AMITEC ELECTRONICS LTD.

DXR10 RADAR TRAINING LAB EXPERIMENTAL MANUAL

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INDEX
SR. NO. Experiment Equipment setup & Introduction 1. To investigate the fundamental concepts of Doppler radar. To setup radar and tune it for best performance. To measure speed of a fan. To detect the presence of a hidden Time Bomb with the help of a Doppler radar To find out the Time period and frequency of a moving Pendulum for different lengths. To actuate the opening of a door, Traffic signal, Intrusion alarm etc. with the help of a radar. To measure the units of items being produced in an assembly line production unit. To determine the presence of moving plasma from one electrode to other in a Tube light. To detect the presence of transformer hum and determine its frequency. To measure the variable speeds of moving objects using Target Emulator and radar jammer. Calibration of Doppler radar using tuning fork. To study the reflective, absorptive and transmissive properties of materials using radar and Target Emulator. Page No. 2

16 21 23 26 29 32

2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

35 37

8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

39 42 45 47

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INDEX
SR. NO. Experiment Page No 13. 14. To find the speed of a moving object with Doppler radar from different angles. To find the speed of a moving object approaching or receding away from radar from different-different angles. To estimate the size of a moving objects using Radar To measure the distance traveled using Radar. To find out the presence of a Pedestrian and manage Traffic till he walks away. To find out the presence of an aero plane with the rotation of the turbine of its engine as used by Air Force. To study the use of radar in detecting respiration and heart beating. Study of climatic conditions of atmosphere cyclones, clouds, tornado using a Doppler radar.

50

55 56 56 61 63 64

15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

65

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Equipment setup: Open audio port input settings from volume control on a laptop or multimedia PC.

Select Mic Input and turn the scale to maximum.

Set radar software after installing software and entering user name & password ( Refer to installation video) as per pic below.

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Select freq at 2500 Hz/ div, select A1 0.1 V/div. Now, put target emulator in front of radar and turn the knob of target emulator. You will see a vertical changing marker of frequency by turning the knob of target emulator. If you move your hand in front of radar you will see changing frequency marker near 0 frequency.

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INTRODUCTION
Electromagnetic radiation is good for so many things that it would be impossible to even begin a list. Even if we limit ourselves to the radio or microwave portions of the spectrum, the list is quite long, so, let's focus on a very specific application: Doppler radar. This is a type of radar that does a very specific job: it tells us the velocity of an object or objects. As you might guess, one of the most common uses of this type of radar is in traffic control. Like most radars, Doppler radar detects an object (usually called a target) by sending out a series of pulses of electromagnetic radiation in the radio or microwave region of the spectrum. These pulses are reflected from materials in their path and some of the radiation is returned to the receiver which is mounted with the source. The returning pulses are analyzed and information about the target can be determined.

Christian Doppler, courtesy of St. Andrews Univ. Scotland The purpose of the radar determines what sort of pulses is sent out (length, frequency, etc.), and what analysis is to be done on the returning pulses. The radars that we often see in the movies are used to determine the distance to the target, and what type of object the target is. In fact, the term radar stands for "Radio Detection And Ranging". These radars are the ones that display targets as "blips" on a screen. Compared with doppler radars, they send out comparatively few pulses, and the pulses are carefully analyzed for the time they take to return (this gives the distance to the target) and for the intensity of the returning pulses (this gives information about shape and composition that can be used to aid in identification). Doppler radars owe their velocity sensing ability to the relativistic Doppler shift, or effect (hence the name). The Doppler shift is named for Christian Johann Doppler, an Austrian physicist who lived from 1803 - 1853. He discovered the effect for sound, but the principle is similar for electromagnetic waves. The Doppler effect and Theory In 1842, Johann Christian Doppler predicted that a relationship existed between the frequency of received electromagnetic waves and the motion of the source of those waves. The Doppler effect, stated simply, says that transmitted energy, reflected off an object, will be changed in frequency in direct proportion to the relative motion between the transmitter and reflecting object. If the energy source and the reflecting object are moving toward each other, the reflected frequency will be higher. If the energy source and the reflecting object are moving away from each other, the reflected frequency will be lower. The Doppler effect can be summarized by the following equation.
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f = f (v - u)/(v + u) where, f = the emitted frequency f = the reflected frequency v = velocity of electromagnetic waves (reference velocity = 3.00 * 10^8m/s) u = velocity of source to be measured In order to measure the speed of passing vehicles speed cameras take advantage of the Doppler effect through the use of Doppler sensors in order to determine the frequency shift associated with the vehicle whose speed is to be measured. Using the above equation, if the emitted frequency is known (differs depending on what band of radar is emitted X, Ka or K), the reflected frequency is also known (this is the frequency reflected back from the vehicle) and the reference velocity is usually taken to be the speed of light, the velocity of the vehicle can be determined. Since it is impractical to place a speed camera directly inline with the vehicle being measured (speed cameras cannot be placed on the road), speed cameras are usually deployed at an angle around 20 relative to the direction of travel. Therefore a correction must be made to account for this displacement (this is called the cosine effect). The cosine effect is used to determine the actual speed of a vehicle given the indicated speed and the angle of the beam. This relationship can be expressed as: True Speed = Indicated Speed/Cosine q where q is the angle relative to the direction of travel The velocity of vehicles can therefore be measured using the following steps. 1. The speed cameras radar device (usually an antenna of some description) sends out a radar signal. 2. The signal strikes the vehicle, and is reflected back towards the antenna where the signal is amplified. 3. As there is a relative motion between the object and the radar transmitter, the reflected signal will be different from the transmitted signal in frequency. 4. The amount of difference (frequency or Doppler shift) indicates the indicated speed of the vehicle. 5. Using the cosine effect the true speed can be determined. 6. If the true speed is greater than the allowable speed limit then a signal is sent to the control unit. 7. At the control unit a check is performed to validate the accuracy of the measurement, 8. If the measurement is deemed accurate a signal is sent to the photographic device and a picture is taken. Radar works under the Doppler theory to determine speed. This theory results in a shift from the initial frequency when it is reflected off an object moving. The radar gun emits a radio signal at a known frequency, and measures the change in that frequency after it's bounced off a moving object and returned to the radar instrument. Think of the sound of a train blowing its horn as it passes by you. The pitch of the horn changes (lowers) as the train passes by. Thats audio Doppler effect. The sound's frequency changes as the train moves away from you. Radar instruments work in three frequencies or "bands", X, K and Ka.

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X band radar It operates on a single frequency set between 10.500 to 10.550 GHz. Most are stationary and measure on-coming vehicles with a minimum measurement of 20 mph. The average range (at 40 mW of power) for this gun is 2500ft. or 0.47 miles. The maximum range at (100 mW) has been measured up to one mile. This band is made for highway use only because it has a wide field of view but also has the range. K band radar It operates on a single frequency set between 24.050 to 24.250 GHz. K band suffers from a signal loss because of running near the limits of the water absorption band centered at about 22.24 GHz and does not have the range like other bands offer. This causes it to be used at closer range which is better for city use than X band. K band has a narrower beam compared to X band. This radar can operate as stationary or moving, measure on coming or going vehicles, and operate at instant ON. Ka Band radar It operates in frequency range between 34.2 to 35.2 GHz. Later, it was expanded to 33.4 to 36 GHz, which gives it multi-channels to operate in. This gives the operator to select one of the many frequencies to choose from (if offered by the manufacturer.) Out of all the bands Ka band has a better distinction on a target and some can be used to pick out the fastest target. It can work as instant ON, measure on coming or going vehicles, and operate stationary or moving. Target detection range is determined on the moisture in the atmosphere, the more moisture the less the range. Ka Pulse or Instant-ON radar also can calculate a vehicle's speed in a fraction of a second. Pulse or Instant-ON radar When radar detectors proved easily capable of sniffing out radar from miles away, radar gun manufacturers responded by producing instant-on radar. In the instant-on mode, the radar's transmitter is -8-

