Method and apparatus for object detection using a beam steering radar and a decision network
Examples disclosed herein relate to a radar system in an autonomous vehicle. The radar system has a radar module including at least one beam steering antenna and an antenna controller. The radar system also includes a perception module having an object detection module to detect objects in a path and surrounding environment of the autonomous vehicle, and a decision network to determine a control action for the antenna controller to perform based on the detected objects and a control policy.
1. A method for operating a radar system in an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
performing a training process using a reward criteria to generate a control policy;
generating a radar scan;
receiving an output from an object detection module in the radar system;
providing the output from the object detection module to a decision network in the radar system;
applying the control policy to determine a control action based on the output of the object detection module; and
controlling a beam steering antenna to perform the control action.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a steering angle control for the beam steering antenna.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting radar data to the object detection module.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object detection module implements a convolutional neural network.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising tracking detected objects over time.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control action indicates a new steering angle for the beam steering antenna.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a radar scan comprises generating a radar signal with a set of adjustable scan parameters.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the output comprises object data for a detected object.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining whether a change in antenna control is needed.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the beam steering antenna comprises a meta-structure antenna.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the beam steering antenna comprises steering an RF beam with a steering angle.