December 5, 2025, Tessenderlo-Ham, Belgium – Melexis, a global microelectronics engineering company, announced the launch of a new people detection algorithm specifically designed for the MLX90642 (FIR) 32x24 thermal sensor array, enabling people detection, accurate counting, and location tracking. This solution offers significant advantages in privacy protection compared to traditional cameras. Optimized for ceiling-mounted sensors in confined spaces, this algorithm helps engineers significantly accelerate development and seamlessly integrate advanced infrared-based people detection technology into next-generation smart building applications.
In the smart building ecosystem, the growing demand for accurate occupancy monitoring, intelligent energy management, low-power operation modes, and camera-alternative solutions for privacy protection is driving the rapid expansion of the market for more advanced people detection technologies. Unlike vision-based systems, FIR thermal sensing technology provides stable and reliable detection results even in complete darkness. Furthermore, it offers better privacy protection during operation than cameras, making it ideal for offices, meeting rooms, and other sensitive environments where privacy is paramount.
Melexis's new people detection algorithm is provided as a pre-compiled library, offering excellent compatibility with a variety of common microcontrollers (MCUs). This algorithm library is designed to be hardware-agnostic and requires only a moderate amount of memory resources. Engineers can work flexibly across different platforms, ensuring the algorithm can be deployed directly without being limited to a specific MCU family, and can even be integrated into cost-optimized hardware. The algorithm is also deeply optimized for space-constrained applications, such as elevator cabins, providing superior performance for ceiling-mounted sensors.
Developed leveraging Melexis's in-house expertise in FIR imaging, the algorithm employs a logic-based optimization approach, finely tuned to the low-noise performance and wide operating range of the MLX90642 sensor. This design ensures stable and predictable operation across different environments and diverse scenarios, avoiding the retraining requirements and thermal performance fluctuations typically associated with AI-based solutions. In practical applications, this algorithm efficiently processes thermal array data, accurately detecting human activity within its field of view (FoV), providing highly accurate occupancy sensing capabilities. This capability plays an indispensable role as a key component of numerous smart building systems. Thanks to the pre-compiled solution provided by Melexis, the need for highly specialized engineering expertise is significantly reduced, development workload is minimized, and advanced functionalities are unlocked while effectively shortening development cycles and improving project efficiency.
To simplify the evaluation process, Melexis also offers a dedicated evaluation kit that integrates the MLX90642 sensor with pre-installed firmware, enabling stable operation of the human detection algorithm. This kit provides engineers with a ready-to-use platform, allowing them to directly evaluate its out-of-the-box detection performance without complex preparation. Furthermore, the configurable parameters in the kit allow engineers to flexibly conduct tests in different scenarios, thoroughly verifying the algorithm's applicability and reliability before the design work begins.
Joris Roels, Marketing Manager at Melexis, said: “This solution fully embodies our mission to go beyond the component level and empower engineers by removing barriers to the application of advanced technologies. By combining our market-proven sensor performance with an easy-to-use algorithm, we are enabling engineers worldwide to integrate advanced infrared-based human detection technology into smart building systems, providing better privacy protection than cameras while achieving energy saving goals.”
The MLX90642 FIR array human detection algorithm and accompanying evaluation kit are now officially available. Melexis registered users can access the algorithm through My Melexis.