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placed on hold, ready for fire, but not yet producing a signal for detectors to hear. The user waits until his target is very close, usually within about 700-1000 feet, release the radar from standby mode and gets a speed reading within a second or so. In this situation, no detector can offer much warning. Moving radar This form of radar can operate in either moving or stationary mode; a few older radars operated only as moving. Most display the patrol car's speed as well as the target's speed. Many moving radars measure on-coming targets only, some measure on-coming and/or going traffic. And some can measure the same-lane traffic in front (with a front mount antenna) or behind (with a rear facing antenna) the patrol car. Uses of CW Doppler System The continuous-wave, or Doppler, system is used in several ways. In one radar application, the radar set differentiates between the transmitted and reflected wave to determine the speed of the moving object. The Doppler method is the best means of detecting fast-moving objects that do not require range resolution. As a moving object approaches the transmitter, it encounters and reflects more waves per unit of time. The amount of frequency shift produced is very small in relation to the carrier frequency. This is because the velocity of propagation of the signal is very high compared to the speed of the target. However, because the carrier frequencies used in radar are high, larger frequency shifts (in the audiofrequency range) are produced. The amount of shift is proportional to the speed of the reflecting object. One-quarter cycle shift at 10,000 megahertz will provide speed measurements accurate to a fraction of a percent. If an object is moving, its velocity, relative to the radar, can be detected by comparing the transmitter frequency with the echo frequency (which differs because of the Doppler shift). The DIFFERENCE or BEAT FREQUENCY, sometimes called the DOPPLER FREQUENCY (fd), is related to object velocity. The separation of the background and the radar contact is based on the Doppler frequency that is caused by the reflection of the signal from a moving object. Disadvantages of the Doppler system are that it does not determine the range of the object, nor is it able to differentiate between objects when they lie in the same direction and are traveling at the same speed. Moreover, it does not "see" stationary or slow-moving objects, which a pulse radar system can detect. To track an object with CW Doppler, you must determine the radar range. Since the Doppler frequency is not directly related to range, another method is needed to determine object range. By using two separate transmitters that operate at two different frequencies (f1 and f2), you can determine range by measuring the relative phase difference between the two Doppler frequencies. In such a system, a mixer is used to combine the two transmitted frequencies and to separate the two received frequencies. This permits the use of one transmitting and receiving antenna.

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Instead of using two transmitter frequencies, you can find the range by sweeping the transmitter frequency uniformly in time to cover the frequency range from f1 to f2. The beat, or difference, frequency between the transmitted and received signals is then a function of range. In this type of radar, the velocity as well as range is measured.

Classical Doppler Radar (waveguide & Gunn diode type)

Basic Doppler Radar Block diagram.

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Doppler Radar setup using waveguide components

The circulator, H-plane Tee and diode detector in waveguides.

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Modern or AMITEC Doppler radar showing MMIC components.

Doppler radar front view showing transmitting and receiving patch antenna arrays. The AMITEC Doppler Unit contains a dielectric resonator stabilized microwave FET oscillator, providing a frequency and amplitude stable signal at the operating frequency of the unit. The power from this oscillator is filtered to remove harmonic and spurious signals and is then split into two approximately equal amplitude signals. One of these signals is further filtered and feeds the transmit antennas of the unit, illuminating the target. The other signal is routed to the local oscillator

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input of a balanced mixer providing the reference signal against which the Doppler return signal is compared. The Doppler return signal, reflected from the target is collected by the receive antennas and coupled to the RF input of the balanced mixer, where it is compared with the transmitted signal. The Doppler received signal is extracted and is available at the IF output of the unit for signal processing. Inside of Doppler Radar Oscillator The Microwave FET based oscillator requires 5V 0.25 V applied to the +5 V terminal of the device. If the oscillator is powered continuously (CW mode) the current consumption is typically 50 mA. The peak value of the pulse voltage must lie between 4.75 and 5.25 V and the flatter the pulse top the better the detection capability of the Doppler will be. Under these conditions pulse chirp will be less than 1 MHz. Application of a peak voltage in excess of 5.25 V will degrade the reliability of the unit and may cause it to transmit RF power at frequencies outside the authorized bands.

Doppler Radar unit showing various MMIC components. Balanced Mixer The mixer in the Unit compares the frequency of the transmitted signal with the signals reflected back from targets in the coverage area. A balanced mixer configuration is used which provides superior matching and conversion loss compared with a single-ended mixer. This improves the sensitivity of the Unit, enhancing capture and reducing false alarms. This configuration also means that the mixer diodes are protected to a large degree from static damage since each diode protects the other from excess reverse voltages. A portion of the oscillator signal is fed to the LO (local oscillator) port of the mixer, and the return signal intercepted by the receive antenna is fed to the RF input. The magnitude of the IF output signal is proportional to the magnitude of the
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signal received at the RF input, and the frequency is proportional to the relative velocity of the target reflecting the received signal. RF Power Levels The RF power levels radiated by the Unit are extremely low under all conditions, and many orders of magnitude below the maximum recommended levels in normal operating modes.

Doppler Radar RF power level measurement rig showing a Horn antenna, waveguide to coax adaptor and a Power sensor (whose output is given to a Power meter).

Doppler radar signal characteristics being checked. In CW mode the total transmitted power is less than 15mW. This power is distributed within the coverage pattern of the Unit, and the maximum power density is 1mW/cm at a distance of 5mm from the front face of the unit, reducing to 0.72W/cm at a distance of 1 meter. The IEEE standard C95.1-1991 recommends that the maximum permissible exposure levels at the frequency of operation of the unit is 7mW/cm. Under normal, pulsed operating conditions, the emissions 5mm from the front face of the Unit are therefore a factor of 140 below the maximum recommended power density, increasing to a factor of 194,400 below the IEEE standard at a distance of 1 meter.

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In a real life situation, there are many signals received from many different targets moving at different velocities, so the total IF output is a spectrum of signals of varying frequency and amplitude. In addition there is a DC component at the IF output, which is the vector sum of all signals reflected off static targets in the coverage area of the unit. Target Emulator: Behind the front panel are patch antennas. Target Emulator consists of a 10.5 GHz transmitter which radiates a modulated signal which is similar to that reflected from a moving target. Hence it fools the Doppler radar into thinking that it is receiving its own signal reflected off a moving target but actually, it is not.

A close up view of Doppler radar feed pointing towards the paraboloid reflector. This arrangement increases the range of radar without increasing the power by providing additional antenna gain of around 10dB. The feed is mounted on adjustable rig for tuning the structure for additional gain. Since the wavelength at 10.5 GHz is around 3cm even small adjustments can produce drastic changes in gain.
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EXPERIMENT No. 1 DOPPLER SHIFT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the fundamental concepts of Doppler radar. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler Radar, PC with multimedia, Doppler power supply, Connecting cables Theory: INTRODUCTION At one point or another, we have all experienced the phenomenon known as the Doppler effect. The text defines the Doppler effect as a shift in the frequency of a wave caused by the relative motion of the transmitting source, the reflecting object, or the receiving system. An example of the Doppler effect is a police siren. When you hear a siren coming towards you and you pull off to the side of the road, have you ever noticed the change in pitch as the siren approaches and passes you? What causes this shift in pitch, which is related to the frequency? This shift in frequency is a prime example of the Doppler shift. You may be asking yourself how can the frequency change? One way to think of it is by the following example: Imagine that you are in a large swimming pool or lake. In the center of this body of water, we start dropping marbles at a constant rate. The dropping of the marbles will cause a circular wave to travel outward, away from the source. Each time we drop a marble, we create another wavefront. Since the drop rate is constant, the wavefronts are separated by the same distance. This corresponds to a single frequency being present. Now, lets assume you are in the water but are not interfering with the waves. As you stand still, the wavefronts will hit at a constant rate, equal to the rate at which the marbles are being dropped. What happens if you start walking or swimming towards the source? The waves are still separated by the same distance, but since you are moving, the waves are hitting you at a faster rate. This corresponds to the frequency increasing. If you turn around and start moving away from the source, the waves will hit you at a slower rate since they have to travel farther to catch up with you. This corresponds to a lower frequency. What if you swam in a circle of constant radius from the source? Since the distance to the source is always fixed, the waves will hit you at the same rate as if you were standing still, hence the frequency is unchanged. The Doppler effect (or Doppler shift as it is sometimes referred to) can be described mathematically in the case of the Doppler radar by Eq. 1. fd = 2u / lambda * cos(q) where fd is the change in frequency (Doppler frequency), u is the velocity of the relative motion, lambda is the wavelength of the transmitted waves, and (q) is the angle between the source and the direction of motion.

