29913 results about "Radar" patented technology

Arrangement and method for mapping a road during travel of a vehicle having two data acquisition modules arranged on sides of the vehicle, each including a GPS receiver and antenna for enabling the vehicle's position to be determined and a linear camera which provides one-dimensional images of an area on the respective side in a vertical plane perpendicular to the road such that information about the road is obtained from a view in a direction perpendicular to the road. A processor unit forms a map database of the road by correlating the vehicle's position and the information about the road. Instead of or in addition to the linear cameras, scanning laser radars are provided and transmit waves downward in a plane perpendicular to the road and receive reflected waves to provide information about distance between the laser radars and the ground for use in forming the database.

Position information of equipment at an event, such as a ball, one or more players, or other items in a game or sporting event, is used in selecting camera, camera shot type, camera angle, audio signals, and / or other output data for providing a multimedia presentation of the event to a viewer. The position information is used to determine the desired viewer perspective. A network of feedback robotically controlled Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ), manually controlled cameras and stationary cameras work together with interpolation techniques to create a 2D video signal. The position information may also be used to access gaming rules and assist officiating of the event. The position information may be obtained through a transceiver(s), accelerometer(s), transponder(s), and / or RADAR detectable element(s) fitted into the ball, apparel or equipment of players, the players themselves, or other playing equipment associated with the game or sporting event. Other positioning methods that can be used include infrared video-based tracking systems, SONAR positioning system(s), LIDAR positioning systems, and digital signal processing (DSP) image processing techniques such as triangulation.

Positions of users other than a particular user in a virtual reality space shared by many users can be recognized with ease and in a minimum display space. The center (or intersection) of a cross of radar map corresponds to the particular user and the positions of other users (to be specific, the avatars of the other users) around the particular user are indicated by dots or squares colored red for example in the radar map. This radar map is displayed on virtual reality space image in a superimposed manner.

A sensor system for use in a vehicle that integrates sensor data from more than one sensor in an effort to facilitate collision avoidance and other types of sensor-related processing. The system include external sensors for capturing sensor data external to the vehicle. External sensors can include sensors of a wide variety of different sensor types, including radar, image processing, ultrasonic, infrared, and other sensor types. Each external sensor can be configured to focus on a particular sensor zone external to the vehicle. Each external sensor can also be configured to focus primarily on particular types of potential obstacles and obstructions based on the particular characteristics of the sensor zone and sensor type. All sensor data can be integrated in a comprehensive manner by a threat assessment subsystem within the sensor system. The system is not limited to sensor data from external sensors. Internal sensors can be used to capture internal sensor data, such a vehicle characteristics, user attributes, and other types of interior information. Moreover, the sensor system can also include an information sharing subsystem of exchanging information with other vehicle sensor systems or for exchanging information with non-vehicle systems such as a non-movable highway sensor system configured to transmit and receive information relating to traffic, weather, construction, and other conditions. The sensor system can potentially integrate data from all different sources in a comprehensive and integrated manner. The system can integrate information by assigning particular weights to particular determinations by particular sensors.

An efficient, low-loss, low sidelobe, high dynamic range phased-array radar antenna system is disclosed that uses metamaterials, which are manmade composite materials having a negative index of refraction, to create a biconcave lens architecture (instead of the aforementioned biconvex lens) for focusing the microwaves transmitted by the antenna. Accordingly, the sidelobes of the antenna are reduced. Attenuation across microstrip transmission lines may be reduced by using low loss transmission lines that are suspended above a ground plane a predetermined distance in a way such they are not in contact with a solid substrate. By suspending the microstrip transmission lines in this manner, dielectric signal loss is reduced significantly, thus resulting in a less-attenuated signal at its destination.

In a safety running system, a transverse travelling distance resulting when a subject vehicle travels to a current position of an oncoming vehicle is calculated based on the vehicle velocity and yaw rate of the subject vehicle, a relative transverse distance of the oncoming vehicle relative to a vehicle body axis of the subject vehicle is calculated based on a relative distance, relative velocity and relative angle between the subject vehicle and the oncoming vehicle detected by a radar information processor. When a relative transverse deviation obtained by subtracting the transverse travelling distance from the relative transverse distance resides within a range and that state continues to exist over a predetermined time period, it is judged that there is a collision possibility of the subject vehicle with the oncoming vehicle, and automatic steering is performed so as to avoid a collision.

