Hybrid Primary and Secondary Radar Concepts for 6D Wireless Locating and Multi-Perspective Imaging for Cooperative Mobile Systems

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Sensor systems for fully automated driving and navigation of mobile robots are currently the subject of intensive research. Radar techniques for radiolocation, navigation and environment mapping are very promising topics and indeed are often requisite sensor modalities for applications in harsh environments, like public roads, industry and planetary exploration. While primary radar is used to monitor passive targets, radar measurements between cooperating localization units are based on secondary-radar principles. Typical resolution issues arising from the large wavelengths associated with radar technology can be effectively addressed with synthetic aperture radar (SAR). SAR techniques, however, require accurate information on antenna pose and trajectory. The functionality and in particular the basic hardware are very similar with both primary and secondary radar. Building both sensor modalities with identical hardware and implementing a cooperating setup consisting of radio localization, pose determination and SAR imaging has scarcely been investigated to date. The proposed funding plan is aimed at filling this gap by investigating for the first time ever hybrid primary/secondary radar concepts. A group of cooperating mobile units will form the recording situation. Each unit is equipped with a hybrid MIMO primary/secondary radar system performing measurements in all directions. The novel hybrid 79GHz primary/secondary radar system and associated MIMO antenna array will be investigated and designed during the project. The complete 6D pose (3D rotation and 3D translation) and the trajectory of each mobile unit will be determined with a cooperative MIMO wirelss locating system. While in motion, each unit produces a SAR/ MIMO image of its surroundings. When combined, these images provide a multi-perspective map of the environment. The study should establish how effective radiolocation-based, multi-perspective SAR imaging is in tackling typical issues, such as shadowing und specular reflections. Another aspect of the hybrid approach, namely, the pose determination, should benefit from a comparison of overlapping primary radar images. The self-organization of the sensor cluster in all 6 dimensions is particularly challenging. In this context, variants of the so-called depth-first search algorithm specially adapted to the localization problem will be an important research topic.Both applicants have carried out extensive, relevant preparatory studies and research in the fields of radar and MIMO technologies, radiolocation and radar imaging and can draw on outstanding resources for the complex and wide-ranging program of works. Innovative hybrid radar techniques will emerge from this research effort which will pave the way for new options for autonoumous driving and mobile robot navigation.