94

MILLIMETER WAVE RADAR FOR THE OBSTACLE DETECTION AND WARNING SYSTENI FOR
HELICOPTERS
K. Yamamoto', K. Yamadal, N. Yonemoto', H. Yaw?, H. Nebiya', C. Migliaccio'
'Electronic Navigation Research Institute (Japan),
4University of NICE-Sophia AntipolisiCNRS (France)

ABSTRACT.
An obstacle detection and warning system for civil
helicopters is now being developed. An infrared camera
and a 94GHz Millimeter Wave (MMW) radar have been
used as its sensor. Experimental MMW radars have been
built to examine their propagation properties and
obstacle detection performance. 94GHz Vivaldi antenna
has been fabricated for a compact radar antenna.
Measured results demonstrated that the experimental
FMCW radar has a satisfactory range and accuracy. It
was also shown that the Vivaldi antenna worked well at
90 to IOOGHz frequency range.
INTRODUCTION
Helicopters and small aircraft flying at low altitude in the
visual flight rules often strike against obstacles.
According to the aircraft accident reports in Japan, many
collisions.by small aircraft were caused by long, thin
artificial 'objects as power lines because they are often
very difficult to find by pilot eyes even when visibility is
good for flight. A lot of work has been done to avoid
such collisions by developing obstacle sensors as Hogg
[I] and Sadovonik [2]. Their sensors are mainly designed
to expand the operational conditions for military
applications. In order to reduce such collisions, however,
techniques to detect obstacles that are very difficult to
find, must be developed. It is also important to develop
. an obstacle detection and warning system easily
applicable to civil aircraft.

We are now developing an obstacie detection and

warning system for civil helicopters. The primary target
io-detect is a long and thin object as power lines or
ropeway cables. We noted the combination of an infrared
(IR) camera and a Millimeter Wave (MMW) radar as the
sensor. Recently, radars with the range of 100-200111are
extensively studied for automotive applications such as
Mende and Rohling [3]. A long range MMW radar is
also known for remote sensing. However, there are very

21HI Aerospace Inc. (Japan),

'AMPLET Inc. (Japan)

few medium range radars. We are now developing a

94GHz medium range radar for obstacle detection. Two
types of experimental MMW radar, Pulse and FMCW
have been made to examine the fundamental
performance of radars. Infrared and MMW radar data
fusion and the procedure to display enhanced obstacles
are also being studied.
In this paper, the concept of our Obstacle Detection and
Warning System is presented first. The structure and
feature of the experimental MMW radars an: then
described. In order to make the radar compact and to
facilitate production of active antennas, application of
Vivaldi antenna to the MMW radar is proposed by
Migliaccio et al. 141. The characteristics of the Vivaldi
antenna and the transition circuit to connect waveguide
and the antenna are briefly described. Measurements are
conducted to know the MMW propagation proFierties,
the FMCW radar range and accuracy. The radiation
pattern of the Vivaldi antenna is also presented.

THE OBSTACLE DETECTION AND WARNING

SYSTEM FOR HELICOPTERS
The Obstacle Detection-and Warning System discussing
here is for civil aircraft flying in the visual flight rules.
Therefore, the system must be low in cost, compact and
light in weight. According to the requirements from
helicopter operators, the detection range needs about
8OOm and the view of surveillance should be as wide as
possible.

Figure 1 shows'an overview of the total system that we

are now developing. The system consists of an IR
camera, a MMW radar, Scanning Equipment, a
Controller, a Data Processor and a Display. Yamamoto
and Yamada demonstrated that a higher resolution IR
sensor is suitable to detect a long and thin-object as a
power line [5]. Then we introduced an IR camera
detecting 3-5pm IR with 500 x 800 IR sensing elements.

0 2002 The Institution of Electrical Engineers.

Printed and published by the IEE, Savoy Place, London WC2R OBL. UK

Diode
Switch

Coupler
Transmitting
Antenna

pulse
Detector

Figure 1 Block diagram of the Obstacle Detection

and Warning System for Helicopters

Target
pulse
(93.5GHz)

A color video camera is also used to collect reference

images. We chose 94GHz as the radar frequency because
there are many components and- high gain antennas in
I.R G d color
this frequency. A PC'is used to gather
.
images and radar data. It also works^ as the Data
Processor for predicting the threat of obstacles, giving
alarm to pilot and performing infrared and radar data
fusion. The final image on the display is generated from
the IR image. MMW radar data is used to add distance
and.to enhance obstacles on @e display so that image
synthesis will be greatly simplified.
Recently, IR camera becomes small and light .(approx.
9Ox85x85mm, 500g) and the price is about 1/8 compared
to 5 years ago. MMW radars are also becoming cheaper
and smaller. PC with recent high performance CPU may
perform above duties. Then, OUT system will satisfy the
requirements on cost and size in the near future.