A weapons detector (12) and method utilizing radar. The system comprises a transmitter (27) for producing an output (14) of frequencies of a set of self-resonant frequencies of weaponry; an antenna (28) directing the transmitter output toward locations potentially having weaponry and collecting backscattered signals (15); a receiver (29) receiving the backscattered signals (15) and operating over a range of the self-resonant frequencies; and a signal processor (30) for detecting the presence of a plurality of the self-resonant frequencies in the backscattered signals (15). Accuracies of greater than 98% can be obtained at distances, preferably between 4-15 yards. The weapons detector (12) is capable of detecting metal and non-metal weapons (16) on a human body (13) in purses, briefcases and under clothing; and discerning weapons (16) from objects such as belt buckles, coins, keys, calculators, cellular phones.

An electronic event recorder for attachment to a vehicle is provided which can broadcast encrypted signature and data, thereby leaving behind an electronic version of a "fingerprint" in the event of an accident or traffic violation. The fingerprint, captured by an external data acquisition system or another vehicle so equipped, provides a history of events related to the vehicle. The event recorder is preferably integrated on a smart card and housed in a tamper proof casing. In a first mode of operation, monitoring stations along the roadways periodically send an interrogation signal, such as when radar detects that the vehicle is speeding. Upon receiving the interrogation signal the smart card transmits the vehicle's signature information to the monitoring station where it is time and date stamped along with the speed of the vehicle. In a second mode of operation, when a sensor detects a sudden or violent acceleration or deceleration, such as occurs during a collision, a smart card mounted in each car will exchange signature information automatically. This is particularly useful when the collision occurs in a parking lot when one of the hit vehicles is typically unattended.

A system and method are described that use impulse radio technology to enhance the capabilities of a robot. In one embodiment, a system, a robot and a method are provided that use the communication capabilities of impulse radio technology to help a control station better control the actions of the robot. In another embodiment, a system, a robot and a method are provided that use the communication, position and / or radar capabilities of impulse radio technology to help a control station better control the actions of a robot in order to, for example, monitor and control the environment within a building.

The present invention includes a number of embodiments for improving vehicle situational awareness at intersections. A first embodiment may comprise a lens fitted at the top of the windshield or outside the vehicle, for refracting the light to the driver, so the driver may more easily see signals, signage and other features of an intersection, as well as other traffic. A second embodiment of the invention is used as an aid to prompt the driver that a light has changed. In a third embodiment, the light change sensor may be combined with other vehicle status information. As the car comes to a stop, the route guidance system may determine if the vehicle is at or in the vicinity of an intersection. Depending on the route guidance database, the system may also know whether or not there are traffic lights at the intersection. Using the vehicle's on board forward-looking radar sensor, the system may then determine if it is first in line at the intersection. In a fourth embodiment the system may be part of a portable after-market routing device. In a fifth embodiment the system, either portable or fixed, may be used to detect changes in the intensity of the brake lights of the vehicle ahead.

A system and method for fusing depth and radar data to estimate at least a position of a threat object relative to a host object is disclosed. At least one contour is fitted to a plurality of contour points corresponding to the plurality of depth values corresponding to a threat object. A depth closest point is identified on the at least one contour relative to the host object. A radar target is selected based on information associated with the depth closest point on the at least one contour. The at least one contour is fused with radar data associated with the selected radar target based on the depth closest point to produce a fused contour. Advantageously, the position of the threat object relative to the host object is estimated based on the fused contour. More generally, a method is provided for aligns two possibly disparate sets of 3D points.

An accessory for a motor vehicle, comprising a rear-view mirror case of either an inside or outside rear-view mirror, a screen attached to one side of the rear-view mirror case without disturbing vision in the rear-view mirror and means for adjusting the orientation of the screen with respect to the mirror. The mirror and the screen are simultaneously and fully visible to a driver of the vehicle. The rear-view mirror case, the screen housing, or both, comprise all or part of electronic elements to display at least one of the following functions on the screen: navigation, radar, map, guidance, traffic instruction.

