Development of a Dynamic Calibration Target for Through-Wall and Through-Rubble Motion Sensing Doppler Radar
Open Access
Author:
Harner, Michael Jason
Graduate Program:
Electrical Engineering
Degree:
Master of Science
Document Type:
Master Thesis
Date of Defense:
March 29, 2018
Committee Members:
Ram Mohan Narayanan, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Keywords:
RCS calibration through-wall through-rubble human respiration
Abstract:
Through-wall/through-barrier motion sensing systems are becoming increasingly important tools to find people hidden behind barriers and under rubble. The sensing performance of these systems is best determined with calibration targets. The effectiveness of various dynamic calibration targets that emulate human respiration, heart rate, and other body motions are analyzed. Potential advantages of these targets are in their reproducibility and accuracy in support of calibration methods for human detection testing in through-wall and through-rubble situations. The three targets examined in this thesis possess spherical polyhedral geometries. Spherical geometries were selected due to their isotropic radar cross section characteristics, which provides for consistent radar returns independent of orientation of the radar transceiver relative to the test target. The ability to use a target that is aspect independent is favorable during the calibration process. Furthermore, rather than using a traditional, static calibration sphere, a dynamic, sphere-like device offers the ability to resemble motions of the human body. This motion enables numerous types of Doppler testing that are impossible in a static calibration target. Monostatic RCS simulations at 3.6 GHz are documented for each geometry. The results provide a visual way of representing the effectiveness of each design as a dynamic calibration target for human detection purposes.
