JP2007278940A - Radar device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a radar device capable of realizing an efficient beam scan, even when there is relative motion between the radar device and an observation target. <P>SOLUTION: In this radar device, comprising beam emitting sections 20, 30 for emitting waves into space in a beam shape, and a beam scanning part 40 for scanning direction of the beam emitted by the beam emitting sections, the beam scanning part 40 scans all the observation regions, by performing a one-time scanning to impart an interval in the observation region and performing a plurality of number of times of scanning. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a radar apparatus that measures the position of a target object.

  Conventionally, a radar device is known as a device for measuring the position of an object existing at a remote point. The radar apparatus radiates waves such as electromagnetic waves and sound waves to the space, receives the waves reflected by the target object, and analyzes the signal to measure the distance and angle from the radar apparatus to the object. The distance of the object can be measured by, for example, the time difference between the radiated electromagnetic wave being subjected to pulse modulation and the radiated transmission pulse and the reception pulse being the reflected wave being received.

  Further, if the radiated electromagnetic wave is made into a beam shape and the angle of this transmission beam is measured while scanning, observation in different angular directions becomes possible. In particular, a laser radar that uses light as an electromagnetic wave has a very small beam spread and can observe an object with high angular resolution, and is therefore used, for example, for measurement of multidimensional distance images.

  The problem that the observation period (frame period) is long or the field of view is narrow due to the narrow beam width can be improved by using a plurality of detector elements arranged in an array, for example. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In a radar that performs such beam scanning, the time required for observing a predetermined observation area, that is, the observation period (frame period) is the width of the observation area, the beam width, and the pulse repetition frequency (PRF: Pulse Repetition Frequency). It depends on the beam scanning speed. For example, in order to shorten the observation period while fixing the width of the observation region and the beam width, the pulse repetition frequency is increased and the beam scanning speed is increased.

JP 2005-331273 A

However, the prior art has the following problems.
In a radar apparatus that performs beam scanning, usually, measurement of a predetermined area is performed by repeating reciprocal scanning of the beam direction with respect to the observation target area, or unidirectional scanning of only the forward path or only the backward path. Hereinafter, one reciprocating scan in the reciprocating scan and one scan in the unidirectional scan are defined as one cycle in each scan. When there is no relative motion between the radar apparatus and the observation range, the observation range measured by one reciprocating scan (one cycle) by the former and two one-way scans (two cycles) by the latter are equal.

  FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of scanning in the prior art. FIG. 15 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the beam emission timing and the scanning position when performing reciprocal scanning in the conventional technique, and FIG. 16 is the beam emission timing and scanning position when performing unidirectional scanning in the conventional technique. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship.

  However, when there is relative motion between the radar apparatus and the observation range, in the case of reciprocal scanning, the overlapping area in the forward path and the return path becomes larger than in the case of one-way scanning, so the observation ranges of both are different. As a result, in the reciprocating scanning, the observation efficiency, that is, the ratio of the measured area to the scanned area decreases.

  FIG. 17 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of reciprocal scanning in the case where there is relative motion between the radar apparatus and the observation target in the prior art, and FIG. 18 is a diagram showing relative movement between the radar apparatus and the observation target in the prior art. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of the one-way scanning when there exists a motion. If the PRF and the relative motion (relative speed) are equal, a region that is observed redundantly occurs in the case of reciprocal scanning, so that the total covered area is smaller than that in the case of unidirectional scanning.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a radar apparatus capable of realizing efficient beam scanning even when there is a relative motion between the radar apparatus and an observation target. For the purpose.

  A radar apparatus according to the present invention includes a beam radiating unit that radiates waves into a space in a beam shape, and a beam scanning unit that scans the direction of the beam emitted by the beam radiating unit. One scan is performed so that there is a gap in the observation region, and all the scans of the observation region are performed by performing a plurality of scans.

  According to the present invention, in one beam scan, beam radiation is performed so as to have a gap with respect to the observation region, that is, at intervals wider than the beam width. By performing beam radiation at a timing that fills the range, even when there is relative motion between the radar apparatus and the observation target, a radar apparatus that can realize efficient beam scanning can be obtained.