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In our case the wavelength corresponds to free space wavelength of the 10.525 GHz CW signal generated by the radar. Since Speed of light = frequency X wavelength Hence 3X10^8 m/s = 10.525 X 10^9 X wavelength wavelength = 2.85 X 10^-2 m So fd = 2 X u / 2.85 X 10^-2 Hz where u is in m/s. fd = 70.17 X u Hz Which means that a relative velocity of 1m/s produces a Doppler shift of 70.17 Hz for a carrier frequency of 10.525GHz. Which for velocity in Km/hr becomes 70.17 X 5 /18 = 19.49 Hz/Km/hr. Which means that Doppler speed constant is 19.49 for speed in km/hr. Or in other words a speed of 1000 km/hr produces a Doppler shift of 19.493 KHz at 10.525 GHz. We are all along presuming that Doppler CW frequency is 10.525 GHz. It is not very difficult to measure it accurately but we will need to have microwave frequency counters as shown below. The source howsoever stabilized can be subject to very slight variations in frequency due to drift in temperature and loading of antennas. All radars are however factory calibrated for a precise frequency. A variable speed factor is provided in software to compensate for this.

Setup for measuring the radar carrier frequency.

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Close up photo of our frequency counter measuring the radar carrier frequency.

Target Emulators frequency being measured. This exercise also reflects that a higher frequency CW signal produces sizable Doppler shift, which is one of the reason for choosing higher frequency for Doppler radars. Does the equation conform to what we expect physically? In the water wave example, according to figure below, if you are moving towards the source, then q is in the range 90 and 180 deg. This makes cos(q) negative, which would make fd positive. Thus, fd corresponds to an increase in frequency as we expect. If we are moving away from the source then q is in the range 0 and 90 deg. which makes fd negative, since cos(q) is positive. A negative fd means that the frequency is decreased, which is what we expect. What about the case when you swam around in a circle? As indicated in figure, when you swam in the circle, your direction of travel was always perpendicular to the radial direction from the source. This corresponds to q = 90, or fd=0. Hence, there is no change in frequency, which is what we expect.
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a) Configuration as you swim towards source

b) Configuration as you swim away from source

c) Configuration as you swim in circle of constant radius Figure: Definitions for q as you swim (a) towards (b) away (c) in a circle of constant radius. Speed Discrimination The Doppler radar is commonly used by law enforcement to catch speeders. We know that the received Doppler shift by the radar is directly proportional to the speed of the object. What happens if there is more than one moving object present in the field of view (fov) of the radar? The returned radar signals are superimposed on each other, so what the radar receives is a linear superposition of all of the Doppler frequencies. How can you tell which Doppler shift belongs to

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which object? If the velocities of all of the objects are similar, then this becomes a difficult process. If the velocities of the objects are very different, then the task becomes easier. If the velocities of the objects are very different, then we can implement a bank of filters to select the object of interest. For example, if you are trying to monitor the speed of a pedestrian walking along a major road, there will also be cars present. Since the person is moving at a couple of miles per hour and the cars are moving at 55 MPH, the Doppler frequency for the cars will be much higher than the Doppler frequency for the pedestrian. If the signal is passed through a low pass filter that has been designed to pass only the Doppler frequencies that correspond to 0 to 10 MPH, then the response of the pedestrian can be isolated from the response of the car. By using a bank of filters that contain a low pass and several bandpass filters, the Doppler radar can be designed to discriminate based on speed. In the Doppler radar unit that you will be using to make your measurements; however, there are no filters to perform the speed discrimination. Part of this lab exercise is to determine with experimentation, the composition of the Doppler frequency with more than one reflector. The Doppler unit you will be using consists of three components: Doppler Antenna An antenna is used to transmit and receive the radio frequency (RF) signal, which for this system is 10.525 GHz. It is a parabolic reflector located at the front of the feed module, and has a fairly narrow beamwidth for pointing accuracy. The antenna mount uses adjustable feed point for best gain of antenna. The focal point of the reflector antenna should coincide with the phase center of the feed horn for maximum gain. However since the antenna f/d ratio is around 0.25 this adjustment is very critical and has been left to the user to adjust and appreciate the importance. Antenna could give a gain of around 10dB under optimum conditions. Distance variations of a few mm can result in wide changes in gain because at 10.5GHz wavelength is around 30mm. The movement of antenna in vertical direction can result in the beam going in opposite direction. This can be used to study a very crude form of beam steering effects. Radio Frequency Module The Doppler module supplies the transmitted RF signal to the antenna, and it also performs a mixing operation on the received signal. Typically three frequencies are of interest in a mixer: the RF, the local oscillator (LO) frequency, and the difference frequency (absolute value of RF minus LO). In this system the LO and RF are the same 10.525 GHz, and therefore the difference frequency is centered at DC, or 0 Hz. Baseband also describes the frequency spectrum of the signal demodulated to DC. Now the only difference between the LO and RF is that which the Doppler shift causes, and this is what is output from the mixer. Processing Unit An amplifier built inside the feed horn provides a gain of around 40dB as the signal received from the radar is a few uVs only. The processing unit amplifies the baseband signal fd and filters any DC components. The processor makes use of the sound card of the PC for baseband processing. A fast A/D converter converts the incoming analog IF signal to digital signal with an accuracy of 16 bits and a sampling rate of 44,100 samples per second. The software then extracts the information of amplitude, time, frequency, FFT etc and this information can be used to device various configurations of the radar. - 20 -

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EXPERIMENT No. 2 DOPPLER RADAR SETUP

OBJECTIVE: To setup Doppler radar and tune it for maximum sensitivity and best performance. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler Radar, PC with multimedia, Doppler power supply, Connecting cables Procedure: 1. 2. 3. Fix the Doppler radar on a Tripod with the help of connector pre-fitted under the Radar L clamp. Connect the radar to microphone in of the PC (pink connector) and switch on the software in the PC. From the software menu click settings> audio setting>volume settings> options > properties > recording > microphone select > advanced controls > deselect microphone boost for best operations. Additional microphone boost will increase the noise on the display. Adjust the microphone recording volume control slider suitably for optimum operation. Deselect all other recording inputs to avoid confusion and mixer overloading and spurious operation. From the audio settings in software disable the alarm function for normal operations. Else alarm will be triggered every time the signal on display crosses the slider on right. Switch On the Target Emulator at a distance of 1m in front of radar in its line of sight. Turn the pot (frequency variable) at the back panel of Target Emulator, clockwise so that you can receive sine waves through radar on PC. Now, slide the Doppler feed in front of parabolic reflector backward and forward to achieve the maximum signal level. Also rotate the feed left or right, slightly, to achieve maximum sensitivity. As the radar is transmitting at 10.5 GHz and receiving the same, so lambda /4 is 7.5mm. As at every lambda/4 maxima and minima of signal will be formed due to formation of standing waves, hence slight movement of radar feed will cause considerable change in received signal. Further the radar feed phase center has to be placed at the focus of the parabolic dish for best gain from antenna. And this adjustment is very critical here since the dish f/d is close to 0.25 because the dish is so small. Avoid even the slightest movement around radar. This is very important in order to take correct readings. Hence take measurements once you have set up everything, stop any possible movement and then take readings. Preferably switch off any ceiling fans, as they are a major source of microwave churning.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

9.

Result:

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Because of the very small wavelength of signal used for transmission and reception, adjustment becomes very important aspect in order to achieve better sensitivity.

