SBIR Phase II: Novel Radar Using 3D Printed Luneburg Lens for Autonomous Transportation

SBIR 第二阶段：使用 3D 打印 Luneburg 透镜实现自主运输的新型雷达

• 批准号: 1758547
• 负责人: Min Liang
• 金额: $ 72.95万
• 依托单位: LUNEWAVE INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-04-01 至 2022-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1758547&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Novel; Radar

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be that this research will address the resolution and detection range requirements of autonomous driving in complex environments such as urban scenarios. The next major revolution of transportation is undoubtedly autonomous driving, which will increase safety, mobility and productivity. Fully autonomous transportation may eliminate human error, the leading cause of traffic accidents, and could also lead to reduced traffic congestion, higher energy efficiency, and enhanced mobility for the aging and disabled population. The proposed advanced sensing system with intelligent algorithms is expected to help enable and advance the autonomous driving revolution. The proposed effort will also have great commercial impact. The global market size of autonomous sensors is expected to grow from $5.2 billion in 2018 to $11.9 billion in 2023, with the radar-based sensor segment representing $2.9 billion in 2023. In addition, the expected research outcome may lead to advancements in a number of important market sectors including wireless communications, sensing, mobile internet, assistive technology, and additive manufacturing.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 project aims to realize a 3D-printed Luneburg lens-based high performance automotive radar for autonomous driving. Existing automotive radars do not have enough distance detection, field of view, and angular resolution for classifying and locating dense targets, which is critical for achieving fully autonomous driving. As a result, current autonomous driving tests utilize LiDAR ((Light Detection And Ranging) systems which are more expensive and less reliable than radar especially under adverse weather conditions such as rain, snow, fog, and smoke. Compared to conventional manufacturing techniques, this project utilizes 3D printing, which is convenient, fast, inexpensive and capable of implementing millimeter wave Luneburg lenses. Based on the Luneburg lens?s ability to form multiple beams with high gain and broad bandwidth, a novel automotive radar will be designed by mounting radar detectors around the lens. Moreover, with the wide bandwidth and natural beam forming capabilities of the Luneburg lens, an adaptive sensing approach is proposed to improve the scanning efficiency and avoid interference from nearby or intruder radar systems. With these proposed approaches, the objective is to achieve a high performance and high value millimeter-wave sensing system suitable for autonomous transportation applications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是，这项研究将解决城市场景等复杂环境中自动驾驶的分辨率和检测范围要求。交通运输的下一次重大革命无疑是自动驾驶，它将提高安全性、机动性和生产率。完全自主的交通运输可以消除人为错误，这是导致交通事故的主要原因，还可以减少交通拥堵，提高能源效率，并增强老龄化和残疾人口的流动性。拟议中的具有智能算法的先进传感系统预计将有助于实现和推进自动驾驶革命。拟议中的努力也将产生巨大的商业影响。自主传感器的全球市场规模预计将从2018年的52亿美元增长到2023年的119亿美元，其中基于雷达的传感器领域在2023年将达到29亿美元。此外，预期的研究成果可能会在一些重要的市场领域取得进展，包括无线通信、传感、移动互联网、辅助技术和添加剂制造。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目旨在实现一种基于3D打印的基于伦堡透镜的高性能汽车雷达，用于自动驾驶。现有的汽车雷达没有足够的距离探测、视场和角度分辨率来分类和定位密集目标，这是实现全自动驾驶的关键。因此，目前的自动驾驶测试使用LiDAR(光检测和测距)系统，这些系统比雷达更昂贵，可靠性更差，特别是在雨、雪、雾和烟雾等恶劣天气条件下。与传统制造技术相比，该项目采用3D打印，方便、快速、廉价，能够实现毫米波伦堡透镜。基于卢堡透镜-S形成高增益、宽带多波束的能力，通过在透镜周围安装雷达探测器，将设计一种新型的汽车雷达。此外，利用伦堡透镜的宽带宽和自然波束形成能力，提出了一种自适应传感方法，以提高扫描效率并避免来自附近或入侵者雷达系统的干扰。通过这些建议的方法，目标是实现适合自主运输应用的高性能和高价值的毫米波传感系统。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。