The NPS Multi-band Sensor Suite

Solution to Autonomous Driving for Military Vehicles in an Expeditionary Environment The Problem with Current Military Autonomous Driving (AD) Vehicles Military AD vehicles use an array of sensors to guide themselves through the environment. Current AD sensor suites are predominantly designed for operations on improved roads and in the absence of specific targets which require roll over/roll around functionality.ĀĀ The primary sensor for these sensor suites is the LiDAR which is not usable in adverse weather. Current Radars in use today have minimal range and resolution which are insufficient for long-range detection,Ā discrimination of small objects, and object classification These limitations restrain AD military vehicle operations to very benign environments in favorable weather conditions. The Solution: NPS Radar, LLC Technical Approach NPS Radar, LLC. Is offering a novel algorithmic approach to sensing the highly complex forward-scene picture to the AD vehicle. Our SBIR Phase 2 sequential proposal is to apply our innovative algorithmic approach and multiband Radar to an AD sensor suite.ĀĀ Many potential obstacles exist in urban, highway, and expeditionary driving environments that must be safely navigated by an autonomously driven vehicle. The operational objective of the patented NPS algorithm, otherwise known as the Atomic Norm (AN) Radar Signal Processing (RSP) algorithm, is to quickly sort this complex ōtargetö scene into a highly accurate range, azimuth, elevation and doppler grid, with a minimum processing complexity for downstream decision-making by a vehicleÆs command-and-control function. NPSÆ AN RSP Algorithm Improves AD Sensing The origins of the newly developed NPS AN RSP algorithm go back to compressed sensing (Candes-Tao, Donoho 2004).Ā The methodology has found applications in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), single-pixel cameras, etc. This highly accurate resolution capability is also known as "super resolution". It is readily adaptable to military autonomous driving scenarios. The algorithm gives the host Radar the ability to provide "super resolution" to see the complex environment and distinguish separate targets faster and more thoroughly than traditional AD Radars with angular resolution well inside the host Radar beamwidth. The multifrequency capability of the NPS AD Radar also provides unique capabilities such as the ability to ōsee through some objectsö and operate in adverse weather which is not currently available with other AD Radars. The following are some of the quantitative criteria that if completed will be a measure of success for the proposed Sequential Phase 2 SBIR: a.ĀĀ ĀA3+ Radar detection of vehicle size targets at any aspect.Ā Threshold: 500 meters. Objective: 600 meters b.ĀĀ ĀA3+ Radar Detection of human (adult) size target.Ā Threshold: 400 meters.Ā Objective:Ā 500 meters c.ĀĀ ĀA3+ Radar Detection of vehicle tire lying flat on the road.ĀĀ Threshold: 250 meters.Ā Objective: 300 meters