A preferred embodiment of a radar apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The radar apparatus of the present invention performs one beam scan so as to have a gap with respect to the observation region, and finally performs beam scan so as to cover all of the observation region by a plurality of scans. This makes it possible to improve the observation efficiency even when there is relative motion between the radar device and the observation target, and to improve the measurement accuracy such as the detection of high-speed moving targets and moving speed. It is.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the radar apparatus is a system that performs pulse modulation on a transmission wave and that reciprocally scans a beam. Further, it is assumed that there is relative motion between the radar apparatus and the observation target, and the observation region is updated in a direction orthogonal to the beam scanning direction. Further, the description will be given assuming that the radiated electromagnetic wave is laser light. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to other waves, for example, devices that emit radio waves.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a radar apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The radar apparatus includes a lidar control unit 10, a laser transmission device 20, a transmission beam forming unit 30, a beam scanning unit 40, a reception beam forming unit 50, a reception device 60, and a signal processing unit 70. Here, the laser transmitter 20 and the transmission beam forming unit 30 correspond to a beam emitting unit.

  Next, the operation will be described. The laser transmitter 20 generates pulse-modulated laser light as a transmission pulse. Transmission pulse generation is performed at the timing when the timing signal generated by the lidar control unit 10 is input to the laser transmission device 20. In the transmission beam forming unit 30, the laser beam is emitted in the form of a beam. The laser beam output from the transmission beam forming unit 30 is radiated in one direction in a beam shape, and the beam direction is changed by the beam scanning unit 40.

  The reception beam forming unit 50 forms a reception beam so that only a reflected wave propagated from one direction to be observed can be received. However, the receiving beam direction is controlled by the beam scanning unit 40.

  The beam scanning unit 40 performs beam scanning by changing the directions of the transmission beam and the reception beam in accordance with instructions from the lidar control unit 10. As a method of changing the beam direction, for example, the beam scanning unit 40 is provided with a reflecting mirror, a rotating mirror, or a prism, and the beam direction is changed by mechanically changing the direction of the reflecting mirror. Can do.

  As another method, there is a method in which the radar apparatus is mounted on a gantry that mechanically changes the orientation of the entire radar apparatus. However, with this method, the orientation of the entire radar apparatus is changed, so that the apparatus configuration is larger than that using a mirror reflection or a lens refraction, and it is difficult to quickly scan the beam. .

  The receiving device 60 receives the reflected wave at a position where the reflected wave is formed by the reception beam forming unit 50. For example, the light receiving unit can be composed of a plurality of light receiving elements. The light receiving element generates an electrical signal corresponding to the intensity of the received reflected wave, and the receiving device 60 converts the received signal from an analog signal to a digital signal.

  The signal processing unit 70 performs detection processing on the digital signal output from the receiving device 60 to obtain target data. In addition to the reflected wave component from the target reflecting object, the received signal includes noise generated inside the radar device and reflected wave from the reflecting object that is not the observation target. .

  In general, when obtaining a distance image or searching for a certain observation target, it is necessary to observe a predetermined observation region without any gap.

  In addition, when detecting the movement of a certain observation target, generally, the observation target speed, acceleration, etc. can be measured with higher accuracy when the observation target is observed at a higher observation period (frame period).

  In the beam scanning according to the first embodiment, the observation range is measured by reciprocating the beam direction with respect to the predetermined observation range. Further, it is assumed that there is relative motion between the radar apparatus and the observation target in a direction different from the beam scanning direction, for example, the vertical direction. At this time, the beam scanning is performed so that there is a gap with respect to the observation region in the outward path (return path), that is, the beam is emitted at intervals wider than the beam width, and the gap is filled in the return path (outward path). Beam radiation at the timing.

  FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a small observation region (beam radiation position, footprint) when beam scanning is performed to fill a gap by reciprocating scanning according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the figure, the entire observation range is measured without gaps by performing the nth scan (for example, assuming the forward path) and the n + 1th scan (for example, assuming the return path).

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the beam radiation timing and the beam scanning position in the first embodiment of the present invention. Comparing the conventional FIG. 16 in the case of unidirectional scanning with FIG. 3 in the first embodiment, when the PRF and the relative motion (relative speed) are the same, the reciprocating scanning and the unidirectional scanning are performed. The observation efficiency is equal.

  As a method of performing scanning at the beam emission timing as shown in FIG. 2, for example, there is a method of controlling the beam scanning timing. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a radar apparatus that controls the beam scanning timing according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the radar apparatus of FIG. 4, a lidar control unit 10 includes a control signal generation unit 11 that generates a lidar control signal, and a beam scanning control unit 12 that controls the beam scanning unit 40 using the control signal (timing signal). Consists of

  At this time, the beam scanning timing signal from the control signal generation unit 11 is synchronized with the pulse transmission timing by the laser transmission device 20, and the beam scanning control unit 12 transmits the beam at a predetermined observation position in accordance with the pulse transmission timing. The beam scanning unit 40 is controlled to radiate. This control can be performed immediately after the start of beam scanning.

