Project description
Optical technologies could help us 'see' better with radars
Radars have come a long way since the term was first coined during World War II as an acronym for "RAdio Detection And Ranging." There are now many kinds of radar technologies available or under development, all working on the principle of transmitting an electromagnetic signal and analysing the signal reflected back for object detection/tracking and velocity evaluation. The EU-funded Photonic Radar project is developing a hybrid photonics-based radar concept relying on lasers to create and analyse the signals. The advanced system should enhance image resolution and accuracy and will be piloted in an intelligent transportation system.
Objective
The conventional radar systems, operating in mm-wave (MMW) i.e. beyond 30 GHz, are exposed to high free-path losses (≥ 1 dB/km) and the situation becomes more punitive under severe environment conditions, for instance, Heavy rain and fog. Moreover, the traditional radar distribution networks are realized with conventional cables or space-feeds that results in a massive, complex and inflexible system. To overcome these issues, the hybrid photonic-based radar system (PHRAD) emerges as a promising candidate, providing low-loss, immunity to EM interference and high bandwidth capacity. These robust properties of photonics play a vital role in realization of PHRAD transceiver with improved navigation and detection. Although, the possibility of multiband PHRAD, capable to work in both S-and X-band, becomes feasible that reduces the weight, size and cost of the system. Alternatively, the state-of-the-art electronic techniques have not the required potential to make such radars feasible. The key goal of the proposed project is to develop a PHRAD transceiver tunable over a wide frequency range (≥ 40GHz) and immune to phase fluctuations in order to realize a robust navigation and detection system capable of providing high imagery-resolution and accuracy. The proposed work will be carried out in three phases. In phase I, Mode lock Lasers will be cultivated to generate wide-range and phase-stable radar signals in MMW. These wide-bandwidth signals (40-80GHz) will help to provide high imagery-resolution with accurate speed-computation of objects that lead to a reliable and secure navigation to the autonomous vehicles. In phase II, a multiband PHRAD transceiver will be designed to provide high frequency-flexibility that provides capability to track any frequency signal within S-or X-band. The phase III is dedicated to the implementation of the developed multiband PHRAD in real-time environment, especially in intelligent transport system (ITS), for its testing and evaluation.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringautomotive engineeringautonomous vehicles
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringinformation engineeringtelecommunicationsradio technologyradar
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticslaser physics
- social sciencessocial geographytransportsustainable transportintelligent transport systems
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinator
B4 7ET Birmingham
United Kingdom