Patent ID: 11372096

Abstract:
A method for using a radar assembly to sense an environment includes a radar system that has an antenna assembly secured for 360-degree rotation, the antenna assembly having mounted thereon at least one transmit antenna, and a first set of three or more separate fixed receive antennas, with the antenna assembly having a greater width than height so as to create a fanbeam. In the method of the present invention, the antenna assembly is rotated to a first azimuth position, and then an FMCW waveform is transmitted within the fanbeam, and reflections are received from targets in the environment while in the first azimuth position. Based on the received reflections, data is processed and stored. These steps are repeated for all other azimuths until an azimuth sweep has been completed. At that time, a full environmental data set is compiled for the environment, where the data set comprises azimuth data, range data, elevation data and RCS data. The data set is gathered and delivered to a controller for analysis.