Doppler radar receiving signal from Target Emulator before adjustment.

Doppler radar receiving signal from Target Emulator after adjustment. ADJUSTMENT IS CRUCIAL.

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DOPPLER SHIFT
The Doppler effect (or Doppler shift as it is sometimes referred to) can be described mathematically in the case of the Doppler radar by Eq. 1. fd = 2u / lambda * cos(q) where fd is the change in frequency (Doppler frequency), u is the velocity of the relative motion, lambda is the wavelength of the transmitted waves, and (q) is the angle between the source and the direction of motion. In our case the wavelength corresponds to free space wavelength of the 10.525 GHz CW signal generated by the radar. Since Speed of light = frequency X wavelength Hence 3X10^8 m/s = 10.525 X 10^9 X wavelength wavelength = 2.85 X 10^-2 m So fd = 2 X u / 2.85 X 10^-2 Hz where u is in m/s. fd = 70.17 X u Hz Which means that a relative velocity of 1m/s produces a Doppler shift of 70.17 Hz for a carrier frequency of 10.525GHz. Which for velocity in Km/hr becomes 70.17 X 5 /18 = 19.49 Hz/Km/hr. Which means that Doppler speed constant is 19.49 for speed in km/hr. Or in other words a speed of 1000 km/hr produces a Doppler shift of 19.493 KHz at 10.525 GHz. For eg, 1000(km/hr) / 19.493 (KHz)= Speed2 / Doppler shift ( in KHz)

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EXPERIMENT No. 3 FAN SPEED

OBJECTIVE: To Measure the speed of a fan. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler Radar, PC with multimedia, Doppler power supply, fan. Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Connect the Power Supply adaptor supplied, to the Doppler radar and the LED will glow on the back panel of radar. Point the antenna of radar towards the fan. Connect the output of the radar to the mic in of PC. This socket is provided at back of PC and is usually pink in colour and accepts microphone inputs. Select Microphone input from volume control setting of software and turn on the volume of speaker. Measure the rpm of fan as indicated on the radar software control panel. Switch off the fan and count the number of blades and divide the rpm of the fan indicated by software by the number of fins that is say 7.

Result: The fan rpm could be measured by using the Doppler radar. Observe that the rpm being measured is 10,439 rpm. Further see that the fan has 7 blades and the radar sees all of them so actual speed of fan is 10,439/7 = 1491 rpm. Further, the CPU fan has very curved blades, which provide adequate radar signature when looked at axially as compared to a ceiling fan where the results might not be good in spite of its size. Clicking RPM button on GUI, reads RPM to be around 10,300 to 10,500.

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EXPERIMENT No. 4 TIME BOMB DETECTION (Study Only)

OBJECTIVE: To detect the presence of a hidden Time Bomb with the help of a Doppler radar, as used by bomb disposal squad. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler Radar, PC with multimedia, Wrist watch Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Connect the Power Supply adaptor supplied, to the Doppler radar and the LED will glow on the back panel of radar. Point the antenna of radar towards the hand wound wristwatch. Connect the output of the radar to the mic in of PC. This socket is provided at back of PC and is usually pink in colour and accepts microphone inputs. Select Microphone input from volume control setting of software and turn the volume of speaker to fullest. If the Time bomb uses a mechanical watch for timing (which they normally do) then, the moving needle of the clock reflects the incoming microwave signal. Actually, in watches, the movement of hands is controlled by the balance wheels, which oscillates under the influence of a spring. The balance wheel is held in position between two diamond points. When the wheel oscillates, the hairspring develops a restoring Torque, trying to bring it to normal position. Hence Time period is calculated as T = 2pi. (l/t)1/2 where I is Moment of Inertia of the Balance wheel and t is the restoring Torque developed in the hair spring for a unit angular displacement. The reflected microwave signal from the second hand as received by radar will have its phase shifted and the radar will presume that there is a moving object inside. Radar will constantly receive the reflected wave, and change in phase can be heard on the speaker as continuous TIC-TIC like a watch. Radar has a built in amplifier inside because the amplitude of phase shift produced by such a small seconds arm is very difficult to detect. This cyclic variation of phase can be visualized on the CRO provided in the software. The volt/div setting of the CRO has to be kept at around 1mV/div. The complete signature can be analysed using activity logging of the software. Try to analyze the radar signature and do adjustments that will improve the signal to noise ratio of radar and improve its sensitivity. Measure the peak-to-peak signal amplitude of ticking watch at a distance of 10 cm from radar antenna. Estimate the actual signal amplitude at radar input if the radar amplifier has a gain of 40dB. Analyse the design parameters of the radar amplifier. But, if the clock is encased in a metallic box then the transmitted waves will be reflected back from the box only and the microwaves will not penetrate

6.

7. 8. 9. 10.

11.

12.

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the shielded enclosure. Hence, detection of a clock inside would be difficult. An electronic watch will not generate radar signature because of lack of moving parts. RESULT: Using an amplifier enhances, sensitivity of Radar to perceive very small moving objects. Any movement can also be listened to with the help of an audio amplifier and speaker with Radar. Small target sizes result in poor signal to noise ratios and limit the detection range of the radar. Very high gain low noise amplifiers are required to pickup to small signals. Improvements can be made if extra noise can be rejected using tunable filters. N.B. This is a real application where our company has developed a bomb disposal device for Central Reserve Police Force with the help of Central Scientific Instruments Organisation.

See that the pulse repetition rate is 1 second because of the movement of seconds needle. Observe time base is at 500ms/div. The buffer has been set to 20000ms. The page button on control panel can then be used to scroll the display beyond 5 second. The smaller pulses are reflections from internal mechanism of clock/watch. Connect the amplified speaker to PC and enable playback from microphone to listen to tick-tick sound.

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Wristwatch placed in front of radar feed.

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EXPERIMENT No. 5 TIME PERIOD OF PENDULUM

OBJECTIVE: To find out the Time period and frequency of a moving Pendulum for different lengths. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler Radar, PC with multimedia, Pendulum Procedure: 1. As you have already learnt that Time Period of pendulum is given by: T = 2pi. (l/g)^1/2 where l is length of pendulum and g is constant 9.8 m/s^2 meaning time period of pendulum is independent of amplitude of oscillations. When bob of pendulum moves to and fro, it will reflect the incoming microwave signal. The received wave front from bob of pendulum will be different in phase for the two cases- first, when bob is approaching the radar and second, when bob is receding away from radar. The radar may however be unable to distinguish the two. Connect the Doppler radar to the mic in input at back of the PC. This input is usually pink in colour and accepts an auxiliary audio signal of 200mV rms amplitude. Select mic in as input in the software. Open the time domain and record the movement of pendulum when the movement of pendulum is perpendicular to the radar. Allow the oscillations to be say 20cm amplitude fro 1m length of pendulum. From the signature the instance can be located when the pendulum crosses the radar. That is when its Doppler shift should be zero. Thus the time period of the pendulum can be calculated by zooming the signal in time domain. In another case move the pendulum in a direction parallel to the axis of the radar. Analyse the difference in their radar signatures. Move the pendulum at different angles to radar and see if the time measurement remains same. Vary length of pendulum, and find out the different Time periods using Radar. Replace the metallic bob with different objects and analyse their signatures. Do bigger objects results in more signal amplitude. Do metallic objects result in more signal amplitude? Why does even non-metallic objects reflect microwaves? Compare the results to the theoretical time periods. Analyse the sources of errors in measurements. If under doubt, use a conventional oscilloscope for measurements.

2. 3.

4.

5.

6. 7. 8. 9.

10.

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Pendulum signature capture using radar with 0.5sec/div display setting and buffer of 20,000ms.

Display is stored using hold button and time base is changed to 100ms/div for zooming in.

