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)。使用RPA的最大技术挑战是部署一个有效的、全天候的碰撞检测系统，并结合空中避碰能力。这是许多RPA会议上提出的要求，也是欧洲防御局指出的技术挑战的首位。这也是我们的潜在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。由于研发预算缩水，解决方案的开发一直非常缓慢。我们已经以原型的形式演示了一个基于立体成像配置中使用的两个摄像机的碰撞检测系统。然而，这种解决方案只能在晴朗的天气下使用。我们计划探索一种新方法的市场和商业可行性，其中我们使用一个小型雷达单元，基于相对便宜和轻便的海上(游艇)扫描雷达单元的增强，以增强立体视觉系统，使其能够探测到空中物体(A)在夜间，(B)在云中，(C)从太阳接近。起初，我们认为可能不允许在机载平台上使用游艇雷达单元。然而，我们注意到，美国联邦航空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”，以探测长达2公里的鸟类。目前，在民用应用中使用RPA的兴趣在世界各地迅速增长。除了它们在“枯燥、肮脏和危险”的作业中的应用外，还将带来环境方面的好处，因为RPA比载人同行行驶一公里所需的燃料更少。

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.