Daniel Novák

Moving person tracking by UWB radar system in complex environment

Ultra-wideband radar system allows detect, localize and track moving persons in critical situations and environments. Therefore, the issue of the short-range ultra-wideband radars dedicated to the support of the emergency event solving is really up-to-date. The publications devoted to the mention problem in last decade have dealt with the basic methods of ultra-wideband radar signal processing intent mostly on detection, localization and tracking of moving persons under simple scenarios. In this paper, we will deal with detection, localization and tracking of persons moving through an area where strong and large reflectors of electromagnetic waves are situated. We will show that this complex environment leads to so-called defective localization of target when the number of the targets and the target positions are wrongly estimated. In this paper, we will explain the origin of this effect and propose a new extended method of background subtraction capable to suppress markedly the impact of the mentioned reflectors on reliability and accuracy of a standard procedure of radar signal processing applied for detection, localization, and tracking of moving persons.

Short-range UWB radar: Surveillance robot equipment of the future

Autonomous robots are intelligent machines capable of performing tasks by themselves, without explicit human control. They can find quit a number of unique applications. Here, their utilisation for surveillance, monitoring and reconnaissance in hostile and dangerous to life environment intent on human being detection and/or static object imaging is up-to-date, promising and challenging as well. The fruitfulness of this application of robot systems is determined by many factors. The effective and reliable sensor system for human being detection and localization and static object imaging under wide variety of scenarios can be rated among them. In the last decade, it has been shown that ultra-wideband (UWB) radars (sensors) can be used with advantage as day and night, and under all-weather conditions sensors for person localization and static object imaging. Taking into account this fact, this paper will be intent on the analyses of UWB sensor applicability as the part of the smart sensor systems of robots to be used at emergency situation solutions. Summarizing the results of theoretical analyses and experiments with UWB sensors presented in the paper, it will be concluded that the short-range UWB radars have the great potential to be used as a standard equipment of surveillance and reconnaissance robot systems of future.

Multiple static person localization based on respiratory motion detection by UWB radar

In the past few years, great efforts have been made to develop a methods for through-the-wall detection of the vital signs of a human being such as breathing or heart beating. For such purpose, UWB sensor (radar) operating within the frequency band DC-5 GHz can be used as proper technical tool. In contrast to moving target localization is this task much more challenging. The basic principle of a breathing motion detection by a radar consists in the identification of a raw radar signal components carrying a significant power within the frequency band from 0.2 Hz to 0.7 Hz. Respiratory motion detection is a known task analyzed by a variety of methods. However, the problem of person localization based on their respiratory motion detection has not been studied very properly. This paper is introducing a simple approach of respiratory motion detection based on Welch periodogram method with the two-stage detector with subsequent target localization. Performance of the procedure introduced here will be illustrated by the experimental results obtained for through-the-wall detection and localization of three static persons.

Multiple Person Localization Based on Their Vital Sign Detection Using UWB Sensor

In the past period, great efforts have been made to develop methods for through an obstacle detection of human vital signs such as breathing or heart beating. For that purpose, ultra-wideband (UWB) radars operating in the frequency band DC-5 GHz can be used as a proper tool. The basic principle of respiratory motion detection consists in the identification of radar signal components possessing a significant power in the frequency band 0.2–0.7 Hz (frequency band of human respiratory rate) corresponding to a constant bistatic range between the target and radar. To tackle the task of detecting respiratory motion, a variety of methods have been developed. However, the problem of person localization based on his or her respiratory motion detection has not been studied deeply. In order to fill this gap, an approach for multiple person localization based on the detection of their respiratory motion will be introduced in this chapter.

Simple 3D localization of tag-free moving targets by UWB radar

In this paper we are focused on localization and tracking of uncooperative human beings moving in a height-diverse environment. The aim is not to visualize the target shape or its contours as it is in the case of target imaging, but to estimate person positions in 3-dimesional (3D) space. For that purpose we will introduce a simple 3D localization approach developed for ultra wideband (UWB) radar equipped with 1 transmitting and 4 receiving antennas. The proposed method is based on the approximation of 3D localization problem by two 2D localization problems. The decreasing of a computational complexity as well as opportunity to use existing procedures and methodologies developed for 2D target localization belong to its main benefits. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated by signal processing results obtained by the experimental measurement intent on localization and tracking a person walking along a staircase in the shape of “L” bordered by a metal rail.

Static person detection and localization with estimation of person's breathing rate using single multistatic UWB radar

In the past period, great efforts have been made to develop the methods for the detection of human beings based on a monitoring their respiratory motion. For that purpose, ultra-wideband sensors (radars) operating in the frequency band DC-5GHz can be used with advantage. The basic principle of respiratory motion detection consists in the identification of sensor signal components possessing a significant power in the frequency band 0.2–0.7 Hz (frequency band of a human respiratory rate) corresponding to a constant range between the target and radar. However, the problem of person localization associated with the estimation of their breathing rate has not been studied deeply. In order to fill this gap, an approach for a joint localization and breathing rate estimation of a person will be introduced in this chapter. For that purpose, a combination of a method for the static person localization based on power-spectrum estimation using Welch periodogram referred to as WP-STAPELOC method and the Welch periodogram, MUSIC algorithm and Burg methods for the estimation of a fundamental harmonic of respiratory motion will be introduced. The performance of proposed procedure will be evaluated using a data obtained at experimental scenario. Moreover, a reference measurement will be performed in order to compare the results from UWB radar with the results from the optical sensor.

A joint detection, localization and respiratory rate estimation of multiple static persons using UWB radar

In the past period, great efforts have been made to develop methods for the people detection based on monitoring their respiratory motion using ultrawideband (UWB) radar. The basic principle of the respiratory motion detection consists in the identification of sensor signal components possessing a significant power in the frequency band 0.1–0.7 Hz (frequency band of human respiratory rate) corresponding to a constant range between the target and radar antennas. However, the problem of person localization associated with the estimation of their breathing rate has not been studied deeply. In order to fill this gap, an approach for a joint localization and breathing rate estimation of persons will be introduced in the paper. For that purpose, a radar signal processing proceure for multiple static person localization along with their breathing frequency estimation will be introduced in this paper. The performance of the proposed procedure will be evaluated for the experimental scenario intent on through-the-wall localization and respiratory rate estimation of two static persons using single UWB radar employing one transmitting and two receiving antennas.