Target Detection and Ranging with the 2.4 GHz MIT Coffee Can Radar

Abstract

For the purpose of increasing the undergraduate student interest in and knowledge of radar, a 2.4 GHz FMCW MIT Coffee Can radar was built by 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates in the TOBB ETU Radar Systems Laboratory, and used for target detection and ranging. The radar was constructed both on a protoboard and on a printed circuit board (PCB). SPICE simulations were conducted to aid in debugging and demonstrate the proper functioning of the transmitter and receiver. The potential to discriminate slow-moving targets was assessed by measuring the micro-Doppler of walking and running people, low-speed vehicles, and bicyclists. The project was successful in increasing student interest in radar and signal processing. In the future, it is aimed to further develop the system at an RF circuit design level into a pulse Doppler radar.