Compact Semi-Circular MIMO Radar System for the Fast Detection of Small Particles Approaching the Rayleigh Scattering Region

The present document describes a compact, multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) radar system mounted on an industrial conveyor. The aim of this radar is the detection of small foreign particles within different types of products, including packed food. The radar system is composed of a Stepped-Frequency Continuous-Wave (SFCW) radar, eight ultra-wide band customized Vivaldi antennas configured in a semicircular geometry, and a switching system that allows configuring each antenna as either transmitter or receiver. By using this radar setup it is possible to detect and generate 2D images of small particles. As an example the detection of a metallic sphere with diameter D=5.0 mm is shown. The radar cross-section of metal spheres of this sizes lies within the Rayleigh scattering region, which generates reduced amount of reflected radar signals.