Inexpensive radar-based surveillance: Experimental study

We present a novel approach which is helpful in building an inexpensive security or surveillance system for various applications. The system consists of a radar network that creates a virtual fence or barrier that is invisible, and in case of intrusion it will give an alarm, determine the location of a target and provide the target's relative velocity information. Our approach is a combination of continuous sensor measurements by commercially available automotive radar, specific network layout and advanced post-processing techniques. We use open source software and hardware to reduce the total cost of the system. The proposed network topology including radar coverage area is novel and similar to a half-fishbone shape, however the main focus of this paper is on creating a prototype of the radar network node. To get a control over the resolution of range measurements, the analysis of several post-processing algorithms for target detection was carried out. Another feature of our approach is an implementation of perceptual (robust) hash algorithm for storage of current signal ‘image’ in memory and comparison of the signal and ‘no-intrusion’ signal. During the work, applied software tool was created. It significantly simplifies the data acquisition and analysis. Extensive experimental measurements confirm the validity of the approach, show the performance of the radar and reveal some directions for future improvements.