Light-weight radar system

1. A light-weight radar system (“LWRS”) for sense and avoid applications in a vehicle, the LWRS comprising:

a plurality of receivers;

a plurality of transmitters;

an obstacle database; and

a processing device in signal communication with the plurality of receivers, the plurality of transmitters, and the obstacle database,

wherein the processing device includes:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium (“CRM”) having encoded thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to:

transmit a plurality of transmit radio frequency (“RF”) signals from the plurality of transmitters to one or more targets in an environment of operation of the LWRS;

receive a plurality of reflected RF signals at the plurality of receivers from the one or more targets in the environment of operation;

perform radar processing on the plurality of reflected RF signals to detect the one or more targets;

update the obstacle database with the detected one or more targets; and

provide obstacle data to one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle, and

wherein the obstacle database and the processing device are configured to be carried on-board the vehicle.

2. The LWRS of claim 1 , wherein performing radar processing on the plurality of reflected RF signals to detect the one or more targets includes performing:

bistatic radar processing;

monostatic radar processing;

synthetic aperture radar (“SAR”) processing;

monostatic and bistatic radar processing;

monostatic and SAR radar processing;

bistatic and SAR radar processing; or

monostatic, bistatic, and SAR radar processing.

3. The LWRS of claim 1 , further including a motion sensor in signal communication with the processing device.

4. The LWRS of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of receivers are arranged as a receive planar array antenna located within a first plane, and wherein the plurality of transmitters are arranged as a transmit planar array antenna located within a second plane.

5. The LWRS of claim 4 , further including an additional receiver that is located in a position that is not within the first plane and an additional transmitter that is located in a position that is not within the second plane.

6. The LWRS of claim 4 , further including:

an additional receiver; and

an additional transmitter,

wherein the receive planar array antenna is a circular planar array,

wherein the transmit planar array antenna is a circular planar array,

wherein the additional receiver is located within the first plane at approximately a center of the receive planar array antenna, and

wherein the additional transmitter is located within the second plane at approximately a center of the transmit planar array antenna.

7. The LWRS of claim 6 , wherein the vehicle is an unmanned aerial vehicle.

8. A computer-implemented method for sensing and avoiding objects within an environment of operation with a light-weight radar system (“LWRS”) in a vehicle, wherein the LWRS has a plurality of receivers, a plurality of transmitters, an obstacle database, and a processing device in the vehicle, the method comprising:

transmitting a plurality of transmit radio frequency (“RF”) signals from the plurality of transmitters to one or more targets in an environment of operation;

receiving a plurality of reflected RF signals at the plurality of receivers from the one or more targets in the environment of operation;

performing, by the processing device, radar processing on the plurality of reflected RF signals to detect the one or more targets;

updating, by the processing device, the obstacle database with the detected one or more targets; and

providing obstacle data to one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8 ,

wherein each transmit RF signal of the plurality of transmit RF signals is at a different frequency within a transmit bandwidth of frequencies, and

wherein performing the radar processing including performing bistatic radar processing.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein performing the radar processing includes:

receiving retrieved obstacle data from the obstacle database;

calculating a model of predicted known targets, wherein the model of predicted known targets includes predicted known target data corresponding to known targets within the environment of operation;

correlating the plurality of reflected RF signals against the model of predicted known targets to produce a first correlated target data, wherein the first correlated target data includes known target data and new target data and wherein the known target data corresponds to the predicted known target data;

calculating updates for the model of predicted known targets from the first correlated target data to produce updated known obstacle position data having updated known target data;

removing the known target data from the first correlated target data to produce a modified first correlated target data that includes the new target data without the known target data;

correlating the modified first correlated target data against the updated known obstacle position data to produce a second correlated target data, wherein the second correlated target data includes the new target data and updated known target data;

removing the updated known target data from the second correlated target data to produce a modified second correlated target data that includes the new target data without the known target data and without the updated known target data;

determining if the new target data from the reflected RF signals is complete; and

providing the obstacle data including the new target data to one or more systems of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein calculating updates for the model of predicted known targets includes:

updating the obstacle database with the known obstacle position data; and

updating the model of predicted known targets with the known obstacle position data.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein removing the known target data from the first correlated target data to produce a modified first correlated target data includes:

adding the new target data to an obstacle model, wherein the obstacle model includes the new target data that corresponds the one or more targets detected from the reflected RF signals;

identifying a type of obstacle from the new target data; and

updating the obstacle database with the detected one or more targets that includes the new target data and type of obstacle for the one or more targets.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein correlating the modified first correlated target data against the updated known obstacle position data to produce a second correlated target data includes:

correlating the modified first correlated target data against both the updated known obstacle position data and the new target data from the obstacle model to produce the second correlated target data; and

updating the obstacle database with a new obstacle position for the detected one or more targets.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein calculating updates for the model of predicted known targets from the first correlated target data to produce updated known obstacle position data includes:

receiving motion data of the vehicle from a motion sensor in signal communication with the processing device; and

calculating the model of predicted known targets utilizing the motion data.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining if the new target data from the reflected RF signals is complete includes:

if the new target data is not complete, adding the new target data to the obstacle model;

identifying the type of obstacle from the new target data;

updating the obstacle database with the detected one or more targets that includes the new target data and type of obstacle for the one or more targets;

correlating the modified first correlated target data against both the updated known obstacle position data and the new target data from the obstacle model to produce the second correlated target data;

updating the obstacle database with a new obstacle position for the detected one or more targets;

removing the updated known target data from the second correlated target data to produce the modified second correlated target data; and

determining if the new target data from the reflected RF signals is complete.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein performing radar processing on the plurality of reflected RF signals to detect the one or more targets includes performing:

bistatic radar processing;

monostatic radar processing;

synthetic aperture radar (“SAR”) processing;

monostatic and bistatic radar processing;

monostatic and SAR radar processing;

bistatic and SAR radar processing; or

monostatic, bistatic, and SAR radar processing.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors that are on-board a vehicle and coupled to a plurality of receivers, a plurality of transmitters, and an obstacle database, cause the one or more processors to:

transmit a plurality of transmit radio frequency (“RF”) signals from the plurality of transmitters;

receive a plurality of reflected RF signals at the plurality of receivers from one or more targets in an environment of operation;

perform radar processing on the plurality of reflected RF signals to detect the one or more targets;

update the obstacle database with the detected one or more targets; and

provide obstacle data to one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein each transmit RF signal of the plurality of transmit RF signals is at different frequency within a transmit bandwidth of frequencies, and wherein the radar processing includes performing bistatic radar processing.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the radar processing includes:

correlating the plurality of reflected RF signals against predicted known target data corresponding to known targets to produce first correlated target data, wherein the first correlated target data includes:

known target data that corresponds to the predicted known target data; and

new target data;

producing modified first correlated target data that includes the new target data without the known target data;

producing second correlated target data that includes the new target data and updated known target data; and

removing the updated known target data from the second correlated target data to produce modified second correlated target data that includes the new target data without the known target data and without the updated known target data.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further executable to cause the one or more processors to:

receive motion data of the vehicle from a motion sensor; and

calculate a model of predicted known targets utilizing the motion data.