Radar target discrimination for infrastructure-based navigation

The application of radar target identification to an autonomous vehicle navigation problem is described. Using the well-known and unvarying physical characteristics of certain frequently occurring infrastructure features in the environment (an underground coal mine), target discrimination by means of complex natural resonance extraction is undertaken to identify the desired structures and discriminate non-target clutter. Results are presented that demonstrate the feasibility of the method for identifying a particular mine infrastructure feature while rejecting non-target structures of similar dimensions. Once these targets have been identified, they can be used as navigation waypoints to correct drift in the autonomous guidance systems onboard the vehicle.