Radar test systems and methods

1. A radar testing system comprising:

a radar simulator with a radar simulator antenna configured to receive an outgoing radar signal from a radar system to be tested and transmit a simulated return radar signal representative of a virtual object in a field of view of the radar system to be tested back to the radar system during testing;

a computer communicatively coupled to the radar simulator, the computer having one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer configured to receive parameters for the virtual object in the field of view of the radar system and provide the parameters related to the virtual object to the radar simulator;

a radar sensor rotation system communicatively coupled to the computer and configured to rotate a radar sensor of the radar system to be tested about an axis of rotation to a plurality of predetermined angles during a test of the radar system; and

the radar sensor rotation system having a motor with a motor rotation shaft mechanically coupled to the radar sensor, wherein the computer-executable instructions executed by the one or more processors cause the motor to rotate the motor rotation shaft to the plurality of predetermined angles during the test of the radar system.

2. The radar testing system of claim 1 , wherein the radar sensor rotation system rotates the radar sensor relative to a central simulated return radar signal axis of the radar simulator.

3. The radar testing system of claim 1 , wherein the motor is a stepper motor.

4. The radar testing system of claim 3 , wherein the computer-executable instructions executed by the one or more processors cause the motor to rotate the motor rotation shaft step-wise with the radar sensor at each of the plurality of predetermined angles for a fixed amount of time during the test of the radar system.

5. The radar testing system of claim 4 , wherein the computer-executable instructions executed by the one or more processors cause the motor to rotate the motor rotation shaft continuously with the radar sensor at continuously moving through the plurality of predetermined angles during the test of the radar system.

6. A radar testing system comprising:

a radar system to be tested, the radar system having an amplifier, a mixer, a phase-locked loop, a voltage controlled oscillator and a radar sensor, the radar system configured to transmit a plurality of outgoing radar signals and receive a plurality of return radar signals;

a radar simulator having a radar simulator antenna and a simulation processor, the radar simulator configured to receive the plurality of outgoing radar signals from the radar system and transmit a plurality of simulated return radar signals to the radar system;

a computer communicatively coupled to the radar simulator, the computer having one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer configured to receive parameters for a virtual object in a field of view of the radar system and provide the parameters related to the virtual object to the radar simulator; and

a radar sensor rotation system communicatively coupled to the computer, the radar sensor rotation system having a rotation shaft mechanically coupled to the radar sensor and a motor mechanically coupled to the rotation shaft, the radar sensor rotation system configured to rotate the radar sensor about a rotation axis;

wherein the computer-executable instructions executed by the one or more processors cause:

the radar sensor rotation system to rotate and position the radar sensor at a plurality of predetermined angles relative to a central radar signal axis when the radar sensor is transmitting a plurality of outgoing radar signals; and

the radar simulator to receive the plurality of outgoing radar signals with the radar sensor positioned at the plurality of predetermined angles relative to a central simulated return radar signal axis and transmit a plurality of simulated return radar signals representative of the virtual object in the field of view of the radar sensor.

7. The radar testing system of claim 6 , wherein the motor is a stepper motor.

8. The radar testing system of claim 7 , wherein the computer-executable instructions executed by the one or more processors cause the motor to rotate the motor rotation shaft step-wise with the radar sensor at each of the plurality of predetermined angles for a fixed amount of time during a test of the radar system.

9. The radar testing system of claim 8 , wherein the computer-executable instructions executed by the one or more processors cause the motor to rotate the motor rotation shaft continuously with the radar sensor at continuously moving through the plurality of predetermined angles during the test of the radar system.

10. A method of testing a radar system comprising:

providing the radar system to be tested, the radar system having a radar sensor;

providing a radar simulator, the radar simulator having a radar simulator antenna;

providing a radar sensor rotation system mechanically coupled to the radar sensor, the radar sensor rotation system having a motor with a motor rotation shaft mechanically coupled to the radar sensor;

providing a computer with one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer communicatively coupled with the radar simulator and the radar sensor rotation system;

testing the radar system wherein:

the radar system transmits a plurality of outgoing radar signals via the radar sensor and the radar simulator receives the plurality of outgoing radar signals and transmits a plurality simulated return radar signals back to the radar system;

the computer-executable instructions executed by the one or more processors cause the radar sensor rotation system to rotate the radar sensor to a plurality of angles relative to the radar simulator during testing of the radar system; and

the computer-executable instructions executed by the one or more processors causing the motor to rotate the motor rotation shaft and the radar sensor to the plurality of angles relative to the radar simulator.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of angles are relative to a central simulated return radar signal axis of the radar simulator.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the motor being a stepper motor.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising rotating the motor rotation shaft step-wise with the radar sensor at each of the plurality of angles for a fixed amount of time during testing of the radar system.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising rotating the motor rotation shaft continuously with the radar sensor continuously moving through the plurality of angles during testing of the radar system.