Radar-centric perception system with distributed aperture fusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing advanced autonomy systems for mobile platforms rely heavily on LIDAR, which is vulnerable to impairments like fog, snow, and rain, while radar systems offer better robustness but with poorer angular resolution.
Innovation Solution
A radar-centric perception system with multiple distributed radar sensor units and a fusion block that provides multi-scale data acquisition and processing, enhancing angular resolution and overall efficacy by coordinating data from multiple smaller apertures to create a large effective aperture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If radar systems are used instead of LIDAR, then robustness to adverse weather conditions is improved, but angular resolution deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the radar aperture into multiple smaller distributed radar sensor units positioned at different locations. Each unit captures radar data from its local aperture, and the fusion block combines these data to synthesize a large effective aperture, achieving high angular resolution while maintaining radar's weather robustness
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a single aperture to a distributed array of apertures across multiple spatial dimensions. By coordinating data from multiple smaller apertures positioned at different locations, the system creates a virtual large aperture that achieves high angular resolution without requiring a single physically large radar unit
2Measurement precision
If multiple distributed radar sensor units are coordinated to create a large effective aperture, then angular resolution is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fusion block merges radar data from multiple distributed sensor units by combining their respective aperture data. This merging process synthesizes a large effective aperture that achieves high angular resolution while distributing the computational and hardware complexity across multiple manageable units rather than requiring a single complex large-aperture system
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 system achieves improved angular resolution and robustness in adverse weather conditions, enabling effective perception and decision-making for autonomous systems like vehicles.
Implementation Method 1
multiple distributed radar sensor units that include radar elements
Data Source
AI summary
A radar data acquisition circuit comprising: a radar receiver to receive radar data representing a radar scene in response to a sequence of extended sampling waveform frames that includes multiple sampling waveform subframes; and a first processor; configured with stored program instructions to generate one or more replacement sampling waveform subframes to include in an extended sampling waveform frame of the sequence based at least in part upon one or more radar parameters of radar data received using the sequence of extended sampling waveform frames.