A closed door doesn’t necessarily prevent motion detection. The Sensinova SINO M16 uses 5.8 GHz radar technology, allowing it to detect movement through materials like glass, wooden doors, and thin partition walls. Because of this, the microwave sensor is suitable for use with lighting control in rooms where a direct line of sight is difficult to achieve. The sensor’s adjustable detection area, timing, and daylight settings allow installers to control how it responds in each location.
SINO M16 sends high-frequency microwave signals into its detection area. These signals reflect from surrounding surfaces. A moving person changes the reflected signal. The sensor reads that change and triggers the connected lighting.
This active sensing method can detect movement through some nonmetallic materials. Sensinova states that SINO M16 can sense through glass panes, wooden doors, and thin partitions. Dense materials, metal structures, and site conditions can change detection behaviour.
That distinction matters. The sensor does not literally see through a wall. It detects changes in reflected microwave signals that can pass through certain materials.
The range of a microwave sensor is affected by the installation height, mounting angle, and materials the signal must pass through, although its main advantage remains unchanged. A door closing, a glass front door, or a thin partition wall does not block the signal as effectively as it would block a PIR sensor. Because of this, microwave motion sensors are well suited for entryways with glass doors, warehouse loading bays, corridors behind partition walls, and any area with a solid obstacle between the sensor and the area to be covered.
Glass-fronted retail entrances can detect a fire before a customer even reaches the door. In warehouses and loading bays, reliable motion detection works in dusty, temperature-fluctuating environments where PIR sensors often struggle. Lighting in office corridors behind glass partitions stays responsive without additional sensors on either side of the glass. Stairwells and hallways with closed doors stay on as soon as someone approaches, rather than only after they have pushed through the door.
Feature |
PIR Sensor |
SINO M16 Microwave Sensor |
|---|---|---|
Detects through glass
| ||
A standard PIR sensor stops working where a microwave sensor should still function. The SINO M16 provides this level of reliability by means of a 360-degree radio frequency field which can pass through glass, doors and thin partitions – a feature designed for use in retail entrances, warehouses and corridors since line-of-sight detection is not adequate in such locations. Sensinova designs each sensor in this range with installers in mind, ensuring coverage remains effective in real, imperfect building layouts.
The SINO M16 can detect motion through glass, wooden doors, and thin partition walls. Detection depends on the material type, thickness, sensor position, and sensitivity. Metal and dense materials can obstruct microwave signals.
SINO M16 emits radio frequency waves across a 360-degree field. Since these waves pass through non-metallic materials like glass, movement on the other side of a window or partition still triggers detection.
SINO M16 suits warehouses, corridors, staircases, parking areas, offices, meeting rooms, retail areas, and other commercial or industrial spaces that need wide coverage and automatic lighting based on movement.
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