MMWAVE-SDK: mmWave Sensitivity and Detection capability

Hello Warren,

What exact parameter are you referencing to when stating a 10mm accuracy requirement? If you mean something like range resolution, then we meet the requirement even at your stated maximum range of 10m.Radar has no impact from lighting and is not a concern, and the FOV is extremely doable. The only possible concern can be the size of objects detected depending on the application.

My recommendation here is the mmWave sensor IWR6843AOPEVM for maximum FOV as well as ease of use, featuring our pre-designed antenna pattern which is on the package itself (Antenna-On-Package). If you want to maximize range resolution, then a mmWave cascade board will provide even better performance,

Best Regards,

Pedrhom

Thanks very much for the response Pedrhom. I will review the IWR6843AOPEVM

In answer to your two queries: -

1. On the 10mm accuracy, we have the ToF sensor angled to measure the ground in front of the vehicle. We currently have this calibrated to 6m, however it can be angled anywhere between 2-30m on the vehicle. The ToF sensor produces results with an accuracy of approx +/- 10mm @ 6m. Our system is running at a height of 200mm above the ground, and we need this to profile the road and maintain this height with a tolerance of +/- 20mm. I can share some drawings if we can take this offline?

2. We only need to react to obstacles larger than 50mm3 (cubed), but our objective is to maintain the height of our system within the 200mm +/- 20mm height above the ground.

Please let me know if I can email you directly should we have any further queries.

Kind Regards

Warren

Hello Warren,

https://training.ti.com/small-obstacle-detection-robotic-lawn-mowers-mmwave-radar-tracking

The measurements of your system seem very fair and doable. Above is one of our demos which shows the performance on a moving platform. If you are looking for millimeter levels of accuracy of the height/profile of the road as a focus, we also have the level sensing demo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI1DNkGDb0g). This is a relatively older video which shows the height of the liquid but can be used for a road .The demo's software is open source, free to download, and compatible with 6843AOP. If the performance seems to meet your application, feel free to order EVMs and use E2E as a continuous forum for TI engineer support.

Best Regards,

Pedrhom

Thanks for the info Pedrhom.

Which package do you recommend we start with - see Order & Start Development on IWR6843AOPEVM Evaluation board | TI.com? Our current control system is running on an MSP430F5529, but this will not have enough processing power to link directly to the IWR6843AOP. I imagine we will require the DCA1000EVM to process and to communicate with our system.

Or will the MMWAVEICBOOST be sufficient?

Also, will the IWR6843AOPEVM be able to read at approx. 10m - in the demo video on the lawn mower it seems like the targets are only 2-3m away.

Thanks, Warren

Hello Warren,

Yes the IWR6843AOPEVM would be the package I recommend starting with. The detection and processing of Radar data is done on the mmWave chip itself, all the MSP430 needs to do is receive UART data output from the sensor, which it should be more than sufficient at doing. The ICBOOST is for the ability to do advanced software development, debug features such as trace and single step with breakpoints. The DCA1000 is EXCLUSIVELY for raw data capture, what this means is the unprocessed, unfiltered, and uncompressed data straight from the chip. This is for those who are willing and able to develop their own DSP algorithms. I would recommend 6843AOP + ICBOOST

In the lawn mower video, the Radar detection and tracking algorithm was tuned to only care about objects within that ~2m range due to the specific application that an automated lawnmower only cares about what is relatively near it. The maximum range for a person for AOP is around 50 meters. You can compare the performances of our mmWave Sensors on this page: https://www.ti.com/design-resources/embedded-development/industrial-mmwave-radar-sensors.html

Best Regards,

Pedrhom