Design and development of K-Band FMCW radar for nano-drone detection

Nano-drones, are insect-like size drones with a capability of intrusion to provide intelligence and potentially violate secure establishments and public privacy rights. Nano-drones are already an existing technology which is becoming more and more available, portable, affordable and easily operated. As such, they may soon become a plausible defence and security threat. This paper presents the design and development of a K-Band FMCW radar prototype for nano-drone detection. The FMCW radar prototype consists of connectorised components operating at a carrier frequency of 24 GHz and offer high parameter selection flexibility. Experiments have been carried out in order to evaluate the system performance. Results show that a small Arcade PICO Drone Nano Quadcopter (smaller than 5 cm) could be detected, and that its micro-Doppler signature could be extracted from data

Uncover the Power of Multipath : Detecting NLOS Drones Using Low-Cost WiFi Devices

In recent years, consumer UAV technology has seen considerable advances. Consumer UAVs have become an ideal vector for privacy invasions due to their affordability, size, maneuverability, and their ability to stream live high-quality video. There is considerable proliferation of drones in both civil and military domains. Hence it is critical to detect invading unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones in a timely manner for both security and safeguarding privacy. Currently available solutions like active radar, video or acoustic sensors are very expensive (especially for individuals) and have considerable constraints (e.g., requiring visual line of sight). Recent research on drone detection with passive RF signals provides an opportunity for low-cost deployment of drone detectors on commodity wireless devices. The state of the arts in this direction mainly focus on detecting drones using line-of-sight (LOS) RF signals which are less noisy as compared to their non-LOS (NLOS) counterparts. To the best of our knowledge, there is no existing cost-effective solution for the general public to enable non-LOS(NLOS) detection for drone privacy invasion, which is the most common condition and it still remains an open challenge. This thesis research provides a low-cost UAV detection system for privacy invasion caused by customer drone. Our model supports NLOS detection with low-cost hardware under $50, and hence it is affordable for the general public to deploy in their house, apartments, and office. Our work utilizes inherent drone motions (i.e., body shifting and vibrations) as unique signatures for drone detection. Firstly, we validated the relationship between drone motions and RF signal under the NLOS condition using extensive experiments. This is motivated by the fact that under NLOS conditions slight changes to the position or motion of a drone could lead to dramatic change in multi-path components in received RF signals. The NLOS condition “amplifies the RF signatures introduced by drone motions. We designed a deep learning model to capture the complex features from NLOS RF signals. In particular, we designed and trained a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network [15, 27], a generative model which can effectively extract features of inputs for NLOS drone detection. Moreover, without knowing the presence of drones, our system starts with classifying any detected RF signals into LOS signals and NLOS signals before the NLOS drone learner is used. Classification of LOS and NLOS signals is feasible because they exhibit different combined features such as strength, variance, and distribution due to their differences in multipath effects. We used the supervised support vector machine (S-SVM) [17] as the learning model, which is effective for binary classification. This design is validated via extensive experiments using commodity drones in resident areas with other Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices

Application of systems engineering to complex systems and system of systems

2017 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation is an investigation of system of systems (SoS). It begins with an analysis to define, with some rigor, the similarities and differences between complex systems and SoS. With this foundation, the baseline concept is development for several different types of systems and they are used as a practical approach to compare and contrast complex systems versus SoS. The method is to use a progression from simple to more complex systems. Specifically, a pico hydro electric power generation system, a hybrid renewable electric power generation system, a LEO satellites system, and Molniya orbit satellite system are investigated. In each of these examples, systems engineering methods are applied for the development of a baseline solution. While these examples are complex, they do not rise to the level of a SoS. In contrast, a multi-spectral drone detection system for protection of airports is investigated and a baseline concept for it is generated. The baseline is shown to meet the minimum requirements to be considered a SoS. The system combines multiple sensor types to distinguish drones as targets. The characteristics of the drone detection system which make it a SoS are discussed. Since emergence is considered by some to be a characteristic of a SoS, it is investigated. A solution to the problem of determining if system properties are emergent is presented and necessary and sufficient conditions for emergence are developed. Finally, this work concludes with a summary and suggestions for additional work

Development of a K-band FMCW flexible radar prototype for detection and classification of nano-drones