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Doppler radar screen dump for pendulum motion. The time base setting is 0.1 second/div. Since the radar will respond to both to and fro movements the time taken for one oscillation is say 5 graticule. The length of pendulum was 25 cm. The theoretical time period was 1.0 seconds. Result: Doppler radar can be useful in determining the time period of oscillations. Movement of the reflecting object parallel to the radar results in more Doppler signature. From the signature the instance can be located when the pendulum stops for a moment at its highest point or when it crosses the radar. Thus the time period of the pendulum can be calculated. Non-metallic objects reflect due to difference in dielectric constants of media at air & dielectric junction. Bigger pendulum bobs result in more reflected signal amplitude as they offer a bigger radar cross section to incoming microwaves. Using a metallic painted rubber ball for pendulum results in similar radar cross-section of a metallic ball. To find out the Time period and frequency of a moving Pendulum for different lengths. Keep Buffer length = 20,000

From Diagram Time period= 1 second.( Two waveforms captured between 2000.00 and 3000.00One waveform for approaching and one for receding pendulum)

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EXPERIMENT No. 6 INTRUSION ALARM & DOOR ACTUATORS

OBJECTIVE: To actuate the opening of a door, Traffic signal, Intrusion alarm etc. with the help of a radar. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler radar, PC with multimedia Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Connect the Doppler radar to the mic in input of the sound card at the back of the PC. Select the mic in as input in the software. Place the radar tripod on the floor and ensure that there is no movement in the field of the radar. Open the display window of the real time CRO. Allow a person to pass in the field of the radar. Adjust the volt/div setting of the CRO to observe the signal clearly. Select the time base setting for around 10 ms/div. This system is used for unmanned intrusion detection in buildings etc. If the object is farther away from the radar the reflected signal will be lower and consequently, the threshold setting may be altered in a radar sensor. In real cases the radar antenna can be modified for a particular coverage pattern. An omni directional antenna will cover intrusion in 360 degrees field of view and can cover big halls, fields etc. A narrow beam antenna can see distantly but only along a line and can be deployed along borders. Keeping a threshold too low can result in false alarms or alarms that goes ON on seeing a rat, probably. Hence threshold has to be adjusted judiciously. The alarm control can also be used to simulate opening of doors. Doppler radars are extensively used in automatic door openers. To simulate this case allow a person to approach the radar and adjust the control so that alarm goes off when person is 2 meters away to allow sufficient time for the door to open. Adjust the alarm ON time such that the door closes after the person has passed the radar and not on his face. See what happens when a person moves too slowly in front of the radar. Or when a number of persons approach the radar. Thus the Doppler radar can be used to automate the opening of doors in banks etc.

8.

9. 10.

11. 12.

Result: The Doppler radar can be used as motion sensor to detect intrusion or automate the opening of doors etc.

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The software is set to normal trigger and trigger level is adjusted to around 10,000 a/d units as shown by a small line on left of display. The software will display No trigger in absence of intrusion.

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The software display is triggered the moment detected signal crosses the threshold. This is hand wave in front of radar signifying intrusion in radar detection field. The buffer may be set to 1000ms to 10000ms depending on response time required.

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EXPERIMENT No. 7 EVENT COUNTING

OBJECTIVE: To measure the units of items being produced in an assembly line production unit. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler radar, PC with mutimedia Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Connect the Doppler radar to the mic in input of the sound card at the back of the PC. Select the mic in as input in the software. Place the radar on the edge of the table and ensure that there is no movement in the field of the radar. Open the display window of the real time CRO. Wave your hand in front of radar as if bottles, packets etc. are passing on a conveyer belt. Adjust the threshold trigger of radar and count the number of events. Introduce delay to avoid multiple triggering of event counting. Replace your hand with a book and repeat the experiment and observe that the number of events being counted is the same as number of times the object passes. Analyze the errors in event counting if any. What sort of processing is required to allow accurate event counting? Increase or decrease the number of times the object passes and see if the event counting fails. Adjust the controls to correct errors, if any. Increase or decrease the distance of the object from the radar and adjust the controls to ensure correct event counting.

8. 9. 10.

Result: Doppler radar can be used as sensor in factory automation in object counting on conveyors etc.

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See how radar can calculate number of times, a pendulum has passed it by. If one counts the number of pulses due to pendulum, one can see that the number of pulses are three or four counts more whereas if one counts manually it is only two or three counts less or sometimes correct also. But pulses received are slightly more as compared to event counted due to reflections.

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EXPERIMENT No. 8 PLASMA MOVEMENT (study only)

OBJECTIVE: To determine the presence of moving plasma from one electrode to other in a Tubelight. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler Radar, PC, Tubelight or CFL Lamp Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Connect the Doppler radar to the mic in input of the sound card at the back of the PC. Select the mic in as input in the software. Point the Radar in front of a tube Light or fluorescent lamp. Open the display window of the real time CRO. Avoid any interference from moving objects within 5 ft from radar as observing streams of Plasma would be difficult. Actually, Plasma is a stream of ions, which moves from one electrode to other. If you closely watch any tube light you can actually see a milky white stream moving. Doppler radar can catch this fine movement because the moving plasma will reflect microwave. Avoid pointing the radar to the choke else its vibrations would be picked up. Point to the plasma at different angles and observe the change in signal if any. Switch off the tube light and see if the signal goes off. Switch it on again and observe if you can catch the twitching of the tube light. Point the radar to a tube light with electronic choke and observe the difference, if any. Now point the Doppler radar to a CFL and observe the difference in signal and explain

Result:
Doppler radar can detect streams of moving plasma as they reflect microwaves. Sensitivity of radar can be adjusted to observe even very small stream of molecular movements like Plasma etc.

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Doppler Radar being pointed at a CFL lamp to detect the movement of plasma. Observe the peak at 100Hz.

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EXPERIMENT No. 9 TRANSFORMER HUM AND FREQUENCY (Study Only)

OBJECTIVE: To detect the presence of transformer hum and determine its frequency. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Radar, PC, SMPS, Transformer, Piezo Buzzer

Procedure:
1. 2. Place the radar in front of a mains transformer. Make sure not to place, radar in front of a metal sheet completely covering its face like UPS or CVT, Otherwise most of the RF power transmitted will be reflected back and the receiver could get saturated or even damaged. An open transformer is a better choice. Adjust the volt/div of the display to pick up the minute signal. Increase the volume of PC speakers to listen to the hum. Measure the frequency of transformer by placing Doppler radar in front of it and reading the frequency on counter in PC. Actually, it is the transformer hum that produces very small vibrations in the strips of core of transformer. Doppler radar is able to detect such small vibrations. Now, place the Radar in front of a SMPS and measure its frequency? Is it different from the mains signal? Is waveform on display any different? Explain the difference. Point towards a CVT transformer. Is the waveform different from a mains transformer? Explain the difference. If you can then try to increase the current in the transformer and observe if the reflected signal increases. Explain why. Now point the radar towards a transformer with copper tape wound on its bobbin. Observe if this arrangement has any effect in reducing the transformer hum. Point the piezo buzzer to the radar and observe its signature.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

11.

Result: Radar can detect even very small vibrations and the frequency of vibrations can be measured on frequency counter. Vibration from low frequency sources like transformers or high frequency sources like piezo can be detected well.

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Mains Transformer hum being detected in one of instruments after removing covers. To rule out any spurious detection, switch the equipment on & off. Try and change the orientation of the transformer and increase sensitivity in FFT mode for better detection. Observe that the fundamental frequency is around 50 Hz.

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Piezo buzzer radar fft signature. The measured frequency is 3.7 KHz.

SMPS hum being detected.

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EXPERIMENT No. 10 TARGET EMULATOR and RADAR JAMMER

OBJECTIVE: To emulate the variable speeds of moving objects using Target Emulator. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Place the Target Emulator in front of radar such that both face each other. Avoid any movement 3 5 ft from setup. Connect the Doppler radar to the PC mic in input at back and open the software window. See if CRO Display in PC is quite. Now, switch on the Target Emulator. Vary the Frequency of Target Emulator and measure what velocity does Doppler Radar detect. Increase the distance of the Target Emulator from radar antenna and observe the fall in signal level. Keep the Target Emulator at different angles to the parabolic dish and estimate the beam width of the parabolic antenna. Measure the limit of the speeds that can be emulated by Target Emulator.