EXPERIMENTAL MILLIMETER WAVE W A R S

FOR OBSTACLE DETECTION
Configuration of the MMW radars
Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the experimental
pulse radar. MMW signal, from the 94GHz .Gunn
Oscillator is modulated by the gate pulse generator and is
divided into transmitting and reference pulses by the
directional coupler. Cassegrain antennas are used for
transmission and reception. Reference and received
pulses are transformed into 500MHz IF, amplified and
then demodulated. The Time Interval Counter (Agilent
Technology 53310A) calculates the time between the
transmitted and returned pulses. PC is used for data
storage and analysis. Camer power at the output of the
Gunn Oscillator is +l3dBm. However, the effective

Figure 2

Block diagram of the experimental pulse radai

. .

Linear i zer

Transmitting
Antenna

(94GHr)

'

Receiving
Antenna
Band pass
Filter

Awl i f ier

IF
Mlifier

Figure 3 Block diagram of the experimental-FMCW

radar
power is reduced in the process of switching. The pulse
cycle is 20ms and the pulse gate width is 15011s.
Figure 3 is a block diagram of the experimental FMCW
radar. A Voltage Controlled Oscillator.YC0) driven by a
triangular wave generator (Linearizer) produces 94GHz
FMCW signal. The signal is divided into transmitting
and reference signals by the directional coupler. The
trFsmitting power of this radar is about +lldBm. The
signal hackscattered from objects in the radar field of
view, enters the receiving antenna and is amplified by a
low noise MMW amplifier (Gain: 3 6 m , NF: 5dB). It is
then mixed with the reference signal to obtain the IF
(beat). The IF is amplified and then supplied to the
Vector Signal Analyzer (Agilent Technology 89610A).
The IF contains the frequency shift by the range to the
target and the Doppler shift due to relative target,moti.on.
The vector signal analyzer and PC calculate the heat

Figure 4 Upper view of the Vivaldi antenna

Figure 5
frequency and the frequency shift to derive the range and
relative speed. The MMW modulation bandwidth is
148MHz and the modulation cycle is IOKHz.

Transmitted and received signals of the

pulse radar

MMW radar antennas

At present, two Cassegrain antennas are used for
transmission and reception. The diameter of the major
parabola is 3 Icm and the minor one 6cm to have the gain
of 45dBi. The polarization is vertical. However, the
Cassegrain antenna is rather large for small aircraft.
Vivaldi antenna is then studied because it is easy to
constitute a printed array and is suitable for monopulse
radar in the future. Figure 4 is the upper view of the
antenna. Antenna element is printed on an alumina
substrate with ~ = 9 . 8 The
.
microstrip line is printed on
the back with precise kont and back alignment.
Optimization of a single Vivaldi antenna has been done
numerically by adjusting element length L. It has been
shown that the optimal radiation efficiency may be
obtained at L=3hd2 (h:
wavelength), when its aperture
A= ho and the slot line width W=130pm. The antenna
size is about 10.11 x 6.85 x 0.13mm after the
optimization. The antenna was incorporated into a newly
developed transition circuit to connect the microstrip line
with waveguide because OUT MMW radar needs W R - I O
waveguide connection.

MEASUREMENTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Pulse Radar

Range and accuracy of the radar were measured by

placing a trihedral comer reflector in front of the radar.

Figure 6 Experimental FMCW radar

RCS of the comer reflector is about 650mz, which is
equivalent to that of a typical power line. As a reference,
a Laser distance meter (RIEGL LD90-3800, error within
plus minus Scm) was used. Figure 5 is an example
showing the reference and received signals. The time
difference o f these pulses gives distance. The distance
error was within about 7% for a single measurement
cycle. This error can be reduced by data averaging. The
range of the radar was about 120m at present. We are
now working to extend the range. Detailed performance
of this radar was reported in [ 5 ] .

FMCW radar
Figure 6 is the experimental FMCW radar. Its size is
about 44 x 56 x 34cm and weighs about 7kg without the
vector signal analyzer. A CCD Camera was included as a
finder.
In FMCW radar, the range
the target can be given as,

between the radar and

100
200
300
400
500
Distance fmm the Radar to a Target (m)

Figure 8 Range error of the FMCW radar.

'

Figure 8 shows the relationship between the distance

and the range error. This result was obtained by a single
measurement cycle. At present, the range deviated from
the reference by about 5.5% to 15.5%. And the error
tends to increase as distance increases. This deviation
and tendency may be caused if the linearity of the
Voltage Controlled Oscillator is not enough. Thus, we
are now trying to devise the waveform of the Linearizer
in Figure 3 to improve the VCO linearity.

