Radar system for internal and external environmental detection

1 . A method of environmental detection with a radar system, comprising:

receiving an internal condition sensor signal from one or more first antenna elements from a first antenna of the radar system that is facing an interior environment of a vehicle;

determining a type of information from the internal condition sensor signal;

obtaining environmental sensor information from a second antenna of the radar system that is facing an external environment of the vehicle;

detecting an object in the external environment of the vehicle with the second antenna of the radar system positioned on the vehicle;

determining whether an action is required based at least on the determined type of information in the internal condition sensor signal and the obtained environmental sensor information;

determining a distraction metric from measurements of user activity obtained within the vehicle with the radar system;

sending sensor adjustment information to a central controller when the action is determined to be required; and

adjusting one or more detection parameters of the radar system based at least on the detected object and the distraction metric.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the distraction metric indicates one or more of distractions or environmental conditions that impair an ability of a user operating the vehicle to react and respond to changes in a surrounding environment.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the measurements of the user activity comprises detecting movement of a user within the vehicle and vital signs of the user.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting one or more of electronic activity or wireless activity that impairs an ability of a user operating the vehicle to control the vehicle.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining measurements of a user operating the vehicle with one or more radiating structures of the radar system that radiate radio frequency (RF) beams to the interior environment of the vehicle;

comparing the measurements to a baseline measurement of the user;

determining a deviation between the measurements and the baseline measurement that exceeds a predetermined threshold; and

generating an alert message to notify the user operating the vehicle in response to the determined deviation.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising causing the vehicle to operate independently of user interaction when the determined deviation corresponds to a specific measurement.

7 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

sending the message to other vehicles over a wireless communication channel with the vehicle.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an environmental sensor signal from the second antenna;

generating a range-Doppler map from the environmental sensor signal;

identifying one or more objects by location and velocity from the range-Doppler map;

determining an object type for each of the identified one or more objects;

determining whether an action is required based at least on the determined object type of each of the one or more objects and corresponding location and velocity of the one or more objects; and

sending information to the central controller when the action is determined to be required.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting the object in the external environment with the environmental sensor signal determining that the detected object is interfering with the second antenna;

adjusting a detection parameter of the first antenna when the detected object is determined to interfere with the second antenna; and

monitoring the interior environment of the vehicle with the first antenna having the adjusted detection parameter.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

detecting a distraction to a user operating the vehicle with the internal condition sensor signal;

adjusting a detection parameter of the second antenna based at least on the detected object and the detected distraction to the user; and

sending an alert message to at least the user operating the vehicle.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a distance between the vehicle and the detected object using radar data from the radar system;

increasing a target angular resolution of an environmental sensor that is facing the external environment of the vehicle when the determined distance is greater than a threshold distance, the target angular resolution corresponding to an amount of discrimination between two or more objects in the external environment; and

increasing a scan bandwidth of the environmental sensor when the determined distance is lesser than the threshold distance.

12 . A sensor in a radar system, comprising:

a first antenna for detecting an object in an external environment of a vehicle;

a second antenna for detecting an internal condition of the vehicle; and

a controller adapted for:

obtaining environmental sensor information from the first antenna of the radar system that is facing the external environment of the vehicle;

detecting the object in the external environment of the vehicle with the first antenna of the radar system positioned on the vehicle;

receiving an internal condition sensor signal from one or more first antenna elements from the second antenna of the radar system that is facing an interior environment of the vehicle;

determining a type of information from the internal condition sensor signal;

determining whether an action is required based at least on the determined type of information in the internal condition sensor signal and the obtained environmental sensor information;

determining a distraction metric from measurements of user activity obtained within the vehicle with the radar system;

sending sensor adjustment information to a central controller when the action is determined to be required; and

adjusting one or more detection parameters of the radar system based at least on the detected object and the distraction metric.

13 . The sensor in a radar system of claim 12 wherein the distraction metric indicates one or more of distractions or environmental conditions that impair an ability of a user operating the vehicle to react and respond to changes in a surrounding environment.

14 . The sensor in a radar system of claim 12 , wherein the controller is adapted for obtaining the measurements of the user activity, wherein obtaining the measurements of the user activity comprises detecting movement of a user within the vehicle and vital signs of the user.

15 . The sensor in a radar system of claim 12 , further comprising detecting one or more of electronic activity or wireless activity that impairs an ability of a user operating the vehicle to control the vehicle.

16 . The sensor in a radar system of claim 12 , wherein the controller is further adapted for:

obtaining measurements of a user operating the vehicle with one or more radiating structures of the radar system that radiate radio frequency (RF) beams to the interior environment of the vehicle;

comparing the measurements to a baseline measurement of the user;

determining a deviation between the measurements and the baseline measurement that exceeds a predetermined threshold; and

generating an alert message to notify the user operating the vehicle in response to the determination.

17 . The sensor in a radar system of claim 16 , wherein the controller is further adapted for causing the vehicle to operate independently of user interaction when the determined deviation corresponds to a specific measurement.

18 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a communication relay program including instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes an information processing apparatus connected to an image processing apparatus through a communication interface, to:

receive an internal condition sensor signal from one or more first antenna elements from a first antenna of a radar system that is facing an interior environment of a vehicle;

determine a type of information from the internal condition sensor signal;

obtain environmental sensor information from a second antenna of the radar system that is facing an external environment of the vehicle;

detect an object in the external environment of the vehicle with the second antenna of the radar system positioned on the vehicle;

determine whether an action is required based at least on the determined type of information in the internal condition sensor signal and the obtained environmental sensor information;

determine a distraction metric from measurements of user activity obtained within the vehicle with the radar system;

send sensor adjustment information to a central controller when the action is determined to be required; and

adjust one or more detection parameters of the radar system based at least on the detected object and the distraction metric.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , further causing the information processing apparatus to detect movement of at least one person within the vehicle and vital signs of the at least one person.