Fan-Shaped End-Fire Antenna Array for Expanded 3D Radar Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Radar systems face performance degradation due to extreme weather conditions and downwind effects during helicopter landings, limiting their ability to detect critical obstacles like wires, buildings, and trees.
Innovation Solution
A radar device featuring a fan-shaped array of end-fire antennas, each oriented differently, creating a collective detection field that expands the radar's coverage area without moving parts, leveraging existing automotive radar technology for non-automotive applications like helicopter landing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a single radar system is used, then the device complexity is low, but the detection field coverage is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The radar system is segmented into multiple end-fire antenna elements arranged in a fan-shaped array, where each antenna contributes to a specific sector of the detection field. This segmentation allows the system to achieve expanded 3D coverage without requiring a single complex omnidirectional radar, thereby resolving the contradiction between coverage area and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional 2D radar scanning to 3D detection by arranging end-fire antennas in a fan-shaped array that provides elevation coverage. This dimensional expansion allows the system to detect obstacles in three dimensions (azimuth, elevation, and range) simultaneously, achieving comprehensive coverage while maintaining relatively simple individual antenna structures.
2Reliability
If radar power is increased to improve detection in adverse weather, then the detection capability improves, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing the power of a single radar to overcome adverse weather conditions, the system segments the detection task across multiple lower-power end-fire antennas. Each antenna operates at reduced power levels but collectively provides robust detection capability through spatial diversity, thereby maintaining reliability while reducing overall energy consumption compared to a single high-power system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the detection capabilities of multiple low-power end-fire antennas to achieve the collective detection performance equivalent to or better than a single high-power radar. By combining the signals and detection results from multiple antennas in a fan-shaped array, the system achieves reliable obstacle detection in adverse weather conditions with lower total energy consumption.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides an enlarged three-dimensional detection field, enhancing safety by accurately identifying hazards even in adverse weather conditions, and offers a cost-effective expansion of radar detection capabilities beyond automotive limits.
Implementation Method 1
Each end-fire antenna can have a transmission end oriented in a different direction than the other end-fire antennas. The plurality of end-fire antennas can create a collective detection field.
Data Source
AI summary
A radar device can be configured to provide an expanded detection field. The radar device can include a plurality of end-fire antennas. The plurality of end-fire antennas can be arranged in a fan-shaped array such that the plurality of end-fire antennas extending radially outward from a central region. Each end-fire antenna can have a transmission end oriented in a different direction than the other end-fire antennas. The plurality of end-fire antennas creating a collective detection field, which is larger than the detection field provided by any individual end-fire antenna. The radar device can be carried on a vehicle, such as an aircraft or a watercraft. For instance, the radar device can be used in connection with a helicopter, particularly when landing.