Short-Range Radar for Use in Vehicle Lateral Guidance and Control

Radar has been used in many automotive applications, e.g., collision avoidance, adaptive cruise control, and blind-spot detection. However, radar can also be used in guiding or controlling a vehicle laterally along a roadway if a suitable radar reflector reference is provided. There has been research work in this area but no substantial changes in the roadway infrastructure. This paper briefly reviews some research in this area and proposes modification to the infrastructure, e.g., metallic painted lines or small dihedral corner reflectors in the pavement markers, to provide all-weather radar sensors for guiding and controlling the vehicle along the roadway. To promote the development of autonomous vehicles, an all-weather reference system is proposed. This reference system will aid in the development, testing, and validation of autonomous vehicle systems using vision, radar, and lidar sensors.