A lidar-based system and method are used for the solid state beamforming and steering of laser beams using optical phased array (OPA) photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and the detection of laser beams using photodetectors. Transmitter and receiver electronics, power management electronics, control electronics, data conversion electronics and processing electronics are also included in the system and used in the method.Laser pulses beamformed by the OPA PIC reflect from objects in the field of view (FOV) of said OPA, and are detected by a detector or a set of detectors.A lidar system includes at least one lidar, and any subset and any number of complementary sensors, data processing / communication / storage modules, and a balance of system for supplying power, protecting, connecting, and mounting the components of said system.Direct correlation between the 3D point cloud generated by the lidar and the color images captured by an RGB (Red, Green, Blue) video camera can be achieved by using an optical beam splitter that sends optical signals simultaneously to both sensors.A lidar system may contain a plurality of lidar sensors, a lidar sensor may contain a plurality of optical transmitters, and an optical transmitter may contain a plurality of OPA PICs.

The invention relates to the technical field of radar, in particular to a millimeter-wave quasi-optical integrated dielectric lens antenna and an array thereof. The array consists of a microstrip integrated antenna, a dielectric lens, an objective lens, an array base, a reflecting mirror, a protective cover and a beam transfer switch; one end face of the dielectric lens is a hemisphere or an ellipsoid, while the other end face is a cylindrical section; the microstrip integrated antenna is generated by an dielectric substrate, the front surface of the dielectric substrate is closely adhered tothe cylindrical section of the dielectric lens and serves as a feed source, and the back surface is grounded; the hemispherical or ellipsoidal end face of the dielectric lens is an antenna radiating surface; the length of the cylindrical part of the dielectric lens can be changed; the antenna array is arranged into a linear array or an area array; the array base and the reflecting mirror have conical quasi-optical reflecting mirror surfaces; the focus of the objective lens of the linear array or the area array aligns with the central line of the dielectric lens; the protective cover is arranged outside; and the antenna array is controlled by the beam transfer switch. The antenna structure has strong shock resistance and dust prevention, and is suitable for millimeter-wave radars for planes, automobiles and ships, and receiving / emitting sensing of communication equipment.

A method of modulating communications signals, such as optical fiber, wired electronic, or wireless signals in a manner that facilitates automatic correction for the signal distortion effects of echoes and frequency shifts, while still allowing high rates of data transmission. Data symbols intended for transmission are distributed into N×N matrices, and used to weigh or modulate a family of cyclically time shifted and cyclically frequency shifted waveforms. Although these waveforms may then be distorted during transmission, their basic cyclic time and frequency repeating structure facilitates use of improved receivers with deconvolution devices that can utilize the repeating patterns to correct for these distortions. The various waveforms may be sent in N time blocks at various time spacing and frequency spacing combinations in a manner that can allow interleaving of blocks from different transmitters. Applications to channel sounding / characterization, system optimization, and also radar are also discussed.

A radar-based physiological motion sensor is disclosed. Doppler-shifted signals can be extracted from the signals received by the sensor. The Doppler-shifted signals can be digitized and processed subsequently to extract information related to the cardiopulmonary motion in one or more subjects. The information can include respiratory rates, heart rates, waveforms due to respiratory and cardiac activity, direction of arrival, abnormal or paradoxical breathing, etc. In various embodiments, the extracted information can be displayed on a display.

The system and method for standoff detection of human carried explosives (HCE) is a portable system that automatically detects HCE up to a range of 200 meters and within seconds alerts an operator to HCE threats. The system has radar only, or both radar and video sensors, a multi-sensor processor, an operator console, handheld displays, and a wideband wireless communications link. The processor receives radar and video feeds and automatically tracks and detects all humans in the field of view. Track data continuously cues the narrow beam radar to a subject of interest, the radar repeatedly interrogating cued objects, producing a multi-polarity radar range profile for each interrogation event. Range profiles and associated features are automatically fused over time until sufficient evidence is accrued to support a threat / non-threat declaration hypothesis. Once a determination is made, the system alerts operators through a handheld display and mitigates the threat if desired.

A metalized plastic antenna includes a plastic antenna body with metallization on the inside. In this arrangement metallization is used for conducting electromagnetic waves. Furthermore, metallization may be implemented as a protective coating so that chemical resistance of the plastic antenna may be ensured even in the case of corrosive environmental conditions.

