Vehicle black box with 24GHz FMCW radar

This paper presents vehicle black box using camera image and 24GHz Frequency Modulation Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar. Currently, almost all of vehicle black boxes are recording driving data using a single camera. They have some problems on low image quality and narrow viewing angle. In addition, it is difficult to record a clean image when the weather is in bad condition due to heavy rain, snow and night. These problems may have some troubles to investigate car accident accurately. In this paper, we propose a novel black box fusing data from radar and cameras. We estimate the distance and velocity of obstacle using the Doppler Effect and FMCW radar. In particular, we compare various Direction of Arrival (DOA) algorithms for estimation of obstacle angle. The experimental results indicate that the Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) is more accurate compared to other methods. Moreover, we formulate the vehicle tracking image through the camera image processing and radar information. This image can be used to widen viewing angle and it may be helpful to investigate a car accident. The experimental study results indicate that the new black box overcome the disadvantages of the current black boxes and may be useful for safe driving and accurate accident investigation.