© Cranfield University 2020. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright ownerNano-drones of the size of an insect can be used to perform stealthy surveillance or to gather intelligence crucial to attack roles at a relatively short range and within enclosed spaces and buildings. Conventional radar systems have been optimised to detect and classify bigger targets and are not specifically designed to detect nano-targets of less than 5 cm in size. Hence, this project aims to develop a radar system to detect and classify an insect-like size drone that corresponds to a low RCS. This will exhibit challenges due to the nature of the weak echoed signal that will be masked by an uninterested target with a stronger echoed signal. To tackle this sort of problem, micro Doppler extraction is applied for better target detection. This type of target that consists of a bladed propeller will give rise to a significant micro-Doppler signature that will contribute to the discernment of the interested target. An ad-hoc S-band FMCW radar prototype using off-the-shelf components An ad-hoc S-band FMCW radar prototype using off-the-shelf components has been successfully delivered. This prototype act as a groundwork for the next research phase of design and development for a higher frequency. Then, with the strong foundation of the S-band demonstrator, a flexible K-band FMCW radar prototype has successfully delivered aiming to meet the research purpose. The radar prototype offers a wide range of flexibility for the user to select the radar parameters (like operating frequency, ramp duration, bandwidth and integration time) and configure its performance. It will collect the signatures of real targets (nano-drone model) so that their performance can be assessed on experimental data. The results demonstrated that a nano-drone, a small size of less than 5 cm can be detected with the radar prototype developed.Ph

Millimetre-Resolution Photonics-Assisted Radar

Radar is essential in applications such as anti-collision systems for driving, airport security screening, and contactless vital sign detection. The demand for high-resolution and real-time recognition in radar applications is growing, driving the development of electronic radars with increased bandwidth, higher frequency, and improved reconfigurability. However, conventional electronic approaches are challenging due to limitations in synthesising radar signals, limiting performance. In contrast, microwave photonics-enabled radars have gained interest because they offer numerous benefits compared to traditional electronic methods. Photonics-assisted techniques provide a broad fractional bandwidth at the optical carrier frequency and enable spectrum manipulation, producing wideband and high-resolution radar signals in various formats. However, photonic-based methods face limitations like low time-frequency linearity due to the inherent nonlinearity of lasers, restricted RF bandwidth, limited stability of the photonic frequency multipliers, and difficulties in achieving extended sensing with dispersion-based techniques. In response to these challenges, this thesis presents approaches for generating broadband radar signals with high time-frequency linearity using recirculated unidirectional optical frequency-shifted modulation. The photonics-assisted system allows flexible bandwidth tuning from sub-GHz to over 30 GHz and requires only MHz-level electronics. Such a system offers millimetre-level range resolution and a high imaging refresh rate, detecting fast-moving objects using the ISAR technique. With millimetre-level resolution and micrometre accuracy, this system supports contactless vital sign detection, capturing precise respiratory patterns from simulators and a living body using a cane toad. In the end, we highlight the promise of merging radar and LiDAR, foreshadowing future advancements in sensor fusion for enhanced sensing performance and resilience

UAV tracking module proposal based on a regulative comparison between manned and unmanned aviation

Purpose: The aim of this study is twofold. First is to compare manned and unmanned aviation regulations in the context of ICAO Annexes to identify potential deficiencies in the international UAV legislations. Second is to propose a UAV monitoring module work flow as a solution to identified deficiencies in the international UAV regulations. Design/methodology: In the present study, firstly the regulations used in manned aviation were summarized in the context of ICAO Annexes. Then along with an overview of the use of UAVs, international UAV regulations have been reviewed with a general perspective. In addition, a comparison was made on whether contents of ICAO Annexes find a place in common international UAV regulations in order to understand areas to be developed in the international UAV regulations, and to better understand the different principles between manned and unmanned air transport. In the last section, we present a UAV tracking module (UAVTram) in line with the above-mentioned comparison between manned and unmanned aviation and the identified deficiencies in the international UAV regulations. Findings: The international UAV regulations should be developed on the basis of airport airspace use, detection, liabilities, sanctions of violations, and updating of regulation. Proposed UAVTram has potential to offer real-time tracking and detection of UAVs as a solution to malicious use of UAVs. Research limitations/implications: Our study is not exempt from limitations. Firstly, we didn’t review all UAV regulations because it needs a considerable amount of efforts to check out all the UAV regulations pertinent to different areas of the world. It is the same case for manned aviation as we used only ICAO Annexes to contextually compare with UAV regulations. Practical implications: From the practical perspective, studies introducing new technologies such as systems that help detection of remote pilots causing trouble and agile defense systems will give valuable insights to remove individual UAV threats. Originality/value: We didn’t find any study aiming to compare manned and unmanned aviation rules in search of finding potential deficiencies in the UAV regulations. Our study adopts such an approach. Moreover, our solution proposal here uses Bluetooth 5.0 technology mounted on stationary transmitters which provides more effective range with higher data transfer. Another advantage is that this work is projected to be supported by Turkish civil aviation authority, DGCA. This may accelerate efforts to make required real-time tests.Peer Reviewe