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TDK SmartSonic™

Ultrasonic Time-of-Flight (ToF) MEMS sensors for proximity and presence detection for next-generation devices

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Sensing that enables intelligent, adaptive IoT systems

TDK’s SmartSonic family of ultrasonic Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors empower IoT product development with contextual awareness, enabling the creation of products that adapt their response upon detecting the presence of the user or the characteristics of the surrounding environment.

SmartSonic features you can build on

Power-efficient, accurate, and reliable ultrasonic sensing for adaptive, real-world system performance
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Accurate range finding

Reliable distance measurement from a few centimeters up to 9 meters

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Dramatic power savings

Ultra-low power consumption extends battery life: 1000x better than optical ToF (uA vs mA) 

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Consistent performance in real world conditions

Unaffected by lighting conditions or surface color, from bright sun to complete darkness

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Flexible and future-ready design

Supports custom processing, on-device algorithms, and firmware updates

Featured video

Witness SmartSonic ultrasonic time of flight sensors in action

Discover how SmartSonic Ultrasonic ToF sensors bring presence and obstacle detection to life. From smart home and robotics to AR/VR gaming, see how engineers are using these sensors to create safer, smarter, and more immersive experiences—watch the video now.

Applications made possible with SmartSonic sensors

Enable presence detection, distance measurement, and spatial awareness across a wide range of systems

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AR/VR gaming

With Ultrasonic ToF sensors, develop precise, low-latency tracking for controllers, wearables, and room-scale experiences, while ultra-low power extends playtime 

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Robotics

Enable cliff detection, material composition identification, and obstacle avoidance

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Appliances

Detect the presence of a drinking glass as well as the level of the liquid inside

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Security

Ultra-low-power and low-latency ultrasonic ToF sensors detect presence and minor motion under any lighting condition

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Smart locks

Ultrasonic ToF sensors enable proximity detection, image recognition in smart locks allowing always-on extended battery power

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Smart home & IoT

Create responsive and intuitive environments with compact ultrasonic ToF sensors that enable presence detection, level detection, image stabilization and more

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Drones

Enable lightweight range finding for obstacle avoidance and landing under any environmental condition

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Hospitals & clinics

Accurately sense proximity ranges to provide reminders for social distancing guidelines

SmartSonic sensors across every range

Ultrasonic sensing solutions from short- to long-range, enabling scalable detection and spatial awareness across systems

Sensor

Short-range

Fast, ultra-low-power proximity and presence sensing for close-range interaction

  • Enable touchless control, hand gesture detection, and wake-on-approach
  • Deliver centimeter-level accuracy for precise short-distance sensing
  •  Optimize power consumption for always-on, battery-powered systems
Mobile

Mid-range

Reliable object detection and ranging for room-scale awareness

  • Enable 1-5 m detection for appliances, robotics, and indoor systems
  • Support multipath and static target rejection for accurate measurements
  • Enable multi-sensor configurations for enhanced system coverage
Gaming

Long-range

Extended-range sensing for large-area detection and positioning

  • Enable 5–9 m+ detection for smart home and industrial environments
  • Support occupancy detection and spatial awareness in large spaces
  • Maintain accuracy with static target rejection and multi-sensor support

Smart Sonic GitHub Resources

9 Axis

Ultrasonic SonicLib

SonicLib is a set of API functions and sensor driver routines designed so an embedded C application can easily control TDK/Invensense ultrasonic sensors (originally developed by Chirp Microsystems). SonicLib allows an application developer to manage and obtain ultrasonic data from one or more devices, without needing to develop special low-level code to interact with the sensors directly.

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ICU-x0201 HelloChirp example

HelloChirp is an example source code package that incorporates SonicLib and provides compile time options to show how various applications can be implemented using the ICU-x0201 sensors. The application can be compiled for DK-x0201 using the MPLAB X IDE, or cn serve as a starting point for porting to a different platform.

