Title: A novel method for mitigation of false echo in radar-based positioning system in high scattering zone application areas

Authors: Prabal Patra; Chitresh Kundu; Bipan Tudu; Rajib Bandyopadhyay; Punit Rathore

Addresses: Automation Division, TATA Steel, Jamshedpur, India ' Automation Division, TATA Steel, Jamshedpur, India ' Department of Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India ' Department of Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India ' Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Abstract: Conventional radar systems are rugged but prone to false echoes from various surrounding metallic structures which are always present in the industrial site. This paper presents a methodology for false echo mitigation in radar-based positioning system which is suitable for industrial conditions, specifically at steel plants. It can be used in various positioning requirements of rail-borne vehicles like overhead cranes and coke oven machines. In this method, the round-trip time of flight (RTOF) technique is used to measure the distance between two nodes. The echo signal is a frequency shifted active return, for eliminating false echoes, thus enabling distance measurement with very high degree of precision and accuracy even in a scattering environment. This method eliminates the problem of false echoes which is present with conventional radar systems. Using this method, the distance between the stations can be accurately determined over a range of 500 metres with precision in millimetres.

Keywords: round-trip time of flight; RTOF; radar; laser; false echo; positioning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIT.2018.090878

International Journal of Instrumentation Technology, 2018 Vol.2 No.1, pp.62 - 77

Received: 07 Sep 2017
Accepted: 11 Dec 2017
Published online: 30 Mar 2018 *