows a logistics automation system according to another embodiment.

Fig. 3 shows the use of a radar sensor in the field of factory automation and safety technology.

Fig. 4 shows a radar measuring device of a sorting system.

Fig. 5 shows a basic configuration of a radar sensor according to an embodiment.

Fig. 6 shows a further embodiment of a radar sensor.

Fig. 7 shows a further embodiment of a radar sensor.

Fig. 8 shows another application of a radar sensor.

Fig. 9 illustrates the use of radar sensors in factory and/or logistics automation.

FIG. 10A illustrates a radar sensor of cylindrical design according to an embodiment.

Fig. 10B shows a radar sensor of cylindrical design according to another embodiment.

Fig. 11 shows a radar sensor of cylindrical design according to another embodiment.

Fig. 12A shows a radar sensor having a rectangular parallelepiped housing.

Fig. 12B shows the radar sensor of fig. 12A in a side view.

FIG. 13A illustrates a radar security grill according to one embodiment.

Fig. 13B shows a cascaded configuration of radar safety grids from individual modules.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT (S) OF INVENTION

Fig. 1 shows a factory system with two radar sensors 102, 103 according to an embodiment. By switching to radar frequencies above 200GHz and integrating the antenna on the radar chip, a miniaturized, low-cost measuring system can be provided which can meet all the requirements of factory and/or logistics automation and which can therefore replace existing optical sensors having known disadvantages.

In particular, radar-based measuring devices 102, 103 are provided which are able to replace most optical sensors previously used in the field of factory and logistics automation. For this purpose, the measuring device can be designed in particular to provide a distance value or an angle value. It can also be designed as a rotational speed detector, as a sensor for presence detection or as a radar level gauge.

By using higher frequencies to reduce the wavelength of the radar signal, the construction of the radar measuring device can be simplified by integrating at least one primary radiator on the radar chip.

Although previous radar-based measurement methods can only be used in the field of process automation due to antenna size and circuit size, it is possible to provide small and powerful radar sensors for the field of factory automation and/or logistics automation in the future by using the devices described herein.

In recent years, radar-based level gauging devices have found wide application in the field of process automation, due to the many advantages of radar gauging technology. The term automation technology is understood to mean a technical sub-field which contains all the measures for operating machines and devices without human intervention, and the sub-field of process automation is understood to mean a minimum degree of automation. The goal of process automation is to automate the interaction between the components of an entire plant in the chemical, petroleum, paper, cement, shipping or mining fields. For this purpose, a large number of sensors are known, which are particularly suitable for the specific requirements of the process industry (mechanical stability, insensitivity to contaminants, extreme temperatures, extreme pressures). The measurements of these sensors are typically transmitted to a control room where process parameters such as fill level, flow, pressure or density can be monitored and the settings of the entire plant can be altered manually or automatically.

Fig. 1 shows an example of such a system 101. Two exemplary process measuring devices 102, 103 are shown which use radar signals to detect the filling level of the containers 104, 105. The detected measurement values are transmitted to the control room 108 using a dedicated communication connection 106, 107.

For the transmission of the measured values via the connections 106, 107, wired and wireless communication standards are used, which have been optimized for the specific requirements of process measurement technology (strong signal transmission immunity, long distances, low data rates, low energy density due to explosion protection requirements).

To this end, the measuring devices 102, 103 comprise at least one communication unit to support a communication standard suitable for the process industry. Examples of such communication standards are pure analog standards such as the 4 … 20mA interface or digital standards such as HART, wirelesshart or PROFIBUS.

In the control room 108, the process control system 110 processes the input data and displays it visually on the monitoring system 109. The process control system 110 or the user 111 may alter settings based on this data so that the operation of the entire system 101 may be optimized. In the simplest case, when the containers 104, 105 are facing exhaustion, a supply order at the external provider is triggered.

Since the cost of the sensors 102, 103 is of secondary importance in the process industry field compared to the entire system 101, higher costs can be accepted to optimally fulfill requirements such as heat resistance or mechanical robustness. Therefore, the sensors 102, 103 have expensive components, such as a radar antenna 112 made of stainless steel. Thus, the prevalent price of sensors 102, 103 suitable for use in a process is typically in the range of a few thousand euros. Previously known radar measuring devices 102, 103 of the process industry use radar signals in the range of 6GHz, 24GHz or 80GHz for measurement, wherein the radar signals are frequency-modulated in the abovementioned central frequency range according to the FMCW method. Technically, it is difficult to adapt the antenna 112 to the higher modulation bandwidth expected by the measurement technique. Currently, up to 4GHz bandwidth can be achieved by using antenna designs 112 that are suitable for the process.

