Honeywell's intelligent drone radar successfully achieved autonomous detection and avoidance in high-risk testing

Key technologies will enable autonomous vehicles, drones, and advanced air vehicles

Honeywell radar successfully determined the ideal flight path and autonomously bypassed an intrusive drone with no transponder

Shanghai, China, February 16, 2022 – A drone controlled by the Honeywell (NASDAQ:HON) IntuVue RDR-84K radar system has successfully passed a high-risk avoidance test. The successful repeated bypassing of invading aircraft by UAVs is of great significance for the future development of unmanned aviation.

Recent tests in the Phoenix area of United States have shown that the RDR-84K radar can not only detect air traffic, but also determine the flight path autonomously. The radar uses an on-board processor to take over navigation and guide the aircraft to safety.

Xiao Jin, chief technology officer of Honeywell Aerospace China, said: "Despite the ultimate game test, the RDR-84K radar can still keep the aircraft from danger. This is a leap forward in safety performance that will have a profound impact on the entire aviation industry. ”

Avoiding unforeseen objects is a key requirement for autonomous drones and other aircraft that fly beyond the operator's visual range. However, this kind of detection and avoidance performance is extremely difficult to achieve in the air. In high-speed flight, radar must have long-range detection capabilities, and air traffic signals must be distinguished from ground clutter, including moving cars, and precise location information is required to process radar echoes.

Avoidance is a challenge on the ground, but it's even more complicated in the sky. To solve this problem, pilots and large air traffic control radars rely on the on-board transponders of partner aircraft to transmit the aircraft's position. Flying objects without transponders, such as small drones for drone enthusiasts, kites, birds, and aircraft with damaged transponders, are all referred to as "non-cooperative" targets.

The Honeywell IntuVue RDR-84K radar is the size of a paperback book. Its ability to detect "non-cooperative" targets has been demonstrated during extensive tests of helicopters and UAVs. This new test marks the first time it has performed avoidance without human intervention.

At a test site in the desert, Honeywell engineers flew two quadcopter drones, both on autopilot, about 90 meters above the ground.

In multiple flights, the drone equipped with the RDR-84K radar detected the non-cooperative intrusive drone and assessed its flight path, then calculated the evasive maneuver and took over the navigation, i.e., flying left, right, up, downward, or hovering in mid-air, depending on wind and other factors.

When the danger of a collision is lifted, the radar releases control of the drone, and the autopilot guides it back to the intended course.

"It's fully automatic." "The radar identified the danger and decided to take action to control the flight to a safe area and ensure that the danger had been removed," Xiao said. All this without the need for anyone on the ground to operate. ”

Subsequently, the test team launched a more difficult challenge to the RDR-84K radar. For example, approaching it from below to blend in with ground clutter, or approaching it from an offset angle, is intended to test the radar's peripheral field of view and high-angle detection capabilities. On other flights, the team instructed the radar to wait longer before acting, forcing it to respond with a more aggressive maneuver.

"The RDR-84K radar successfully passed all the challenges we gave it." Xiao Jin said: "It immediately detected the danger and successfully executed multiple evasive maneuvers. ”

Compared to most aircraft radars, the RDR-84K is small in size, weighing less than 1 kg. The external dimensions are only about 20 cm wide, 10 cm high and 2.5 cm thick. Its on-board processor calculates the avoidance path, which means the aircraft doesn't need a separate computer to do the job.

Despite its small size, the RDR-84K radar can detect at a distance of up to 3 km. It uses single-pulse technology, a system of overlapping beams, to improve accuracy and eliminate ground clutter. This radar controls its beam electronically, so it has no moving parts.

In addition to detecting traffic, the RDR-84K radar can map the terrain and provide backup navigation in the event of a GPS failure. It can also act as a radar altimeter when landing.

The RDR-84K radar and small UAV satellite communications transmitters, hydrogen fuel cells and inertial navigation systems make up the Honeywell over-the-horizon system suite BVLOS, designed to extend the range of unmanned aircraft

Honeywell's intelligent drone radar successfully achieved autonomous detection and avoidance in high-risk testing

Honeywell's intelligent drone radar successfully achieved autonomous detection and avoidance in high-risk testing

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