Automobile RADAR

Miniradars utilizing the Doppler phenomenon have been developed for sale to the general public in the car aftermarket, as well as to car manufacturers, for providing safe-following headway control of car motion, and for detection of road hazards and collision threats both in front and in the back blind spots. Application to collision-anticipatory sensing for air-bag inflation and integration with anti-skid devices are also significant developments. In this paper, the essential requirements of the cited applications, the techniques that render RADAR economically feasible for the consumer market and the performance capabilities of the current car-installed equipment are reviewed briefly.