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DCA1000EVM: raw data acquisition and synchronisation

sco
Prodigy 10 points
Part Number: DCA1000EVM
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: MMWAVE-STUDIO, IWR6843ISK, , MMWAVEICBOOST

Dear TI-Team,

I have a IWR6843ISK with the MMWAVEICBOOST and DCA1000EVM. After a while, I am now able to control it with the mmWave-Studio and create bin-files with adc data and visualise them with the PostProc-Tool.

Currently I have some questions on how to organise my project best. The general goal is to mount the sensor system onto a robot and scan objects to generate SAR images.

  • Is it possible to trigger the radar with one of the GPIOs on the MMWAVEICBOOST board using for example an external GPIO of the robot at specific positions? (If yes, what kind of signal is necessary?)
  • The idea behind it is, to trigger a frame at each position and compose the image with these points. (As a test I tried to change the number of frames within the mmWave-Studio from the initial 8 to 1 frame, but that leads to some errors?)
  • How to extract single frames/points best out of the raw data radar cube to synchronise it with the movement of the robot? Are there examples around to access points within the created bin file for example with indexes, timestamps or something else?

Many thanks in advance so far!

  • 0
    TI__Genius 17265 points

    Hi,

    Before we get into specifics, it may be good to look at the use case as a whole to ensure you are going down the most optimal path. Is there any additional detail you could provide on  your use case? 

    Additionally, the DCA1000 raw data capture setup is typically used only during evaluation to determine what may be needed algorithmically in order to get the data you need for you application. I would recommend you take a look at some of the existing demos we have and their source code to get an idea for how you may want to process the data eventually without the DCA1000. 

    Best Regards,
    Alec

  • 0 in reply to Alec May
    Prodigy 10 points

    Thanks for your reply! The use case isn’t fully defined yet, but the basic idea is to scan parts and look behind the surface. I have read some papers so far, where this kind of sensor is used to create SAR images. Most of them use a XY-axis system and scan a scene by moving the sensor in a meandering pattern over a flat surface. I think one solution was to send chirps while moving with a constant velocity or use some kind of hardware trigger. But to be prepared for different path pattern or curved surfaces, I was thinking to maybe find a more general/flexible way to trigger the sensor. Having the MMWAVEICBOOST board anyway, I was thinking about using a GPIO to trigger the sensor as that would make the system most flexible.

    For the first evaluation steps it is fine to process the data afterwards. But currently I am not sure about the step of how to link the data of the bin-file to the path of the sensor during the movement. Therefore, it would be much appreciated if you have some hints for me to become more familiar with that problem (extracting/accessing measurements from the bin-file).

    Many thanks and best regards.

  • 0 in reply to sco
    TI__Genius 17265 points

    Hi,

    Understood. For your questions on a hardware trigger, there are a few other threads on the forums about this, so I will link to one below that you can start with. In terms of understanding the data format, you can take a look at the Matlab scripts provided in the "MatlabExamples" folder of mmWaveStudio, which should help give you an idea of how to get the data organized in a way that suits your needs. 

    https://e2e.ti.com/support/sensors-group/sensors/f/sensors-forum/1036662/iwr6843isk-hardware-trigger-for-iwr6843isk-no-mmwaveicboost

    Best Regards,
    Alec

  • 0 in reply to Alec May
    Prodigy 10 points

    Thank you, I will have a look at this.