Result: When a square wave is modulated on Target Emulator, it transmits the modulated signal at a frequency of 10.5 GHz, which is also the frequency at which radar transmits as well as receives. Hence the radar will presume as if it had transmitted a frequency in CW mode at 10.5GHz and is receiving a modulated 10.5GHz frequency after being reflected by some moving object due to which the transmitted wave has been shifted in phase. Now, as the amount of phase shift depends on the speed of moving object, increasing the frequency of modulated square wave being transmitted by Target Emulator gives the same effect to radar as if the reflecting object is moving with a faster speed. Thus, increasing the frequency of modulating signal on Target Emulator has same effect to radar as if the object is moving faster. Hence it is called Target Emulator because it gives the effect of variable speed of moving object. The Target Emulator is modulated with a frequency from DC to around 20 KHz, which for a factor of 19.49Hz/Km/Hr results in a velocity simulation of 0-1000 Km/Hr. Real objects moving at these speeds can be dangerous and expensive to reproduce in lab environments. The signal received by the radar goes down as the distance between the simulator and radar is increased. This effect is much more visible with software operating in FFT mode. Although the Target Emulator can be modulated upto 20KHz, the PC software might have difficulty in counting at that high frequency due to limitation of processing speeds. In case of difficulty the results could be crosschecked using a digital scope with FFT say Tektronix TDS1002.

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Target Emulator signal captured by radar. * Students can experiment the effect of multiple targets. * Students can experiment the effect of Radar Jammer on Target detection / Multiple Target detection.

Jammer Signal

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FFT display of radar jammer

2 Targets being blocked by jammer from behind. Observe that virtually undetectable.

targets are

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EXPERIMENT No. 11 CALIBRATION OF DOPPLER RADAR

OBJECTIVE: Calibration of Doppler radar using tuning fork. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler Radar, Multimedia PC, Tuning Fork Procedure: 1. 2. 3. Read the frequency of tuning fork written on it. Say, it is 400 Hz that means when stroked it will vibrate at a frequency of 400 Hz. Bring the vibrating tuning fork in front of radar. Radar will detect its vibration, which can be read on frequency counter on PC. If the frequency read is correct to a certain degree of accuracy, Radar is said to calibrated. Because their could be certain error in frequency of tuning fork also, due to manufacturing tolerances. The frequency counter on the contrary uses the PC crystal clock to generate the timing pulses and is much more accurate. In case, the detected vibrations are low and radar is unable to display the frequency one can observe the vibrations in FFT mode where they will be much more discernible. The radar uses a calibration factor of 19.49 Hz/Km/hr which has been calculated assuming doppler radar carrier frequency of 10.5 GHz. This is factor that relates the Doppler frequency to object velocities. The user can program this factor in the software. This factor means that an object moving at 1 Km/hr towards or away from the radar shall produce a Doppler frequency of 19.49 Hz with a carrier frequency of 10.5GHz. Normally, Tuning forks, available are not calibrated so precisely. Therefore to calibrate Radar, we can run one application called ttg.exe on another PC and connect speaker on that PC. On setting say, 1KHz from the program, speaker starts vibrating at 1KHz of frequency. This vibration of speaker can further be detected with radar and read out. Once the radars display is calibrated, tuning fork can be recalibrated, which in turn, is useful at site where PC is unavailable.

4. 5.

6.

Result: Calibrated radar will measure the frequency, RPM, velocities accurately. Tuning fork provides the standard frequency source, which can be read off from the PC for calibration.

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EXPERIMENT No. 12
STUDY OF MATERIALS OBJECTIVE: To study the reflective, absorptive and transmissive properties of various materials using radar and Target Emulator. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler radar, Target Emulator, Multimedia PC, Expanded Polyethylene, an Acrylic Rod, a Metallised Polyster sheet Procedure: 1. Keep the Target Emulator and the radar pointing towards each other and separated by a distance of say 1m. The radar antenna mount should have been adjusted for maximum gain. Connect the PC to the radar and adjust the CRO display for a signal of say 100mV p/p. Now bring a microwave-absorbing sheet of say 100mm/100mm in between the radar and simulator and observe the change in level and measure it. The signal level should go down. Measure the ratio of two signals. Replace the absorber with an expanded polythene sheet. The amount of signal reduction would be negligible due to least absorbtion. Now put Doppler radar and Target Emulator in the same direction and pointing towards a distant wall. Measure the amount of signal. Now bring the metallized polyester sheet in front of radar. Now reflected signal from Target Emulator shall reach the radar resulting in increased signals. Doppler radar can easily detect even very small movements, if the object is metallic. The only thing that can reduce its detection by radar is shielding the metallic part by some radar absorbing Materials (RAM). RAM absorbs the radiated microwave energy instead of reflecting it, hence energy doesnt reach the metallic object. Thus, energy doesnt get reflected back to radar. Careful use of such material can result in reduced radar signature of aircrafts etc. Try to impose some radar absorbing material between Target Emulator and Doppler radar. Good radar absorbing material shall not allow the signal of Target Emulator to pass to radar and also be undetected by radar itself. Non-metallic objects can also reflect microwave. The amount of energy being reflected back depends on the dielectric constant of the material. Impose a Polyethylene sheet, an Acrylic Rod, a thermocol sheet, a glass epoxy sheet, metallised polyster sheet etc or any other material you find in your lab. Try to group the different materials on the basis of their reflection/transmission/ absorption.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

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Result: F- 14 and B-2 Bomber series of U.S. Military planes are shrouded with RAM hence gets undetected by enemy Radar. Dielectric of the any material result in partial reflection of the microwave energy due to change in refractive index, which the microwave encounters, when traveling from air. More the dielectric constant of material more will be the reflected energy. Expanded polythene should give less reflection, less absorption and most transmission as it is mostly composed of air. Metallised polyster sheet should reflect the most and transmit and absorb the least on account of the metallization. Radar absorbing material composed of carbon impregnated foam would absorb the most while transmitting and reflecting the least.

X band Radar absorbing material.

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Signal detected from piezo Buzzer

Signal attenuation caused by absorber between piezo and Radar.

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EXPERIMENT No. 13 USING DOPPLER RADAR TO MEASURE VEHICLE GROUND SPEED (study only)
OBJECTIVE: To find the speed of a moving object with doppler radar from different angles. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: THEORY: Fundamentals of Non-Contact Speed Measurement Using Doppler Radar

Doppler Shift Frequency Non-contact speed measurement using the speed sensor is achieved through the use of Doppler radar. In the case of the speed sensor, an X band radar signal is transmitted at a specific frequency by the sensor, reflects off of a target (or targets) and returns to the sensor (see Figure). If either the sensor or the target is moving relative to one another, the signal will be shifted in frequency when it returns to the sensor. This shift in frequency allows measurement of the relative velocity between the sensor and target. The fundamental Doppler frequency shift is given by: Fd = 2*V*(Fo/C )*cos (theta) where: Fd = Doppler Shift, Hz c = speed of light V = velocity of moving target Fo = 10.5.5 0.1 GHz (X Band) Theta = offset angle of sensor relative to direction of target motion For the speed sensor, the Doppler shift is 31.3 Hz / MPH (19.4 Hz/KPH). The speed sensor output is a square wave which is 100 Hz / MPH (62.138 Hz/KPH).