  At this time, the predetermined observation position is calculated in advance before observation from the positional relationship between the radar apparatus and the observation target, the PRF, and the like. FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram showing the relationship of the beam scanning angle with respect to the pulse transmission timing in the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents pulse transmission timing (time), and the vertical axis represents the beam scanning angle.

  In this example, the beam scanning angle is set such that there is no gap between the forward path and the return path at every certain pulse transmission timing. Specifically, the beam is emitted at the beam scanning angles of three points (corresponding to 1, 2, and 3 in FIG. 5) in the forward path, whereas in the return path, two points (determined as intermediate positions of the three points in the forward path ( The beam is controlled to be emitted at a beam scanning angle of 4 and 5 in FIG.

  As another method for performing scanning at the beam emission timing as shown in FIG. 2, for example, there is a method for controlling the transmission pulse generation timing. FIG. 6 is a block configuration diagram of a radar apparatus that controls transmission pulse generation timing according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the radar apparatus of FIG. 4, the lidar control unit 10 includes a control signal generation unit 11 that generates a lidar control signal, and a transmission timing control unit 13 that controls the laser transmission apparatus 20 using the control signal (timing signal). Consists of

  At this time, the pulse generation timing signal from the control signal generation unit 11 is synchronized with the beam scanning timing by the beam scanning unit 40, and the transmission timing control unit 13 matches the beam scanning timing, that is, the beam scanning position. The laser transmitter 20 is controlled so as to transmit a beam. This control can be performed immediately after the start of beam scanning.

  At this time, the transmission pulse generation timing is calculated in advance before observation from the positional relationship between the radar apparatus and the observation target, the beam scanning speed, and the like. FIG. 7 is an exemplary diagram showing the relationship between the transmission pulse generation timing and the beam scanning angle in the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the beam scanning angle, and the vertical axis represents the transmission pulse generation timing (time).

  In this example, with respect to a predetermined scanning angle, the transmission pulse generation timing is set so that there is no gap between the forward path and the backward path. Specifically, the transmission pulse generation timing is not always constant, but the timing is variably controlled as shown in FIG. 7, so that there is no gap in the observation range between the forward path and the backward path as a result.

  As a beam scanning method, for example, there is a method of performing beam scanning at an equiangular velocity. In general, when the observation is performed with the radar device and the observation target (plane) closest to each other at the scanning center position and in parallel, when the beam is scanned at an equiangular velocity, a small observation area (foot) is located near the scanning center. Print) is densely distributed and sparsely distributed near both ends of the scanning range. FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing an observation state during constant angular velocity scanning in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  As described above, according to the method in which beam scanning is performed at an equiangular velocity, observation conditions (for example, PRF) are limited, and in the situation where the entire observation area cannot be measured without gaps in one cycle, the most attention is paid in the observation area. By closely measuring the area near the small area and measuring the area of low attention (importance) sparsely near the edge of the scanning area, the observation conditions are met and the desired observation area can be measured. Can be made.

  Also, by increasing the overlapping area of footprints in the vicinity of the scanning center, it is possible to increase the observation period in the overlapping area, assuming that multiple observations are performed at a predetermined PRF interval in the overlapping area.

  As another method of beam scanning, there is a method of performing beam scanning at an unequal angular velocity. As an implementation method of unequal angular velocity beam scanning, for example, there is a method of performing scanning so that beam radiation positions (footprints) are equally spaced on an observation target (plane). In this case, beam scanning is performed at low speed near the start and end of beam scanning, and beam scanning is performed at high speed near the center of the beam scanning range. According to this method, it is possible to obtain the maximum observation efficiency by adjusting the overlapping of the small observation regions (footprints) so that they are equally minimized.

  As a method of determining the beam radiation position, in addition to the method of performing scanning after determining the scanning timing in advance at the start of observation as described above, for example, using a method of performing low-speed scanning at the end of the scanning range, There is a method of controlling the beam scanning timing of the subsequent return path or the forward path in an area having a dense footprint for each scan of the return path.

  According to this method, since the scanning timing can be adjusted in an area where the influence of the density of the footprint due to the scanning timing is small, the control becomes easy. Compared with the method of setting the scanning timing in advance at the start of observation, for example, a beam corresponding to the positional relationship between the lidar apparatus and the observation target caused by the deviation of the attitude of the moving body equipped with the lidar apparatus during observation. Scan control can be performed.

