Radar Taking Off: New Capabilities for UAVs

Modern consumer and industrial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are easy-to-use flying sensor platforms. They offer stable flight, good maneuverability, hovering, and even waypoint flights in autopilot mode. For stabilization and localization, sensors such as inertial measurement units (IMUs)-including gyroscopes and accelerometers-barometric sensors, and the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) are used. To sense the UAV?s direct environment, e.g., for collision avoidance or fully automated flight, additional sensors are needed. State-of-the-art combinations of infrared, ultrasonic, and vision-based sensors (monocular and/or stereo vision) capture the close vicinity. Using radar sensors is advantageous, as they are able to directly sense range and velocity and are not affected by lighting conditions and contrast. With the help of a multichannel radar, the angular information may also be extracted.