IWR1443BOOST: Vital Sign Demo

Hi Amit,

Thank you for reaching out on our e2e forums!

What objects may be in front of the radar when you are seeing this data?

Thanks,

Angie

Hi Angie,

Thanks for the reply.

Please note that this experiment was done in an anechoic chamber.

The radar was placed on a carpet on the floor and there was no object kept in front of it.

Still, we were getting peaks, which should not happen theoretically.

If we see carefully the figure attached, it is showing that there is an object within a distance of 0.1 m. 

But, practically there was no object placed in front of the radar.

So, our query is how to correct this unusual behavior of the radar?

Thanking you

Best regards

Amit

Hi Amit,

I am going to dive into this lab and get back to you in the next 2 days with a response.

Thank you,

Angie

Hi Amit,

What you are seeing is TX/RX coupling, this is seen in all devices. The coupling has become more apparent because you are in an anechoic chamber.

Thank you,

Angie

Hi Angie,

Thank you very much for your reply.

Kindly note that we are now trying to find a concrete answer to the question, is this IWR1443BOOST radar able to detect the small movement of tiny pests (of size <1.5 mm) on leaves of plants from a distance of 1-2 m? If yes, what are the probable modifications to be done in the configuration file of the radar? If not, is there any other radar available of TI that can solve the purpose easily?

We need your expert comment and suggestions.

Thank you.

Regards

Amit

Hi Amit,

Using our sensing estimator you can get a feel for range resolution capabilities with radar. By modifying the profile cfg line the range resolution can be tuned but it can be difficult to get mm level accuracy. Our most accurate lab is our level sensing lab.

The default .cfg file for our IWR1443 vital signs lab is as follows. 

However, this is traditionally for static detection. Would the pests be moving, and if so how much? 

Thank you,

Angie

Hi Angie,

Thank you for your kind reply.

About the pest movement, some pests move faster and some very slow (8-16 mm per hour). 

We were trying to detect the movement of small ants using a demo visualizer with an IWR1443 sensor.

However, it was not able to detect the movement of ants even within a distance of 0.1-0.2 mm from the sensor.

However, the sensor was able to detect the movement of a moth (bigger than ants) in the same environment.

That's why we were thinking that, should we go for a higher frequency (>100 GHz) and shorter wavelength (may be less than 0.5 mm) radar sensor for detecting pests moving on leaves of plants?

Can you please comment on this and suggest buying a suitable sensor for this purpose?

Appreciating your kind suggestions and cooperation.

Thanks and regards

Amit

Hi Amit,

I am going to link your other thread here: https://e2e.ti.com/support/sensors-group/sensors/f/sensors-forum/1116247/iwr1443boost-what-is-the-minimum-object-size-it-can-detect 

When you were doing your testing what sort of plants were the bugs on and how much were these plants moving? How much might the moths wings be moving?

We can only discuss TI's products on this forum which go up to 77GHz. 

Thanks,

Angie

Hi Amit,

Have you looked into using lenses with radar? Radar lenses can be used to focus a signal on a smaller area.

Thanks,

Angie

Hi Angie,

Thank you for your reply.

Please note that we were experimenting on small ants and moths keeping them in small plastic tubes separately.

However, for the real experiment and implementation, we need to do it in the agricultural crop field.

We need to know, is there any way to save the raw signal data  (amplitude and phase) from the sensor without filtering and processing?

Moreover, in the demo visualizer app, can we plot the raw signal data coming from the sensor?

Kindly help us.

Thanking you 

Amit

Hi Amit,

Using our DCA1000 evaluation board raw data can be captured with the IWR1443. There is a tool called MMWAVE STUDIO to help with this process. 

One more follow up question from my end, is there a reason you are using a 77GHz device instead of one of our 60GHz devices?

Thanks,

Angie

Hi Angie,

Thank you very much for your reply.

Please note that we initially purchased three 77GHz devices for heart rate, and breath rate monitoring. 

Now, we are trying to use these devices for pest detection problems. 

Will the 60Ghz devices be more suitable for pest detection problems?

Moreover, can we see the plots of raw data in the demo visualizer app using that DCA1000 EVM?

Thanking you

Best regards

Amit