Method and apparatus for identification of calibration targets during vehicle radar system service procedures

1. A vehicle onboard radar sensor service procedure, comprising:

disposing a radar target within a field of view of the onboard radar sensor;

activating the onboard radar sensor to observe said field of view and to generate an output representative of a plurality of radar reflective surfaces within said observed field of view;

evaluating, at a processing system programmed with software instructions, said output to distinguishing said radar target from said plurality of radar-reflective surfaces visible to said onboard radar sensor within said field of view; and

wherein said evaluation distinguishes said radar target from said plurality of radar-reflective surfaces by identifying, within said output, an occurrence of a radar reflection pattern associated with said radar target.

2. The service procedure of claim 1 wherein said radar reflection pattern associated with said radar target is generated by radar signals emitted from said onboard radar sensor incident upon a combination of two or more surface regions having differing radar return signal characteristics located within proximity to each other.

3. The service procedure of claim 1 wherein said radar reflection pattern associated with said radar target includes at least one region of Doppler-shift radar return signal characteristics.

4. The service procedure of claim 1 wherein said radar reflection pattern associated with said radar target includes at least one region in which time varying radar return signal characteristics are identified.

5. The service procedure of claim 1 wherein said radar reflection pattern associated with said radar target consists of a plurality of discrete regions each having a greater radar return signal strength than a surrounding region, and which are located in a known spatial relationship to each other within said field of view.

6. A vehicle inspection system, comprising:

a processing system configured with software instructions to guide an operator through at least one of a calibration procedure, an inspection procedure, or an alignment procedure, associated with a vehicle onboard radar sensor, wherein said procedure requires the detection of a radar-observable target in proximity to the vehicle within a field of view of said vehicle onboard radar sensor; and

a radar-observable target for placement in proximity to the vehicle, said radar-observable target having an associated radar signature consisting of a radar reflective boundary region, and at least one radar absorbing or radar dispersing sub-region contained within said radar reflective boundary region; and

wherein said radar reflective boundary region and said at least one radar absorbing or radar dispersing sub-region are configured to facilitate detection of said target by said vehicle onboard radar sensor when said target is in close spatial proximity to background radar reflective surfaces associated with an automotive service environment.

7. The vehicle inspection system of claim 6 wherein said radar absorbing or radar dispersing sub-region is a surface disposed behind an opening within a surface of said radar reflective boundary region surface as observed from the vehicle onboard radar sensor.

8. A vehicle onboard radar sensor service procedure, comprising:

positioning a vehicle having an onboard radar sensor within a vehicle service area;

activating said onboard radar sensor to illuminate a field of view encompassing a portion of said vehicle service area;

processing radar return signals from within said illuminated field of view to generate a first representation of said field of view visible to said onboard radar sensor;

disposing a radar target structure within said field of view of the onboard radar sensor;

activating said onboard radar sensor to illuminate a field of view encompassing a portion of said vehicle service area and said disposed radar target structure;

processing radar return signals from within said illuminated field of view to generate a second representation of said field of view visible to said onboard radar sensor, said second representation including a representation of said disposed radar target structure;

evaluating, at a processing system programmed with software instructions, said first and second representations of said field of view to identify differences there between, said differences including said representation of said disposed radar target structure; and

evaluating, at said processing system, said identified differences to establish a spatial relationship between said disposed radar target structure and said vehicle onboard radar sensor.

9. The vehicle onboard radar sensor service procedure of claim 8 wherein said evaluation to identify said differences is a background subtraction procedure.

10. A process for calibrating, inspection, or aligning a vehicle onboard radar sensor, comprising:

providing a radar-observable target in proximity to said vehicle, said radar-observable target having an associated radar signature consisting of a radar reflective boundary region together with at least one radar absorbing or radar dispersing sub-region contained within said radar reflective boundary region;

guiding an operator to position said radar-observable target within a field of view of said vehicle onboard radar sensor; and

reflecting, from said radar-observable target, a distinct radar energy signature to said vehicle onboard radar sensor distinguishing said radar-observable target from background radar reflective surfaces in close spatial proximity within an automotive service environment.