LoRAD = Low power RADAR sensor for use in collision detection on small Remotely Piloted Aircraft

我们正在开发用于科学（冰厚监测），商业（石油和矿产勘探）和国家（边境巡逻）应用的遥控飞机（“RPA”）。RPA在超视距（BVLOS）操作中面临的最大技术挑战是部署有效的全天候碰撞检测系统，并结合机载避碰能力。这是在许多RPA会议上提出的要求，也是欧洲防务局指出的技术挑战列表中的首要问题。这也是我们潜在的RPA客户的要求，包括从事石油和天然气勘探和生产活动的公司。由于研发预算的缩减，解决方案的开发一直非常缓慢。我们已经以原型形式展示了一个碰撞检测系统，该系统基于在立体成像配置中使用两个摄像头。然而，根据目视飞行规则，这种解决方案只能在晴朗的日子使用。我们计划探索一种新方法的市场和商业可行性，在这种方法中，我们使用一个小型雷达单元，基于对相对便宜和轻便的海上（游艇）扫描雷达单元的改进，来增强立体视觉系统，从而能够探测(a)夜间、(b)云中和(c)接近太阳的空中物体。最初，我们认为游艇雷达装置可能不允许在空中平台上使用。然而，我们注意到，美国联邦航空管理局已经授权在美国机场使用这种类型的雷达作为“鸟类雷达”，以探测高达2公里的鸟类。目前，世界各地对RPA在民用应用中的应用的兴趣正在迅速增长。除了在“枯燥、肮脏和危险”的作业中应用外，RPA的社会效益将是环境效益，因为RPA比它们的载人同行使用更少的燃料。

We are developing Remotely Piloted Aircraft ("RPA") for use in scientific (ice thicknessmonitoring), commercial (oil and mineral exploration) and state (border patrol) applications.The greatest technical challenge to the use of RPA, operating Beyond Visual Line Of Sight("BVLOS"), is the deployment of an effective, all weather, collision detection system,combined with an airborne collision avoidance capability.This is a requirement that has been raised at many RPA conferences and is top of the list oftechnology challenges noted by the European Defence Agency . It has also been arequirement of our potential RPA customers, including companies engaged in oil and gasexploration and production activities.Development of a solution has been very slow due to shrinking R&D budgets. We havealready demonstrated in prototype form a collision detection system based on the use of twocameras in a stereo imaging configuration. However, this solution can only be used on a clearday under Visual Flight Rules.We plan to explore the market for, and commercial viability of, a novel approach in which weuse a small RADAR unit, based on an enhancement to a relatively inexpensive andlightweight maritime (yacht) scanning RADAR unit, to augment a stereo vision system, toenable the detection of airborne objects (a) at night, (b) in cloud and (c) approaching from thesun. Initially we thought the use of a yacht RADAR unit might not be permitted on anairborne platform. However, we have noticed that the US Federal Aviation Authority hasauthorised the use of this very type of RADAR as an "Avian RADAR" at US airports, todetect birds at up to 2 km.There is currently a rapidly growing interest in the use of RPA in civilian applicationsthroughout the world. Apart from their application in "dull, dirty and dangerous" operations, asocietal benefit will be environmental, since RPA use less fuel than their manned counterpartsper kilometre travelled.