A lidar-based apparatus and method are used for multi-signal detection, weak signal detection and signal disambiguation through waveform approximation utilizing a multi-channel time-to-digital converter (TDC) electronic circuit, with each TDC having an individually adjustable voltage threshold. This advanced TDC-based pulse width time-of-flight (ToF) approach achieves the low cost associated with the TDC-based pulse width ToF approach while solving the signal quality issues associated with the standard single-threshold TDC-based approach.

Local oscillator circuitry for an antenna array is disclosed. The circuitry includes an array of rotary traveling wave oscillators which are arranged in a pattern over an area and coupled so as to make them coherent. This provides for a set of phase synchronous local oscillators distributed over a large area. The array also includes a plurality of phase shifters each of which is connected to one of the rotary oscillators to provide a phase shifted local oscillator for the array. The phase shifter optionally includes a cycle counter that is configured to count cycles of the rotary oscillator to which it is connected and control circuitry that is then operative to provide a shifted rotary oscillator output based on the count from the cycle counter. A system and method for operating a true-time delay phased array antenna system. The system includes a plurality of antenna element circuits for driving or receiving an rf signal from the elements of the array. Each element circuit has a transmit and a receive path and a local multiphase oscillator, such as a rotary traveling wave oscillator. Each path has an analog delay line for providing a true-time delay for the antenna element. Preferably, the analog delay line is a charge coupled device whose control nodes are connected to phases of the local multiphase oscillator to implement a delay that is an integer number local multiphase oscillator periods. A fractional delay is also included in the path by using a sample and hold circuit connected to a particular phase of the oscillator. By delaying each antenna element by a true time delay, broadband operation of the array is possible.

Agricultural operations by applying flexible manufacturing software, robotics and sensing techniques to agriculture. In manufacturing operations utilizing flexible machining and flexible assembly robots, work pieces flow through a fixed set of workstations on an assembly line. At different stations are located machine vision systems, laser based raster devices, radar, touch, photocell, and other methods of sensing; flexible robot armatures and the like are used to operate on them. This flexible agricultural automation turns that concept inside out, moving software programmable workstations through farm fields on mobile robots that can sense their environment and respond to it flexibly. The agricultural automation will make it possible for large scale farming to take up labor intensive farming practices which are currently only practical for small scale farming, improving land utilization efficiency, while lowering manpower costs dramatically.

A method and apparatus for automatically generating a three-dimensional computer model from a “point cloud” of a scene produced by a laser radar (LIDAR) system. Given a point cloud of an indoor or outdoor scene, the method extracts certain structures from the imaged scene, i.e., ceiling, floor, furniture, rooftops, ground, and the like, and models these structures with planes and / or prismatic structures to achieve a three-dimensional computer model of the scene. The method may then add photographic and / or synthetic texturing to the model to achieve a realistic model.

The invention relates to a small and low-voltage operable dielectric waveguide device. First and second electrode are embedded in a dielectric part and are formed to be thinner than a skin depth for a frequency of electromagnetic wave propagating along a first dielectric part included in the dielectric part. Thereby, even if the first and second electrodes are arranged to be in contact with the first dielectric part, the propagating electromagnetic wave can transmit the first and second electrodes, and therefore the electromagnetic wave can propagate without being cut off and there is no influence on waveguide modes of the electromagnetic wave. Further, in a state where a transmission loss due to the embedded of the electrode is suppressed, an electric field with large electric field strength can be applied to the first dielectric part by the first and second electrodes, and a small and low-voltage operable dielectric waveguide device can be achieved.

A horn antenna for a radar device comprising a metal body having a tubular hollow waveguide section opening into a hollow horn section, a dielectric filling body filling up the inner space of the horn section, and a dielectric cover, wherein the horn antenna is configured to protrude in a measurement environment, protected from highly aggressive process environments and is usable over a wide temperature range.

A three-dimensional mapping system comprising a moderate number (typically 2 to 4) of moderate-beam-count (typically 8-beam to 16-beam) lidar sensors is proposed to achieve low cost systems with wide fields of view. Secondary advantages include compact sensors and a small minimum range (possible by optimal placement of each of a plurality of sensors).

In an antenna for a level meter employing the radar principle, a fastening device is provided for detachably mounting a dielectric insert in the antenna. The fastening device may be a continuous clamping collar that clamps the dielectric insert in place in the antenna. This offers a simple, universally employable possibility for fastening a dielectric insert in the antenna.