The technology that could prevent road fatalities

With well over 1500 automobile related fatalities in the UK and over 35000 in the US, the road proves that it’s still a very dangerous medium of transport. While this number may never drop down to 0, it can still be reduced significantly. That’s where radar collision avoidance systems come in. These systems can detect when an object is too close to you at the speed you are travelling at and apply the brakes when necessary. Now of course I'm not saying that this gives you an excuse to drink drive or fall asleep at the wheel... This isn't a fully automated driving experience. But if you have a sudden lapse of concentrations at the wheel, it's more like a potential life saver. This is an area I will be investigating in my Blake Project.

The system of choice is the mmWave sensor system produce by TI called AWR1443. The sensor operates between 76-81GHz, which allows the transmission of electromagnetic waves with a wavelength of a few millimetres. The transmitted waves are frequency modulated continuous waves (FMCW). In short, their characteristics allow us to find distance, velocity and angle of the object in front. This process involves the waves being reflected by objects in the automobiles path and then being captured by the radar's receiving antennas. The time delay of the received signal can then be used to measure distance. The phase difference between the multiple received signals can be used to measure velocity.

So now that’s the technical jargon out the way, what makes it so brilliant? Well, due to the technology’s use of small wavelengths, it can provide sub-mm range accuracy. It can accurately distinguish between two objects that are in close proximity to each other. As a driver myself, it's always good to know the position of several cars around you in case they attempt a dangerous overtake or start drifting of into your lane. Also, it’s impervious to environmental conditions such as rain, fog, dust and snow allowing it to be used in pretty much any country’s climate. Furthermore, since the wavelengths being sent and received are millimetres long, the antenna are extremely small. This allows the radar's to be very compact in size and easily implemented along with the other embedded electronics in a car.

So a remarkable piece of technology indeed and one that’s still in its infancy. Due to this, the technology is rather expensive at the moment with one radar module costing $300. However, as the production methods develop and this technology becomes the norm, you can expect the prices to substantially decrease. Therefore, I will have a crack at implementing it in my Blake Project. I would like to TI's claims about the technology, albeit on a smaller scale.

I shall keep everyone posted on the progress!