A completely different sub-field of automation technology relates to logistics automation. In the field of logistics automation, processes within buildings or within individual logistics apparatuses are automated by means of distance sensors and angle sensors. A typical application is a logistics automation system for the following fields: the field of baggage and cargo handling at airports, the field of traffic monitoring (toll collection systems), the field of commerce, the field of parcel delivery or building security (access control). Common to the previously listed examples is that each application needs to combine presence detection with accurate measurement of object size and position. The radar systems known to date do not meet the requirements here, and therefore different sensors based on optical principles (lasers, LEDs, cameras, ToF cameras) are used in the known prior art.

Fig. 2 shows an example of a logistics automation system. Within the parcel sorting system 201, the parcels 202, 203 will be sorted by means of a sorting crane 204. In this case, the packages enter the sortation system on conveyor 205. The position and size of the package 203 is determined contactlessly by means of one or more laser sensors 206 and/or camera sensors 206 and transmitted to a controller 208 (e.g., PLC208), which is typically part of the system 201, by means of a fast data line 207. Since the transmission of measured values via the line 207 is time-critical, but the distances to be bridged are more likely to be in the range of a few meters, fast digital protocols such as Profinet or Ethercat are generally used as transmission standards for the communication channel 207, which have real-time capabilities, i.e. ensure that data is transmitted within a specifiable time, in contrast to known process automation protocols. Such real-time data transmission capability, which can be achieved through wired and wireless communication standards, is the basis for controlling the sorting crane 204 via the control line 209. Since the construction of miniaturized sensors with extremely small beam aperture angles in the optical field is technically not problematic, the optical sensor 206 can determine the size and position of the object 203 with precision in comparison to known radar measuring devices. In addition, such a system can also be manufactured at very low cost compared to process measurement devices.

A third sub-field of automation technology relates to factory automation. Examples of such applications are found in many industries, such as the automotive industry, food manufacturing industry, pharmaceutical industry or general packaging industry. The purpose of factory automation is to automate the production of goods by machines, production lines and/or robots, i.e. to run without human intervention. The sensor used here and the specific requirements for the measurement accuracy in detecting the position and size of the object are comparable to those in the above-described logistics automation example. Therefore, sensors based on optical measurement methods are generally used on a large scale in the field of factory automation.

Another field of application of optical sensors relates to safety technology, which includes applications in the field of logistics automation as well as in the field of factory automation. Fig. 3 shows a corresponding example. Once human-machine interaction is desired in the field of fully or semi-automatic manufacturing or sorting systems, legislators prescribe the installation of appropriate protective equipment to automatically shut down the machine or system. In the present example, the punch 301 punches out the round-shaped member 302 from the sheet metal material 303. Worker 304 is responsible for monitoring the process. In order that the worker cannot injure himself while intervening on the machine 301, the machine 301 has a safety light barrier 305 or safety light curtain 305 connected to the machine 301 via a communication line 306. The safety barrier 305 measures the distances d1, d2 to the underlying object and prevents the punch 307 from descending both in the absence of the metal plate 303 and in the event that the user 304 inadvertently enters the punch area. One of the basic requirements for safe operation of the system is that the sensor 305 is able to determine the distance with a high degree of accuracy and reliability with an extremely short measurement time in order to reliably identify a dangerous situation.

Optical sensors have so far dominated in the field of logistics automation as well as in the field of plant automation and safety technology. They are fast and low cost and, due to the relatively easily focusable optical radiation on which the measurements are based, are able to reliably determine the position and/or distance to the object. However, a significant disadvantage of optical sensors is the increased maintenance requirements, since in the above-listed fields the sensors may also observe contamination that seriously affects the measurement after thousands of hours of operation. Furthermore, particularly when used in a production line, oil mist or other mist-forming aerosols may impair the measurement and lead to additional contamination of the optical sensor.

The above disadvantages can be overcome by using a radar-based measuring device. Before discussing the embodiments in detail, fig. 4 again summarizes the problem to be solved by the present invention.

If, for example, a known radar measuring device 102 is installed in the sorting system 201 instead of the optical sensor 206, its radar signal 401 detects two packages 202, 203 located several meters apart on the conveyor belt 205 at the same time due to the large aperture angle 402, which is typically above 8 °. The radar measuring device 102 converts the detected reflections of the package into an echo curve 403 according to known methods. If the radar measuring device 102 is operated, for example, at a frequency of 23.5GHz to 24.5GHz, the width dRR 404 of the single echo 405 is 15 cm. If the distance dP 406 between the two parcels 202, 203 is less than the radar resolution 404 of the measurement device 102, then the measurement technique is no longer able to identify that there are two parcels. It should be noted that this problem arises due to the widened detection range 402 and the reduced radar resolution 404. Finally, without the above problems being ignored, the eventual use of radar measuring device 102 in a sorting system would also fail, since communication equipment 407 of measuring device 102 is unable to transmit the measured values in real time via communication channel 410. The above-mentioned disadvantages are revealed in the same way when trying to use the radar measuring device in the field of security technology (fig. 3).

