Prototyping a Radar Sensor based on a Xilinx RFSoC Device for Detect-And-Avoid onboard Small UAV

This paper presents the development of an experimental radar payload by ONERA, onboard a small multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The objective is to detect aerial targets for autonomous Detect-And-Avoid (DAA) purposes. The payload design combines low cost modular RF architecture with digital back-end based on the new FPGA RFSoC technologies from Xilinx. Experimental trials have been conducted in 2022 to validate the prototype.