AWR1843BOOST: Regarding small objects detection

Hey Manoj,

Thanks for reaching out regarding your questions. The AWR1843BOOST can detect small objects and likely wires of size 1cm^2, but the performance of it will depend on the context here. There's a few resources and ideas I could recommend, but if you could provide more information on what you are specifically trying to achieve with your application, then I can offer more relevant support. Here a few questions that come to my mind:

• How far away do you want to be able to detect a wire?
• Are you trying to detect and differentiate multiple wires?
• Will the wires be obscured by another surface or object?
• Are wires surrounded by multiple other objects and surfaces?
• Will the sensor, wires, or other objects in the scene be moving?

As for your second question, since the MRR is catered for mid to high range detection, the resolution - i.e., the ability to resolve two closely spaced objects as separate - of it won't be as high as something like the short range radar demo. Without a high enough resolution, there might not be enough signal to discriminate a wire from a larger/higher SNR object nearby. Additionally, most mmWave device data processing chains use CFAR detection to help isolate targets from background noise, clutter, and interference which may include weak SNR objects like wires depending on how high the threshold is. You can modify the threshold of the CFAR using the cfarCfg CLI command; details on the parameters of all CLI commands can be found in the SDK 3 package under <MMWAVE_SDK3_VER>/docs/mmwave_sdk_user_guide.pdf, Section 3.4 Configuration (.cfg) File Format.

Hopefully this gave you a few ideas on how you can approach this, but if you would like to provide more information on what you are specifically trying to achieve, then we can discuss it further.

Regards,

Kristien

Hi Kristien,

Thanks for your reply. 

Please find the answers below to your queries,

• How far away do you want to be able to detect a wire?
  • Up to 10m
• Are you trying to detect and differentiate multiple wires?
  • Our primary goal is to detect at least a single wire, but if radar could be able to detect multiple wires will be added advantage for us.
• Will the wires be obscured by another surface or object?
  • If the object is obscuring the wire, then wire detection is not required as the front object or the object which is obscuring the wire is to be detected. But in such case where wire is the front object and at background some other object is there after some distance, so wire should be detected since it is the front abject for radar.
• Are wires surrounded by multiple other objects and surfaces?
  • It could or could not be.
• Will the sensor, wires, or other objects in the scene be moving?
  • No

Few more details that I would like to share with you. We are working on advanced application like obstacle avoidance. This radar will be placed on UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) or some airborne system where we need to detect obstacles. So, we are exploring this to work it standalone as well as in a system.

Thanks,
Manoj

Hey Manoj,

Another one of my colleagues will look into this matter since they might be able to provide more expertise on this matter. Please give them a day or two to look into this.

Regards,

Kristien

Hello Manoj.

Please refer to the Drone Obstacle Detection page on TI Resource Explorer as it provides configurations that you can use to detect objects like wires.  I have linked the page here.

Sincerely,

Santosh

Hi Santosh,

This link is really helpful for us. Thank you so much for sharing this information.
But in this link the radar which is mentioned is IWRL6432 which is industrial radar i guess, and we have AWR1843BOOST radar which is automative radar. How different this IWRL6432 from AWR1843, also which one will you recommend us to use it in our UAV systems? Since, in UAVs it is very important to detect obstacles.

Thanks,
Manoj

Hello Manoj.

The AWR1843 is a device operating at the 77GHz frequency, while the 6432 operates at the 60 GHz frequency.  In addition, the 1843 has 4 RX and 3 TX while the 6432 has 3 RX and 2 TX.  I recommend that you use the IWRL6432 as it also provides low power capabilities and meets the FCC bandwidth/frequency requirements for radars on drones.

Sincerely,

Santosh

Hi Santosh,

In datasheet the range given for IWRL6432 is up to 25m, short range. So 25m is its maximum range? Where AWR1843BOOST is having maximum range upt 150m i guess.
There is one more radar IWR6843 having same specs like AWR1843.
Please find the queries below,
1. I want radar with at least 50m range. Which one will be the best with resepect to range, IWRL6432 or IWR6843?
2. For obstacle avoidance application which radar will work more efficiently (detecting small objects like thin wires or bird), IWRL6432 or IWR6843?

Thanks,
Manoj

Hello Manoj.

The 6843 can definitely be leveraged for its higher performance if needed, as stated at the end of the experiment page in the further resources section.  The 6843 and 1843 are similar, with the only difference being the frequency band(60 vs 77 GHz respectively).  If you wish to use the 6843, you will have to translate the configuration from the experiment page to the corresponding configuration commands of the older SDK as the 6843 and 6432 utilize different SDK's.  The configuration commands for the 6843 can be found in the SDK 3.6 user guide.

Sincerely,

Santosh

Hi Santosh,

It means IWR6843 is efficient to detect smaller objects like IWRL6432. 

What is the maximum range for 6843? 

Data frame format on serial for 6843 is different from AWR1843BOOST?

Thanks,

Manoj