Fusion of RADAR and Acoustic Arrays for Drone Detection in Restricted Air-Space

During the past decade, the popularity and availability of drones have increased drastically. This is a concern for airports worldwide as unauthorized drone traffic is also increasing. Because of this, there is a need for robust and accurate drone detection systems. Multiple drone detection techniques already exist in literature, each with their respective shortcomings. In this paper, we implement a proof-of-concept in which the accuracy of a RADAR system is expanded with an acoustic array that can differentiate between objects based on their ultrasonic emissions. This approach allows for a robust active sensing system with a decreased number of false positives (e.g., birds). Outdoor tests have been carried out with off-the-shelf components against multiple variants of drones. Both the strengths and weaknesses of this approach are identified and discussed, along with potential improvements that can aid the practical implementation of this concept.