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Correction for Offset Angle As shown by the Doppler frequency shift equation, any offset angle (see Figure) between the center of the radar beam and target direction of travel will introduce a factor of cosine (theta) into the measured speed. This means that the output of the sensor must be corrected by dividing into it the cosine of the offset angle as shown in this example: case 1: Sensor Output: 2600 Hz Offset Angle, theta = 30 Actual velocity = ( 2600Hz / (100.0 Hz/MPH)) / cos 30 = 30.02 MPH case 2: Sensor Output 2600 Hz Offset Angle, Theta = 31 Actual velocity = ( 2600Hz / (100.0 Hz/MPH)) / cos 31 = 30.33 MPH Also shown by this example, changes in offset angle influence speed measurement. It is recommended that the angle be known to at least 1 to maintain an uncertainty of 1-2% for a target in the center of the beam. Because the value of cosine changes rapidly for offset angles above 45 , these angles are not recommended. The radar beam diverges about 6 from center, resulting in a roughly conicalshaped beam. In the case of a target passing a fixed sensor, this geometry can introduce what is termed cosine error into the speed measurement. This happens because targets at one edge of the beam are at a different offset angle than in the center of the beam. For small offset angles, the cosine change from one edge of the beam to the other is small and so the cosine error is minimal. For larger offset angles, the change is more significant. In the case of vehicle ground speed measurements where the sensor is used to measure speed of a surface relative to the sensor, cosine error generally produces a steady bias. Signal Strength and Multiple Targets The speed sensor includes a signal-processing algorithm that determines the strength of return signal from a target. If the signal is strong enough, the output is turned on and the sensor is said to be locked. Because different targets reflect different amounts of the radar energy back to the sensor, the sensor will lock at different distances from the target depending on such factors as target size, material and orientation. In general, large targets reflect more energy and the sensor will be able to distinguish them at a greater distance. Highly reflective targets, such as metal will also reflect more energy than absorbent materials such as wood or plastic. If the target is a large flat, reflective surface, it will reflect a large amount of energy back to the sensor if it is oriented perpendicular to the beam, but much less if it is at an angle. A useful analogy for deciding the amount of reflection in many cases is to think of the sensor as a flashlight. If the target surface would reflect a large amount of light back to the sensor, it is probable that it will return a strong signal. (Remember, however, that radar energy is at a different wavelength than visible light and the analogy will not work in all cases!). The sensor receives reflected energy from all possible targets within the radar beam. If any of the targets are moving, it will cause a Doppler shift, possibly causing a false measurement if it is not the desired target. For this reason, it is important to consider the beam geometry, particularly the divergence angle, and make sure that the sensor cannot see non-targets. - 51 -

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Using Non-Contact Speed Sensing to Measure Vehicle Ground Speed

Measuring Vehicle Ground Speed Measuring vehicle ground speed is a straightforward application of the noncontact speed sensor. As shown in Figure above, the sensor can be mounted on a vehicle, pointed at the ground and used to measure the speed of the vehicle relative to the ground. The sensor may be pointed either forward or backward. An advantage of using a non-contact speed sensor over other methods such as measuring wheel rotation is that the speed measurement is not affected by factors like wheel slip, allowing a better measurement of true ground speed. In one such measurement, the sensor is mounted pointing backward on a vehicle. The sensor is about one foot above the ground and is inclined downward from the horizontal by 30 (offset angle shown in Figure). The sensor output could be read by a counter channel on a data acquisition system, which also applied a scale factor and corrected for offset angle to produce the plot shown in graph below. The data in graph clearly show such features as gear shifting, acceleration, coasting and braking. In this test, the vehicle is driven over an asphalt surface, but the sensor may be used on other surfaces such as concrete, gravel or dirt.

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graph showing Vehicle speed in miles/hr. Offset Angle The offset angle shown in Figure above is the nominal offset angle. This is the angle between the center axis of the radar beam and the horizontal in the vertical plane. Because of factors involving geometry and relative strengths of the return signal from areas on the ground ahead of and behind the center axis of the radar beam, the effective offset angle will differ from the nominal and requires a correction. Table One shows the results of testing conducted to determine effective offset angles using the speed sensor on vehicles driven over asphalt. To use the table, replace the nominal offset angle actually used by the corresponding effective offset angle when correcting for offset angle1. For convenience, the cosine of the effective offset angle is also given in the table. The particular choice of nominal offset angle involves a tradeoff between several factors. Placing the sensor at a steeper angle increases signal strength and reduces the field of view of the sensor so that it does not see non-targets, such as other vehicles. On the other hand, a steeper angle also increases sensitivity of the sensor to vertical motions and may introduce more variation in the vehicle ground speed measurement because of pitching of the vehicle on its suspension. For most applications involved in road testing, one normally use a 30 nominal offset angle. The accuracy of the speed measurement using this method of offset angle correction depends on the accuracy to which the offset angle is known. For instance, with a 30 offset angle, a 1 uncertainty in offset angle can cause a 12% uncertainty in the speed measurement. If greater accuracy is required the sensor can be calibrated by other methods, such as a distance comparison achieved by recording the number of pulses received from the sensor while the vehicle travels over a fixed distance.

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Other Considerations The sensor should be aligned parallel to the direction of vehicle travel so that there is no horizontal offset angle. It is also important to consider factors such as suspension pitching, vibration, dust or water spray when choosing a mounting location for the sensor. For example, a forward-pointing sensor may be indicated for applications where dust or water spray is expected at the rear of the vehicle which might interfere with the radar beam. The sensor should be mounted on a rigid location located away from engine vibration. Some suspension pitching is evident in Figure above, where the vehicle under test was, in fact, driven over bumps and had a stiff suspension. These effects could be removed, if desired, by post-processing to smoothen the data. If these factors are taken into consideration measurements of vehicle ground speed can be made for a wide variety of applications.

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EXPERIMENT No. 14 DETECTING OVERSPEEDING CARS (Study Only)

OBJECTIVE: To find the speed of a moving object approaching or receding away from radar from different-different angles. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler Radar, Multimedia Computer Theory: If a source of a wave moves, then in front of the source, the wave crests must be closer together than they would have been if the same source had been stationary. Likewise, the wave crests behind the source are stretched out. If a stationary observer detects these waves, the wavelength and frequency appear to be shifted (higher frequency, shorter wavelength from an approaching source). If waves are reflected from an object that is moving towards the transmitter the wavelength and frequency are affected in the same way. Thus, the Doppler radar sends out pulses at a very specific frequency, and measures the frequency of the pulses that return. If pulses return with higher frequencies than they left, then there must be a target out there that is moving towards the radar unit. The amount of the shift gives a precise measurement of the speed of the target relative to the

radar unit.

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EXPERIMENT No. 15 USING RADAR IN DETERMINING SIZE OF VEHICLES (Study Only)

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the size of a moving objects using Radar. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: THEORY: TRAFFIC MONITORING USING DOPPLER RADAR SENSOR

Figure - Freeway Test Setup In this application, the Doppler Speed Sensor is used to monitor traffic on a highway in a single lane. The data collected using the sensor is used in counting vehicles, measuring their speeds and performing approximate vehicle classifications. Test Setup The sensor is mounted on an overpass, pointing down toward the roadway at approximately a 30 angle from the horizontal. This angle is chosen because it allows the sensor to see the complete width of the lane, without tracking vehicles in adjacent lanes. The sensor output is sampled by a counter channel on a Data Acquisition System, which converted the frequency output of the speed sensor to MPH and corrected for the offset angle.

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Example Data An excerpt of the test data is shown in Figure above which demonstrates that the vehicle speeds can be measured as well as vehicle counts. Notice that longer vehicles can be distinguished from shorter vehicles by the length of time that the sensor is locked allowing approximate classification of vehicles.

RANGE DIAGRAM

Long Range shown - Not drawn to scale.

