A radar-based blind spot detection and warning system for driver assistance

This paper proposed a blind spot detection & warning system (BSDWS) for daytime and nighttime conditions. The proposed BSDWS included system architecture, radar system structure and algorithms, Intermediate frequency (IF) signal processor, motive target detector and blind spot area calibration method and system control strategy. Line frequency modulated continuous wave (LFMCW) millimeter-wave radar system was used to monitor the moving targets which were into the blind spot warning area behind the vehicle. Based on clutter distribution model, a cell greatest, smallest and averaging constant false-alarm rate (CGSA-CFAR) detector was proposed to maintain higher detection rate and low false detection rate by adjustment threshold in time based on the noise intensity, which was estimated according to the mean and standard deviation. The BSDWS was implemented on ADI DSP-based embedded platform. System was calibrated and tested on the Chery Arrizo7 car. Under daytime and nighttime conditions, the early average warning rates were up to respectively 98.38% and 98.34%. The experimental results show that the proposed BSDWS can really detect the moving targets which were into the behind warning area of the vehicle and give warning to driver effectively in various daytime and nighttime environments.