Electronic Scanning MIMO Radar Development for Railway Level Crossing Obstruction Detection and Alerting

平交道口（LC）的安全是整个欧盟和全球铁路网的关键问题。全球对提高LC安全性的需求导致了许多水平交叉障碍检测（LCOD）系统的发展，但据报道，没有一种系统能够完全满足铁路运营商的成本或性能要求。当前领先的LCOD雷达系统在没有物体存在的情况下需要清晰的背景进行测量，并且无法测量靠近地面的物体。它有一个狭窄的仰角波束，需要安装得足够高，这样地面和地面水平的杂波就不会被波束覆盖。为了探测儿童或低空物体，通常需要额外的系统，如激光。这种对传感器组合的需求意味着整个系统复杂，成本高，安装率有限。该项目的目标是证明低成本、全天候、高性能和高可靠性雷达系统的概念，以满足铁路运营商的要求。GuidanceAutomation有限公司（GAL）将使用一种工作频率为24 ghz的电子扫描FMCW雷达，并在地面安装一个小型多进多出（MIMO）贴片天线阵列。为了实现可行的解决方案，需要对能够消除地杂波和准确识别感兴趣目标的软件和算法进行可靠的验证。GAL及其分包商伦敦大学学院（UCL）和剑桥像素在传感器开发，雷达成像和数据处理方面拥有世界领先的技术能力。该项目将；收集有代表性的雷达数据；开发和测试算法，为移动和静止物体提供强大的目标检测，同时也不会导致误报；传感器分析，以确定最佳分辨率，以最大限度地降低成本，提高处理速度和检测精度；设计和建造测试单元，用于系统试验。该项目最初侧重于铁路部门，但也为采矿、机场和有轨电车提供了机会。

Level Crossing (LC) safety a key issue across EU & global rail networks. The global need toimprove LC safety has led to the development of a number of Level Crossing ObstacleDetection (LCOD) systems, but none are reported to fully meet rail operator cost orperformance requirements. The current leading LCOD radar system needs a clear backgroundfor measurements when no objects are present & is not able to measure objects close to theground. It has a narrow elevation beam & needs to be mounted sufficiently high so that theground & ground level clutter is not covered by the beam. To detect children or low levelobjects, additional systems, usually lasers are required. This need for a combination of sensorsmeans overall systems are complicated, costs are high & installation rates are limited.The project objective is to prove the concept of a low cost, all-weather, high performance, andhigh reliability radar system for LCOD that meets rail operator requirements. GuidanceAutomation Ltd (GAL) will use an electronic scanning FMCW radar operating at 24 GHzwith a small Multiple In Multiple Out (MIMO) patch antenna array, mounted at ground level.For a viable solution the software & algorithms enabling ground clutter cancellation &accurate object of interest identification need to be robustly proven. GAL with its subcontractorsUniversity College London (UCL) & Cambridge Pixel has world leading technicalcapability in sensor development, radar imaging & data processing. The project will; Collectrepresentative radar data; Develop & test algorithms to provide robust object detection forboth moving & stationary objects whilst also not resulting in false positives; Sensor analysisto determine the optimum resolution to minimise cost, improve processing speed & detectionaccuracy & Design & construct test unit for system trials.The project is initially focused on the rail sector but also provides opportunities in mining,airports, & tramways.