Short Range High-Resolution Radar Imaging

The MS3 group has developed a number of MIMO UWB demonstrators in support of the ATOM (Airport detection and Tracking Of dangerous Materials by passive and active sensors arrays) and Wapen Scanner (concealed weapon detection) projects. These facilities are used to test different MIMO array topologies and image processing techniques.

Figure 1
Figure 1. Short-range MIMO imaging radar measurement setup in DUCAT

The RF subsystem consists of a vector network analyser connected to a 24-port switch operating up to 20 GHz. The tests are performed in our anechoic chamber.

The array topologies are built using extruded polystyrene foam plates onto which the antennas are placed.

Figure 2
Figure 2. Different geometric configurations of the antenna array with different types of individual antennas.

Figure 3
Figure 3. Imaging results.

Use of the SAR processing algorithms for the short range MIMO imaging

The antenna positioners inside the anechoic chamber allow to acquire data for the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) processing.

Figure 4
Figure 4. Measuremet setup in DUCAT for the linear SAR scanning and processing.

Figure 5
Figure 5. Measuremet setup in DUCAT for the circular SAR scanning and processing.

Results

Figure 4
Figure 4
Figure 6. Imaging results for concealed weapon detection.

Custom antennas

The MS3's expertise in antenna design allows for the creation of dedicated array elements, optimized for specific array and applications.

Figure 7
Figure 7. UWB antennas for high-resolution imaging radar applications.

* * *


Back

Back to the MS3 group facilities: RadarLab