Ilmsens GmbH

Development of innovative liquid and high-resolution short-range sensors.

Ilmsens GmbH was founded in 2016 out of the TU Ilmenau and develops state-of-the-art ultra-wideband sensors according to the highest quality standards. Ilmsens' sensors find international application in liquid analysis and short-range sensing.

Ilmsens GmbH has its origins in the Department of Electronic Measurement and Signal Processing and the research group "Ultrawideband Technology (UWB)" headed by Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Sachs, Kai Schilling, Martin Kmec and Ralf Herrmann. In order to take the step from research to business, the four scientists brought the right co-founder on board in Hans-Christian Fritsch: The business informatics specialist was a project manager at the TU and took over the position as managing director at Ilmsens. Today, the company employs more than 20 people at its sites in the Technology and Start-up Center Ilmenau and in Košice (Slovakia).

High-resolution close-range sensor technology enables Ilmsens GmbH to detect objects or surfaces as well as the smallest movements and to determine and classify them with regard to their distance from the sensor, their speed and their position. The objects can be detected in a wide variety of materials using this non-destructive method. The technology is also used internationally in science: Norwegian researchers, for example, used the sensors to measure layers of snow on the sea ice at the North Pole.

Ilmsens GmbH was funded through the EXIST research transfer program and won, among others, the Thuringian strategy competition for innovative start-ups (2016), the start-up pitch of the ZVEI colloquium (2018) and the pitch of the technology competition getstarted2gether (2020).

For further information on Ilmsens GmbH, please visit the company website and LinkedIn.

Status: 2021

Ilmsens GmbH
Ralf Herrmann, Hans-Christian Fritsch, Kai Schilling, Martin Kmec and Jürgen Sachs (from left)
Ilmsens GmbH
The evaluation kit for microwave sensor technology, ultra-wideband technology and m-sequence technology "m:explore" is based on the developed m-sequence of Ilmsens GmbH and can be used, among other things, for the measurement of vital data.
Ilmsens GmbH
By means of transmitting and receiving antennas in the backrest, breathing, pulse and movement can be detected without contact, which then allows statements to be made about stress levels, comfort levels and state of health. The technology can be used, for example, in the automotive, personal recognition and medical sectors.
Ilmsens GmbH
Ilmsens GmbH can measure movements of the skin in the micrometer range triggered, for example, by the heartbeat during vital data detection. This graph shows the breathing rate and heartbeat of a person at rest. No image data is recorded during the measurement.