  As another method of determining the beam radiation position, for example, a method of performing low-speed scanning at the end of the scanning range in addition to the method of performing scanning after determining the transmission pulse generation timing in advance at the start of observation as described above. In combination, there is a method of controlling the pulse generation timing of the subsequent return path or the forward path in an area having a dense footprint for each scan of the forward path or the return path.

  According to this method, since the footprint is densely distributed and the scanning timing can be adjusted in an area where the influence of the footprint position shift is small, the control becomes easy. Further, compared to a method of setting the pulse generation timing in advance at the start of observation, it is possible to perform beam scanning control corresponding to the positional deviation between the lidar device and the observation target that occurs during observation.

  As a method for obtaining the relative motion between the radar apparatus and the observation target, for example, the movement of the observation target can be used. Further, the radar apparatus can be mounted on a moving body, and the self-running of the moving body can be used.

  Further, when a desired relative motion cannot be obtained between the radar device and the observation target, the observation range can be updated by controlling the relative motion as a function of the radar device. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a radar apparatus capable of updating the observation range by controlling the relative motion in the first embodiment of the present invention. The radar apparatus in FIG. 9 is different from the structure in FIG. 1 in that an observation range update unit 80 is provided.

  In FIG. 9, the observation range update unit 80 has a free-running speed control unit 81. The observation range update unit 80 receives the observation range update signal from the lidar control unit 10 and updates the observation range in a direction orthogonal to the beam scanning direction by the beam scanning unit 40, that is, a direction in which relative motion is obtained. The self-running speed control unit 81 controls the self-running speed.

  The beam scanning unit 40 receives the observation range updated by the free-running speed control unit 81 and starts a new beam scan at the timing when the observation range is updated. According to this method, since the free-running speed of the radar apparatus can be controlled, the observation range can be appropriately updated according to the free-running speed even when a desired relative motion cannot be obtained between the radar apparatus and the observation target. It can be carried out.

  In addition, as another method for updating the observation range, for example, there is a method of controlling the beam scanning unit 40 so that scanning is also performed in a direction orthogonal to the beam scanning direction by the beam scanning unit 40. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a radar apparatus that can update the observation range by scanning in the direction orthogonal to the beam scanning direction in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 10, the observation range update unit 80 includes a beam scanning unit control unit 82. The beam scanning unit control unit 82 receives the observation range update signal from the lidar control unit 10 and updates the observation range in a direction orthogonal to the beam scanning direction by the beam scanning unit 40, that is, a direction in which relative motion is obtained. Therefore, the beam scanning unit 40 is controlled.

  According to this method, it is generally possible to update the observation range even in a radar apparatus that does not have the free-running speed control unit 81 (see FIG. 9) that increases the apparatus configuration. Further, according to this method, for example, when there is a relative motion between the radar apparatus and the observation target, the beam scanning unit 40 is controlled in a direction to cancel the motion, so that a small observation region (footprint) can be formed into an orthogonal lattice. Can be obtained.

  Note that the update width of the observation range by the observation range update unit 80 during one cycle of the beam scanning by the beam scanning unit 40 is narrower than the beam emission width in the direction orthogonal to the beam scanning direction, thereby rapidly increasing the observation range. Change is suppressed and stable measurement of the target object becomes possible.

  In general, the coordinates of the small observation areas adjacent to each other in an orthogonal grid are the same in the beam scanning direction or in the direction orthogonal thereto, so only the positional relationship of the other axis needs to be considered in order to arrange the small observation areas. The area can be easily reconfigured.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, in the forward path (return path) of beam scanning, beam radiation is performed so as to have a gap with respect to the observation region, that is, at intervals wider than the beam width, and the return path ( In the forward path), beam radiation is performed at a timing that fills the gap. As a result, for example, even when the apparatus configuration is limited and unidirectional scanning cannot be performed, observation efficiency similar to that of unidirectional scanning can be obtained by reciprocating scanning.

  Furthermore, in comparison with unidirectional scanning, when measuring the same observation range with the same PRF, the reciprocating scanning can be measured at twice the scanning speed of the unidirectional scanning. That is, although there is a gap, the measurement can be performed with a double observation period, and therefore, for example, the detection accuracy of the high-speed movement target and the measurement accuracy such as the movement speed can be improved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case of filling the gap in the observation region by one reciprocating beam scanning has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is also possible to perform scanning control so as to fill a gap in the observation region by a plurality of beam scans of one or more round trips such as one round trip or two round trips. In this case, although the gap in one scanning is widened, the scanning speed can be improved accordingly, and the detection accuracy of the high-speed moving target and the measurement accuracy such as the moving speed can be improved.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the observation range in the beam scanning direction in which measurement is performed by the beam scanning unit is fixed. In the second embodiment, the case where the observation range is updated also in the beam scanning direction will be described.