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EXPERIMENT No. 16 USING RADAR IN DETERMINING DISTANCE TRAVELLED

(study only) OBJECTIVE: To measure the distance traveled using Radar. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler Radar, Multimedia PC Theory: Distance Applications Using the Non-Contact Speed Sensor Measuring distance is an application of the non-contact speed sensor, which sometimes goes unnoticed, but is a straight-forward way to accomplish certain tasks. The use of distance measurement is in the following applications: 1. Vehicle distance traveled 2. In-place offset angle correction of the non-contact speed sensor Summing Counts to Measure Distance Distances are directly measured by summing the total number of counts, or pulses, generated at the output of the speed sensor. This can be done easily with an off-the-shelf pre-scaled counter or totalizer and yields a real-time output. The conversion between the speed sensor output and distance is given in Equation 1. (100.0Hz/mph) 68.18counts/ft. ( Equation 1 ) * (3600sec/hour) * (1count/Hz) = 360000counts/mile =

The value of Counts/Mile does not change with acceleration. This means that if the sensor is mounted on a car, which travels at 10MPH for part of a mile and then accelerates to 30MPH the rest of the way, the total number of counts remains the same as if it traveled entirely at 10MPH. This is because the pulse output frequency is directly proportional to speed. If the speed increases, so does the frequency. According to Equation 1, the uncertainty associated with one count is 1/68 ft. If the sensor is first corrected for offset angle as described below, most other sources of error are minimized or averaged out. For instance, vibrations or bumps encountered by the vehicle will be filtered out over time because they generate noise fluctuations in the data which will average out when the counts are summed. It is also important to remember that there is a minimum speed at which the non-contact speed sensor produces an output. Any distances traveled at speeds below the minimum speed are not measured. Offset Angle Correction Ratio As discussed earlier, speeds and distances measured using the non-contact speed sensor must be corrected for offset angle and cosine error. For vehicle mounted sensors, a distance comparison method is among the most accurate ways to correct the speed sensor output for offset angle, accounting for cosine error and beam geometry factors in one single step and minimizing other possible

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error sources. To accomplish the correction, the vehicle travels a known distance while the distance measured by the sensor is recorded and a correction factor is determined by the ratio shown in Equation below. Offset Correction = Known Distance (length)/ Measured Distance (length) = Known Speed(length/time)/ Measured Speed (length/time) The accuracy of the correction factor depends on the length of the known distance and can be improved as necessary by increasing the distance traveled. Also shown in Equation above is an equivalent method based on a speed ratio that can be computed by comparing the average speed measured by the sensor to the average speed computed using an external method, such as timing the vehicle as it travels over the distance. If the speed ratio is used then the correction factor is necessarily dependent on the accuracy of the externally measured speed.

An Example Consider an application where the sensor is connected to a data acquisition system and mounted on a train as it covered a distance of one mile. Output from the sensor is recorded beginning at one milepost and the train is also timed with a stopwatch until it passed the next milepost, 88.3 seconds later. The uncorrected and corrected speeds and distances measured by the sensor are shown in Figure . Based on either the total, uncorrected distance or the average of the uncorrected speed shown in Figure, an offset correction factor can be computed as in Equation below. The uncorrected speed and distance are multiplied by the offset correction factor to produce the corrected measurements. Offset Correction = 5280ft / Uncorrected Distance ft = 5280ft/ 4088ft =Timed Speed / Avg Speed = 5280ft/88.8sec / 46.1 ft/sec = 1.29

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Result: Radar is useful in continuously monitoring the speed of moving objects.

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EXPERIMENT No. 17 PEDESTRIAN

OBJECTIVE: To find out the presence of a Pedestrian and manage traffic till he walks away. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: radar, PC Procedure: Microwave (Doppler radar) sensors are unsurpassed for the reliable detection of pedestrians in motion. However, for curbside and crosswalk pedestrian detection, pedestrians are often not moving enough to be continuously detected by conventional microwave devices. Therefore, other pedestrian detection technologies have often been employed, including infrared and ultrasonic. However, these technologies have their drawbacks as well, including susceptibility to background noise, temperature variation, and color variation. The result has been that, until now, traffic engineers have had to make uncomfortable performance compromises. The introduction of Doppler radar has revolutionized pedestrian detection. With Doppler radar technology, even the smallest of pedestrian movements is sufficient to maintain detection. While not true presence detection, Doppler radar technology provides reliable detection of very small movements while eliminating performance variations caused by changing temperature, color variations, or background noise. Mounting is usually accomplished using poles already in place. Mounting heights can be up to 12 feet, depending on how far the pole is from the target detection area. Power input is 12V to 24V AC or DC. For this, the user can easily adjust range, its sensitivity, and the minimum time a pedestrian must be in the pattern before detection is registered. This last feature allows pedestrians to 'pass through' the detection zone without issuing a call unnecessarily. The user selects whether the unit detects only approaching motion, or motion in both directions.

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It is able to initially detect pedestrians in the targeted curbside area, and maintain that detection for even very small pedestrian movements. With easy to use switches, the installer can determine the amount of time a pedestrian must be in the target area before detection is indicated. This allows the Radar to ignore pedestrians just passing through the detection area and not stopping to indicate they wish to cross.

It is able to reliably detect pedestrians moving in the designated crosswalk area, even if that motion is minimal. Slow moving pedestrians, including the physically challenged, can now be continuously detected while in the crosswalk area. It can operate in the approach only mode. Result: Doppler Radar is used in unmanned traffic management.

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EXPERIMENT No. 18 DETECTING ENEMY PLANES & AS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

(study only) OBJECTIVE: To find out the presence of an aeroplane with the rotation of the turbine of its engine as used by Air Force. Study the working of Radar as ILS Instrument landing System EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: PC, Radar

Procedure:
1. As you are already aware of radars, because of rotator, most easily caught flying objects are Helicopters. But, nevertheless, a completely shielded Turbine of a plane could also be detected by Radar. 2. To dodge the radar, pilots sometimes fly their planes at very low height. Actually, radar spectrum remove the clutter produced by low height objects like, building, trees or waves of sea etc. so if a pilot flies very low, it gets undetected as its reflection get fuzzed in grass of spectrum. 3. It is also useful tool as air traffic control management. At the runway radars are mounted in serially, so that they make markers at different distances, marker1,2,3 etc. When plane starts its ascent or descent, markers tell the distance and speed of plane. Combined with planes own radar altimeter, it helps smooth landing and take-off of planes one by one.

Result: Radar is very useful in air traffic control management even in bad weather conditions. It is very important device for air security.

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EXPERIMENT No. 19 RADAR AS LIFE DETECTOR (study only) OBJECTIVE:

To study the use of radar in detecting respiration and heart beating. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Radar, PC Procedure: 1. 2. Place the radar in front of your heart at various locations and listen to your heartbeats on the Multimedia Speakers. As heart beats, the rushing blood in arteries reflects microwaves and produces a signal, which can be detected. The reflected signal is very very small and you might have to adjust the volt/div setting to observe the signal on display. Our radar doesnt employ any filters to reject background noise hence detection is difficult. Increase the volume control of the PC speakers to listen to the heartbeat. Since the Doppler radar has low output power it is safe to point it to your heart. This principle is used in Color Doppler Imaging of blood arteries to see if they are blocked in heart patients. It is also used in fetal heart rate monitoring in pregnant women. It, nevertheless, uses ultrasonic waves rather than microwaves; but the principle of operation remains same. Similarly, respiration produces movement of rib cage, which again can be detected by Doppler radar.

3. 4. 5.

6.

Result: Radar is used in Battlefields to detect the presence of live soldiers amongst thousands of bodies from Helicopters. It is used with a high gain parabolic antenna and special DSP implemented filters to reject background noise. It is also used in building collapse to detect any living persons trapped underneath. The same was used in 911 incident at WTC. It is also used as life saving equipment.

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EXPERIMENT No. 20 WEATHER RADAR (study only)

OBJECTIVE: Study of climatic conditions of atmosphere cyclones, clouds, tornado using a Doppler radar. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Doppler radar, PC with multi media, Water Spray Procedure: 1. Doppler radar is extensively used worldwide in weather detection. Air has a dielectric constant, which is very close to 1 for the vacuum. It is because of this that moving air cannot be detected by weather radar. But when it is laden with moisture, dust etc it reflects microwave energy. Our radar does not have sufficient energy that it can detect moving clouds in real life but the same can be emulated in life. Connect the Doppler radar to the PC at the mic in input. Open the activity log and point the water spray away from the radar. The movement of the water particles will be picked up by the radar. Water is a good reflector because of its high dielectric constant. The spray can thus emulate rain conditions in lab. Propane driven snow makers can be tried to study their radar signatures.

2. 3.

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Result:
Doppler Radar is extensively used to detect weather conditions like storms, clouds, tornados etc. Our radar cannot detect very slow moving objects.

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