RF sensor solutions for small lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles

Roberto Innocenti

doi:10.1117/12.615272

16 May 2005 RF sensor solutions for small lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles

Roberto Innocenti

Proceedings Volume 5788, Radar Sensor Technology IX; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.615272
Event: Defense and Security, 2005, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

A need exists for greater situational awareness at the lower echelons of the Army. Radar Frequency (RF) sensors on small, lightweight Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) could provide lower echelon commanders with all-weather reconnaissance, early warning, and target acquisition; however, the designs of these RF sensors are limited by the projected size and weight restrictions on the payload for a class II UAV. Consequently, these designs may favor combining simple RF sensor hardware with digital-signal processing (DSP) solutions over more sophisticated radar hardware. In this paper, we show the potential of simple, low cost RF sensors with hemispherical antenna coverage to overcome these limitations. The proposed RF sensor system used DSP and pre-defined UAV flight pattern to detect and track moving targets from range and Doppler information. Our objective is to conceive and model a suite of software options that, by combining UAV flight patterns and processing algorithms, will be able to detect and track moving targets. In order to accomplish this, we are building a simulation that uses sensor models, target models, and battlefield dynamics to predict the targeting capabilities of the RF sensor system. We will use this simulation (1) to determine the tradeoffs between sensor complexity (and cost) and the military significance of the information gathered, and (2) to describe sensor error budgets for endgame lethality models

Citation Download Citation

Roberto Innocenti "RF sensor solutions for small lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles", Proc. SPIE 5788, Radar Sensor Technology IX, (16 May 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.615272

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