  FIG. 11 is a block configuration diagram of a radar apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The radar apparatus in FIG. 11 is different from the radar apparatus in FIG. 1 in that it further includes a beam scanning direction observation range update unit 90 and a target detection unit 100.

  The beam scanning direction observation range update unit 90 receives the observation range update signal in the beam scanning direction from the lidar control unit 10 and controls the beam scanning unit 40. FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram of an observation state (footprint) in the second embodiment of the present invention. Although FIG. 12 shows an example in which reciprocal scanning is performed, the idea of the second embodiment can be similarly applied to unidirectional scanning.

  In addition, the target detection unit 100 detects a target from observation values in a predetermined range. The target data that is the output result of the target detection unit 100 is fed back to the lidar control unit 10. Then, the lidar control unit 10 generates a control signal for the next scanning based on the position, speed, and acceleration of the target data.

  Examples of target detection processing in the target detection unit 100 include a method of detecting a peak value or a region having a signal intensity equal to or higher than a predetermined value from the measured observation range as a target existence region, From this, there is a method of detecting by extracting a shape corresponding to the target.

  In addition, as a method of detecting the movement of the target, for example, a method of obtaining from a displacement amount corresponding to the observation frame in a region detected as a target in continuous observation frames, or a method of obtaining using the Doppler velocity of the target Etc.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the observation range can be changed also in the beam scanning direction perpendicular to the relative motion. For example, in the initial stage of observation, a wide range search is performed and the target is After the detection, the observation area is updated to a range where the movement of the target can be captured, and the measurement can be performed while following the movement of the target.

  Furthermore, the scanning according to the second embodiment has the same observation efficiency as that achieved by unidirectional scanning without a gap, and can increase the observation period in a pseudo manner, so that the target time change can be more detailed. It can be measured. Furthermore, since the target detection unit is provided, the next observation range, scanning speed, and the like can be controlled based on the detected position and movement of the target, and efficient measurement can be performed.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the first and second embodiments, the beam scanning is a reciprocal scanning. The radar apparatus according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to a radar apparatus that scans only in one direction only in the forward path or only in the return path, and that measures the observation region without any gaps in a plurality of one-way scans.

  FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram of a beam scanning situation (footprint) by a radar apparatus that performs beam scanning to fill a gap by unidirectional scanning according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In the figure, there is a gap in the observation range in the n-th scanning, but the gap is filled by combining with the n + 1-th scanning, and measurement without a gap is possible as a whole. In the example of this figure, since the beam scanning measures the beam scanning direction by two unidirectional scans, one period of beam scanning is two unidirectional scans.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, it is possible to increase the number of times of traversing the observation range per cycle as compared with the case of performing unidirectional scanning without a gap. That is, although there is a gap with respect to the observation range, the observation cycle (frame cycle) can be increased, and the temporal change of the observation target may be captured in more detail. In addition, it is possible to improve the detection accuracy of the high-speed moving target and the speed measurement accuracy.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the gap in the observation region is filled by performing two beam scans in one direction has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is also possible to perform scanning control so as to fill a gap in the observation region by performing a plurality of beam scannings three or more times in one direction. In this case, although the gap in one scanning is widened, the scanning speed can be improved accordingly, and the detection accuracy of the high-speed moving target and the measurement accuracy such as the moving speed can be improved.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the radar apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the small observation area | region when the beam scanning which fills a clearance gap by the reciprocating scanning in Embodiment 1 of this invention is performed. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship between the beam radiation timing in Embodiment 1 of this invention, and a beam scanning position. It is a block block diagram of the radar apparatus which controls the beam scanning timing in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the illustration figure which showed the relationship of the beam scanning angle with respect to the pulse transmission timing in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block block diagram of the radar apparatus which controls transmission pulse generation timing in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the illustration figure which showed the relationship of the transmission pulse generation timing with respect to the beam scanning angle in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the observation condition at the time of equiangular velocity scanning in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows one structure of the radar apparatus which can control the relative motion in Embodiment 1 of this invention, and can update an observation range. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the radar apparatus which can update an observation range by scanning also in the direction orthogonal to the beam scanning direction in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block block diagram of the radar apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the observation condition in Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the beam scanning condition by the radar apparatus which performs the beam scanning which fills a clearance gap by the one-way scanning in Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of the scan in a prior art. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship between the beam radiation timing in the case of performing reciprocating scanning in a prior art, and a scanning position. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship between the beam radiation timing in the case of performing the unidirectional scanning in a prior art, and a scanning position. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of reciprocating scanning in case there exists relative motion between the radar apparatus and observation target in a prior art. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of one-way scanning in case there exists relative motion between the radar apparatus and observation target in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Rider control part, 11 Control signal generation part, 12 Beam scanning control part, 13 Transmission timing control part, 20 Laser transmission apparatus, 30 Transmission beam formation part, 40 Beam scanning part, 50 Reception beam formation part, 60 Reception apparatus, 70 Signal processing unit, 80 observation range update unit, 81 self-running speed control unit, 82 beam scanning unit control unit, 90 beam scanning direction observation range update unit, 100 target detection unit.