Featured SmartSonic Sensors

Explore our top ultrasonic-time-of-flight products

Illustration of ICU-30201, MEMS ultrasonic time-of-flight sensor

ICU-30201

High-Performance Ultra-Compact Ultrasonic Time‑of‑Flight Sensor for Ultra-Long-Range Applications

The ICU-30201 is a high-performance ultrasonic Time-of-Flight sensor that is ideal for measuring the range of objects between 30cm and 9.5m, and offers a customizable field-of-view of up to 180º. It has a sample rate of 75 samples per second at 2 meters, and 18 samples per second at 9 meters. It comes in a 5.17 × 2.68 × 0.9 mm LGA package, and includes an integrated DSP for signal processing.

Microchip with TDK logo and "ICU-20201" etched onto its surface

ICU-20201

High-Performance Ultra-Compact Ultrasonic Time‑of‑Flight Sensor for Long-Range Applications

The ICU-20201 is a high-performance ultrasonic Time-of-Flight sensor that is ideal for measuring the range of objects between 20cm and 5m, and offers a customizable field-of-view of up to 180º. It has a sample rate of 150 samples per second at 1 meter, and 32 samples per second at 5 meters. It comes in a 3.5 × 3.5 × 1.26 mm LGA package, and includes an integrated DSP for signal processing.

Microchip with TDK logo and "ICU-10201" etched onto its surface

ICU-10201

High-Performance Ultrasonic Time‑of‑Flight Sensor

The ICU-10201 is a high-performance ultrasonic Time-of-Flight sensor that is ideal for measuring the range of objects between 10cm and 1.2m, and offers a customizable field-of-view of up to 180º. It has a sample rate of 250 samples per second at 0.3 meters, and 130 samples per second at 1 meter. It comes in a 3.5 × 3.5 × 1.26 mm LGA package, and includes an integrated DSP for signal processing.

Microchip with TDK logo and "CH101" etched onto its surface

CH101

Ultra-Low-Power Integrated MEMS Ultrasonic Time‑of‑Flight Range Sensor with Millimeter Accuracy

Chirp’s MEMS based ultrasonic technology leverages a Time‑of‑Flight (ToF) range sensor with a power-efficient digital signal processor (DSP) ASIC in a 3.5 × 3.5 mm package. The sensor handles a variety of ultrasonic signal-processing functions and algorithms, enabling customers flexible industrial design options for a broad range of use-case scenarios, including range-finding, presence and proximity sensing, object-detection and avoidance, and position-tracking.

Illustration of CH201, TDK MEMS ultrasonic time-of-flight sensor

CH201

Long-Range Ultra-Low-Power Integrated MEMS Ultrasonic Time‑of‑Flight Range Sensor with Millimeter Accuracy

Chirp’s MEMS based ultrasonic technology leverages a Time‑of‑Flight (ToF) range sensor with a power-efficient digital signal processor (DSP) ASIC in a 3.5 × 3.5 mm package. The sensor handles a variety of ultrasonic signal-processing functions and algorithms, enabling customers flexible industrial design options for a broad range of use-case scenarios, including range-finding, presence and proximity sensing, object-detection and avoidance, and position-tracking.

Development kits

Explore our comprehensive development platforms custom developed for each sensor type.

TDK DK-x0201, Development Kit for TDK ultrasonic time-of-flight sensors

DK-x0201

Development Kit for ICU-10201, ICU-20201, and ICU-30201 Ultrasonic ToF Sensors

The DK-x0201 is a comprehensive development platform for ICU family of products.

DK-CH201: Two PCBs stacked together with many small chips and components attached to them

DK-CH201

Ultrasonic ToF

Comprehensive development platform for CH201, with the ability to connect up to four additional CH201 modules.

DK-CH101: Two PCBs stacked together with many small chips and components attached to them

DK-CH101

Comprehensive Development Platform for MOD_CH101

The DK-CH101 is a comprehensive development platform for MOD_CH101, a miniature ultrasonic transceiver with a range of 4 cm to 120 cm.

Support and resources

Find answers, documentation, and community support you need

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TDK community

Connect with engineers, ask questions, and share insights with the TDK developer community.

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Knowledge base

Access technical articles, datasheets, and in-depth guides to accelerate your design process.

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FAQ

Find immediate answers to our most frequently asked questions about products, shipping, and more.

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