The above and below described radar sensors provide high radar resolution and very good beam focusing in combination with real time capable communication devices in a miniaturized design at moderate price.

Fig. 5 shows a basic configuration of a radar system suitable for use in factory and/or logistics automation or safety technology. The radar measuring device 501 has a housing 510 containing a communication unit 502, a processor 504 and a high frequency unit 505. The high-frequency unit 505 has at least one integrated radar chip 506, which can generate and transmit high-frequency signals with a frequency above 200 GHz. The radar signal penetrates the housing of the radar sensor 501 at a predetermined location 507, wherein the housing of the sensor 501 is designed to be penetrable by electromagnetic waves above 200GHz at least in the penetration region. Radar signal 508 is focused by focusing elements or lenses 512, 513 on integrated radar chip 506 and/or in the region of penetration location 507 and/or in the region between the radar chip and the penetration location such that the resulting beam aperture angle 509 is very small, for example less than 5 °. The measured values determined by the measuring device are transmitted at a high data rate to the local switchgear 208 or the machine 301 via a wired or wireless data transmission channel 503. Alternatively, the data transmission can be designed to take place in real time and thus, for example, to influence the production line or the sorting installation in time or to shut down the machine in time before personal safety is endangered. In this case, standards such as industrial Ethernet (Profinet), Power over Ethernet, Ethercat, or IO-Link may be used.

Fig. 6 shows another exemplary embodiment of the sensor 501 in detail. The microprocessor (μ C)504 controls the PLL 601 divided by an integer or preferably by a fractional number. The PLL is connected to a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO)602, which voltage controlled oscillator 602 together with the PLL outputs at its output 603 a frequency modulated signal having a center frequency in the range of 10GHz to 60GHz and a bandwidth between 5GHz and 10 GHz. The above parameters may be modified during the operational phase of the measuring device. The VCO generated signal 603 is passed to a frequency converter 604 which converts the input signal to a target frequency range greater than 200 GHz. In this case, the plurality of conversion steps is usually performed in a cascaded manner, i.e. the frequency of the signal is increased over at least two sub-steps by a frequency doubling circuit.

However, the signal in the frequency converter may also be transmitted to a target frequency range above 200GHz by mixing one or more stages. The resulting signal 605 is preferably in the range above 200GHz, with frequencies in the range between 230GHz and 250GHz having proven particularly advantageous. The signal is then passed to a frequency divider module 606, after which a part of the high frequency signal is radiated outward by a primary radiator 607 in the direction of the penetration location 507. By means of the receiving antenna 608, the radar signal reflected in the respective application is detected again and converted to the low frequency range in the mixer module 609. Analog filter 610 and analog-to-digital converter (ADC)611 capture the signal and pass it to processor 504 for further processing.

The core idea of the invention is to achieve an increase of the radar resolution 404 by only reducing the width of the echo 405. By increasing the modulation bandwidth to more than 4GHz, preferably more than 10GHz, or particularly advantageously to 19.5GHz, a reduction of the width of the echo to the millimeter range can be achieved. Therefore, closely adjacent reflectors 202, 203 (as they may occur in factory and logistics automation) can also be reliably detected in measurement technology. On the circuit side, the conversion of these increased modulation bandwidths can be managed at low cost only if the fundamental frequency of the radar signal is high, preferably above 200 GHz. Since the wavelength of the radar signal on the semiconductor chip is then also shifted into the millimeter or sub-millimeter range, the coupler structure or the general design of the primary radiator 607 or the receiving antenna 608 can be realized directly on the semiconductor substrate 612 of the integrated radar chip 613, which enables a low-cost construction. In addition, radar signals transmitted or received in the area of the antennas 607, 608 may be bundled together by the beam influencing lens elements 614, 615 to achieve a reduced aperture angle 509 of the radar signals.

Fig. 7 shows a further exemplary embodiment of a radar device for use in factory and/or logistics automation or safety technology. The measuring device 701 described differs from the above-described configuration in that a combined transmitting and receiving antenna 703 is used, which transmitting and receiving antenna 703 is preferably realized on the radar chip-integrated semiconductor substrate 612 due to the high operating frequency of more than 200 GHz. An additional transmit/receive switch 702, also integrated on chip 612, is used to split the signals. In this case, a reduction of the aperture angle 509 of the measuring device can optionally also be achieved if the lens element 704 influencing the beam is mounted directly in the region of the primary radiator 703 on the chip. Furthermore, in the present example, the PLL 601, ADC 611 and analog filter 610 are also integrated into the radar chip 705, for example by bonding different components in a common package 705. It is also possible to integrate the above components directly on a separate semiconductor substrate 612. The last-mentioned embodiment significantly reduces the costs when constructing such a system.

