Millimeter Wave Whole Body Scanning Radar Hardware for Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) [MERGED WITH R3-A3]
R3-A1

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Project Description

Overview and Significance

As people enter secure areas, it is important that they be scanned to ensure that they are not entering with weapons or explosives. In addition to airport departure gates, office buildings, stadiums and arenas must have fast, accurate, non-intrusive means of detecting threats concealed under clothing. The R3-A.1 Whole Body Imaging project developed an improved multi-modality, portal-based passenger screening system. The system developed with millimeter-wave (mm-wave) near field imaging radar in the 56-64 GHz frequency band makes use of the patented Blade Beam reflector transmitting antenna, along with a multistatic array of receiving antenna for artifact-free imaging. The Blade Beam produces a narrow target illumination to allow accurate stacked 2D reconstructions of the 3D surface. Mm-waves pass though clothing readily, but can identify dangerous objects attached to the body. Current state-of-the-art millimeter wave portal imaging systems are mostly based on monostatic radar. Although these systems are inherently fast, they present some disadvantages, including reconstruction artifacts, such as dihedral effects and misrepresenting sudden indentations and protrusions due to the monostatic nature of the collected electric field data, and a lack of quantitative range of depth information display.

Using the hardware developed during Year 1, we have conducted an extensive experimental campaign to determine the capabilities and limitations of the Blade Beam. Although the single transmitter configuration limits the tilt or curvature of the target object, there was still some reasonable success at imaging relevant 3D objects by stacking 2D images.
Phase 2 Year 2 Annual Report
Project Leader
  • Carey M. Rappaport
    Professor
    Northeastern University
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Faculty and Staff Currently Involved in Project
  • Borja Gonzalez-Valdes
    Post Doctorate
    Northeastern
    Email

Students Currently Involved in Project
  • Matthew Nickerson
    Northeastern University