Claims (17)

A beam radiating section that radiates waves into space in the form of a beam;
A radar apparatus comprising: a beam scanning unit that scans a direction of a beam emitted by the beam emitting unit;
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the beam scanning unit performs one scan so as to provide a gap in the observation region, and performs all the scans of the observation region by performing a plurality of scans. The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The beam scanning unit performs reciprocal scanning of the beam, and performs scanning so that there is a gap in the beam radiation direction of the observation region in one beam scanning of the forward path or the backward path, and performs a plurality of times by the forward path and the backward path. A radar apparatus characterized by performing all scanning of the observation region without any gap in the beam radiation direction of the observation region in a state where beam scanning is combined. The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The beam scanning unit performs unidirectional scanning of the beam, performs scanning so that there is a gap in the beam radiation direction of the observation region in one beam scanning, and combines two or more times of beam scanning. A radar apparatus characterized in that in the state, there is no gap in the beam radiation direction of the observation region, and all the observation region is scanned. The radar apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A beam control scanning unit that controls beam scanning timing in synchronization with transmission pulse generation timing at regular intervals;
The radar apparatus, wherein the beam scanning unit performs beam scanning so that a gap is provided in the observation region in accordance with the beam scanning timing from the beam control scanning unit. The radar apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the beam control scanning unit controls the beam scanning timing immediately after the start of beam scanning. The radar apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A transmission timing control unit that controls transmission pulse generation timing according to the beam scanning angle;
The beam radiating unit radiates a beam according to the transmission pulse generation timing from the transmission timing control unit,
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the beam scanning unit controls the direction of the beam radiated from the beam radiating unit, and performs beam scanning so that a gap is provided in the observation region. The radar apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission timing control unit controls the transmission pulse generation timing immediately after the start of beam scanning. The radar apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The beam scanning unit performs beam scanning at an equiangular velocity. The radar apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The beam scanning unit performs beam scanning at an unequal angular velocity. The radar apparatus according to claim 9, wherein
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the beam scanning unit performs beam scanning at an unequal angular velocity so that observation targets are observed at equal intervals. The radar apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the beam scanning unit makes a beam scanning speed near an end of a beam scanning range slower than a beam scanning speed in other beam scanning ranges. The radar apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An observation range updater that updates the observation range in a direction orthogonal to the beam scanning direction by the beam scanning unit;
The beam scanning unit performs scanning based on the observation range updated by the observation range update unit. The radar apparatus according to claim 12, wherein
The observation range updating unit updates the observation range so that the update width of the observation range during one cycle of beam scanning by the beam scanning unit is narrower than the beam emission width in the direction orthogonal to the beam scanning direction. A characteristic radar device. The radar device according to claim 12 or 13,
The observation range update unit includes a free-running control unit that controls the free-running of the radar device, and updates the observation range by the free-running control. The radar device according to claim 12 or 13,
The observation range update unit includes a beam scanning unit control unit that updates an observation range in a direction perpendicular to a beam scanning direction by the beam scanning unit, and updates the observation range by controlling the beam scanning unit. A characteristic radar device. The radar apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A beam scanning direction observation range updating unit for updating an observation range in the beam scanning direction by the beam scanning unit;
The beam scanning unit performs scanning based on the observation range in the beam scanning direction updated by the beam scanning direction observation range update unit. The radar apparatus according to claim 16, wherein
It further comprises a target detection unit for detecting a moving target in the observation area,
The beam scanning direction observation range updating unit updates the observation range in the beam scanning direction according to the position of the moving target detected by the target detection unit.

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