Fig. 8 illustrates the advantages of use in the field of security technology. The radar measuring device 701 having the above features monitors a hazardous area under the press 301. Due to the extremely high radar resolution of a few millimeters, it is now possible for the first time to detect the corresponding reflection 801 in the echo curve 803 detected by the measuring device 701 and to distinguish it reliably from the reflection 802 of the sheet metal material 303 when the hand of the user 304 passes through the danger zone. In another embodiment, the measuring device 701 can be equipped, for example, by implementing suitable safety functions in the processor 704, such that it monitors at least one parameterizable hazardous area SAFE 804 and triggers a targeted real-time critical safety reaction when an object is detected in this area. This may be accomplished by transmitting the corresponding signal directly to the machine via the communication device 503. However, it is also possible to integrate a corresponding switching element, such as a positive drive relay, directly into the measuring device 701. Depending on the level of security to be achieved, radar measurements can also be carried out redundantly over multiple channels, for example by installing a plurality of radar chips in the measuring device 701.

Fig. 9 shows the use of the above-described measuring device in factory and/or logistics automation. The radar signal generated by the measuring device 503 can be focused by using at least two focusing elements 904, 905 such that the radar signal has an aperture angle 509 of a few degrees. Thus, the apparatus is able to accurately determine the position of the package 203 along its beam direction 510 by the respective alignments. By using multiple sensors 701 or by using beam deflecting elements, the extended area of the conveyor belt 205 may also be monitored and the location and condition of the packages 202, 203 may be accurately determined. The sorting system can be efficiently controlled by the fast and real-time capable communication device 503. Due to the high radar resolution of a few millimeters, the echo curve 901 detected by the measuring device 701 can reliably separate the reflected signals 902, 903 of even closely adjacent parcels 202, 203.

Fig. 10A shows a radar sensor 1000 with a cylindrical housing. Electrical terminals, for example for connecting a 4 to 20mA two-wire cable or an IO-Link interface, are located at the rear end 1001 of the housing, the connectors of which are screwed, for example, at the rear end of the housing.

The middle portion of the housing 510 has a screw-in hex 513 followed by a screw-in stop 514 followed by a screw-in thread 511 for screwing into the opening of the holder or container. The diameter of the screw-in thread 511 is a value of half an inch or less. For example, a radar lens and/or an antenna for transmitting/receiving measurement signals may be located in the screw-in thread.

The length (or "height") of the housing is typically up to 100 mm.

The embodiment of fig. 10B corresponds in many respects to the embodiment of fig. 10A. However, screw-in threads 511 are located in the middle area of housing 510, followed by stop 514 and screw-in hex 513.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 11, a screw-in thread 511 is also provided in the central region of the housing 510, wherein the diameter of the housing is ≦ 22 mm. The radar sensor according to fig. 11 can be screwed directly into the threaded receptacle of the machine and fixed with a union nut. However, it is also possible to screw the radar sensor into a threaded receptacle of the machine, which receptacle is formed as a blind hole. In the installed state, the front end of the sensor 511 in the region of the radar lens lies on the bottom of a blind hole of the machine, which is transparent to microwave signals. By screwing the sensor into the blind hole, a secure fastening can be achieved by supporting the sensor on the bottom surface. The sensor 511 may have a hexagonal receptacle in order to simplify screwing.

Fig. 12A shows a radar sensor 1200 having a rectangular parallelepiped housing 510. The height of the housing is 5cm, the width is 2cm and the depth is likewise 5 cm. The lens 513 is arranged in a front region of the housing. The electrical terminals 1201 are located in the lower region. The housing is made of, for example, polyethylene or polypropylene.

Fig. 13A shows a so-called radar security grid 1300 with a plurality of radar chips 506, 1301 to 1305. Each radar chip has its own first lens 512 arranged in the region of the radiator element and a "housing" lens 513 arranged in the optical path of the first lens.

The large number of radar chips provides redundancy, which is particularly advantageous for security critical applications.

Fig. 13B shows a cascade configuration of radar sensors from the respective modules. In this embodiment, each individual module has two radar chips 506, 1301 or 1302, 1303, each also having a first lens 512 and a second lens 513 in the housing wall. Each module has an input interface 1305 and an output interface 1306 through which the modules can be electrically connected to each other.

By means of the described embodiments, it is possible for the first time to replace optical measurement methods in the field of plant automation, logistics automation and safety technology with radar-based measurement value detection and to reduce the maintenance costs in particular due to the inherently advantageous insensitivity to contamination of radar measurement technology. Furthermore, by shifting to frequencies above 200GHz, the size and cost of the sensor can also be significantly reduced, thereby providing a suitable alternative for optical sensors.

In addition, it should be noted that "comprising" and "having" do not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. It should also be pointed out that characteristics or steps which have been described with reference to one of the above exemplary embodiments can also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps of other exemplary embodiments described above. Reference signs in the claims shall not be construed as limiting.