Figure 7

Spectrum of the FMCW beat

wheref,p is the heat frequency, AF is RF modulation

bandwidth (=148-),
f, is RF modulation cycle
(=lOkHz) and c is the speed of light. Range and
accuracy of the FMCW radar were measured by using a
comer reflector as target. Anechoic chamber was used
when the measurement range was less than ahout 30m.
When the range exceeded 30m, measurements were
performed at outside field. When the range was farther
than loom, we used building walls as target.

Figure 7 is a spectrum of the FMCW heat, where (a) is

the spectrum display. In this example, peak level was
observed at 587.5"z, which corresponds to the target
location. From equation (I), distance to the target was
29.8m. Figure (b) shows variation of the beat frequency
and its amplitude in some measurement period (21.64
seconds in this figure). This figure shows the target
speed and the stability of the reflected signals.

The farthest distance the radar could detect was ahout

500111. However, the range is extendable because S/N of
the beat exceeded by ahout 8dB. Further work is needed
to reduce the range emar and to decide the range limit of
this radar.
Backscatter by foliage was also measured. The comer
reflector was located in front of foliage and then
removed. The distance between the radar and the
reflector was about 100m. The distance from the target to
background foliage was ahout 7m. The reflection level
from the foliage was ahout 5 dB higher than the noise
level. The radar could separate the target and the
background foliage well.

The Vivaldi antenna

Figure 9 shows the Vivaldi antenna with the antenna to
waveguide transition. The materials wrapped around the
antenna are radio wave absorbers. Its radiation pattern
was measured at the anechoic chamber for E-plane,
H-plane and cross-polarization. The pattern of a standard
hom antenna was also measured for reference.
Figure IO shows normalized E plane radiation patterns of

98

Figure 9 Vivaldi antenna with the transition circuit

a standard horn and the Vivaldi antennas. The Vivaldi
antenna showed the maximum radiation at +30 degrees.
This is due to the reflection by the conducting body of
the transition circuit. Further work will be done to
predict the effect of the circuit and to remove its
reflection. However, from the measurements, we have
confrmed that this Vivaldi antenna in conjunction with
the transition circuit, worked satisfactory in 90 to
1OOGHz range.

CONCLUSIONS
94GHz experimental MMW radar has been developed to
test the validity as the sensor for the obstacle detection
and warning system for civil helicopters. Two types of
modulation, pulse and FMCW for the radar have been
investigated. An application of the Vivaldi antenna to the
radar was discussed. Preliminruy measurements showed
that the range of the 94GHz pulse radar was about 120m
and its accuracy was about 7%. It was also shown that
the range and accuracy of the FMCW radar were about
500m and 5.5 to 15.5% respectively. The Vivaldi antenna
and the transition circuit that connects the antenna and
waveguide worked well at 90 to IOOGHz range.
However, the transition circuit affected the total radiation
pattern.
Followings are &jor topics left to develop a practical
obstacle detection system.
(1) Radar range extension: a high power oscillator, a

power amplifier and antenna pattern improvement.

(2) Accuracy improvement: stabilization of the radar
circuit, faster data processing and noise suppression.

Figure I O

Radiation patterns of a standard horn

and the Vivaldi antennas

(3) Compact system: a printed array antenna and MAW

IC.
(4) Others: IR and radar data fusion and obstacle
enhancement.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Mr. Yoshihiro HIBI of Hitachi
Engineering Inc. for his contribution to the development
of the radar. They also express their appreciation to Dr.
Christian Pichot, Director of LEAT, University of NICE Sophia Antipolis / CNRS for his helpful comments.

REREFERNCES
[I] G M Hogg, CLARA - A Coherent CO2 Multi-Mode
Laser Radar, Proceedings of IEE Radar 97,N0.449,
1997,pp.678-682.
[2] L. Sadovonik, V Manasson and R. Mino, Helicopter
obstacle detection radar system, Proceedings of SPIE,
Vo1.4023,2000, pp.2-12.
[3] R.Mende, H. Rohling, A High Performance AICC
Radar Sensor - Concept and Results with an

Experimental Vehicle, Proceedings of IEE Radar

97,No.449, 1997, pp.21-25.
[4] C. Migliaccio, B.D. Nguyen et al., Vivaldi Antenna
for Obstacle Detection and ..Warning System at
94GHz, Jownees Intemationales de NICE sur Les
Antennes, (JINA 2002), Nov. 2002 (Submitted).
[5] K. Yamamoto, K. Yamada, Obstacle detection for
helicopter flights by infrared images, Proceedings
of SPIE, Vol. 4363,2001, pp.76-85.