Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Doppler Radar-Based

Vehicle Speed Detection System

By: Binyam Adebo

Martha Abdissa
Senait Woubishet

Advisors’ Name: Dr. Yalemzewd Negash

Date of submission: October 21, 2019
 Table of Contents

Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………….…...1

Introduction and Background….………………………………………………………..……3

Problem Statement………………………………………………………………………….….5

Motivation………………………………………………………………………………………6

Objective………………………………………………………………………………………...7

Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………....8

References……………………………………………………………………………………...11

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 List of figures and list of tables

Include figure/table captions and page numbers.

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 Introduction and Background

Car speed detection is a method that has a very important application worldwide. In the recent
years there has been a drastic increase in fatality due to car accidents. Faster vehicles are easier
to cause accident than the slower one. Consequently, there have been high demands for
technologies that resolve this problem. One of the solutions presented was to develop a speed
system for traffic police.
There is a wide range of technologies available for vehicle speed detectors. Some of the most
common technologies are using LIDAR, video image processors, ultrasonic detectors and
Doppler radar.
LIDAR: - LIDAR is also known as Light Imaging Detection and Ranging. It is a technology
which detects objects on the surface, as well as their size and exact disposition. The device
emits laser pulses which move outwards in various directions until the signals reach an object,
and then reflect and return to the receiver. There are several drawbacks to this technology like:
it’s a quite expensive technology; it has a limited usage in nighttime/cloudy weather and its
operating altitude is only 500-2000m.
Video Image Processing: - The drawbacks of the

Ultrasonic Detector: -
Among these different technologies our project focuses on using Doppler radar. Radar (Radio
detection and Ranging) is an object detection system that uses radio waves to determine the
range of unknown velocity. A Doppler radar is specialized radar that uses Doppler effect to
produce velocity data about object at a distance.
The main goal of this project is to design and implement an accurate Doppler radar. The system
works by detecting the Doppler shift in microwaves reflected from a moving object. The
receive Doppler shift by the Doppler radar is directly proportional to the speed of the object.
Since, the output of the sensor is sinusoidal wave with very small amplitude and needs to be
amplified with help of the amplifier before further processing. The purposed to calculate and
display the speed on LCD is performed by microcontroller.

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 Problem Statement
In Ethiopia, the situation has been worsened as the number of vehicles has
increased consequently due to increased traffic flow and conflicts between vehicles
and pedestrians this has forced the country to implement a more strict speed limit
system like conducting radar based patrol to take action on drivers that are not
complying with the speed limit. The pillar of this operation is the radar gun that is
used to determine the speed of car. Our project is based on implementing this
device so that in the near future we will be able to manufacture the product in our
country.

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 Objective
General objective

The main objective of this project is to design and implement a prototype Doppler

radar that can be used by traffic police to monitor car speed. The next question is how

can we make efficient and low cost radar.

Specific objective

 To identify best approach to perform the Doppler radar system

 To design and test the system

 To identify and tackle factors affecting the performance

Motivation
Ethiopia suffers from negative balance trade due to large rate of import and small export.
Domesticating products help decrease this imbalance and with this project we plan to implement
prototype of a radar system so that…….

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 Methodology
The speed detection system will manage the speed limit of a vehicle on road. The Doppler

radar operates by radiating electromagnetic waves and detecting the echo returned from

the target. Although radar cannot resolve the detailed features of target like the human

eyes, it can see through darkness, fog and rain, and over a much longer range.

Block diagram of system

This system will compose of Doppler radar, voltage regulator circuit, amplifier circuit

and a main Arduino uno.

System overlook

The part need to build radar sensor are

1. An Antenna - Transmitting antenna and receiving antenna

2. A sender - RF generator

3. A receiver

4. A mixer

5.A system for Analysis (Analog to digital converter)

The microwave radars for traffic applications mostly work on X-band (around 10 GHz)
or K-band (around 24 GHz). The RF generator produces a sinusoidal wave of frequency
X – band or K-band depends on we choose. An x-band radar has a low-frequency and

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K-band has a small wavelength. antenna connected to the oscillator (RF generator)
radiate the wave towards the target. The reflected wave is received by receiving
antenna.

The microwave mixer mixes these two signals to generate a sinusoidal wave with
frequency equal to the difference between the two.
f = f local oscillator – f input signal

How Doppler radar sensors works as a radar?

 The sensor circuit consists of a Dielectric Resonator Oscillator, microwave Mixer

and patch antenna. The sender, the receiver, and the mixer all are integrated in

one simple transistor. But, what happen if the frequency of our oscillator is not

stable?

Let x-band Doppler radar sensor emit a signal 9.9 GHZ changing frequency is

applied to both the sending and the returning signal the changing frequency is

still the same.

The radio wave frequency of the returned signal is altered because the car is

moving. If the car is moving toward the radar device, the return signal has a

shorter distance to travel and the radio wave frequency increases. The radar

device can then use the change in frequency to determine the speed at which the

car is moving.

A radar device emits a radio wave, which moves at the speed of light C target the

moving vehicle V then the shifted frequency ( f r) can be expressed as a function

of the original frequency ( f t )

𝒇𝒓=𝒇𝒕*𝒄𝒐𝒔𝑨(𝟏 + 𝒗/𝒄)/(𝟏 − 𝒗/𝒄)

Assuming the direction of the source and the direction of motion of the target is

perfectly aligned so that the value of angle 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝑨 = 𝟏

Change in the frequency between the transmitted and reflected wave, (Doppler

frequency) ( 𝒇𝒅), is thus:

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 𝒇𝒅 = 𝒇𝒓 − 𝒇𝒕 = 𝟐𝒗 ∗ 𝒇𝒕/(𝒄 − 𝒗) , 𝒄 << 𝒗 𝒔𝒐 (𝒄 − 𝒗) −> 𝒄
𝒇𝒅 == 𝟐𝒗 ∗ 𝒇𝒕/𝒄

 At the output of the sensor The magnitude of the Doppler Shift is proportional to

reflection of transmitted energy and is in the range of few mill volts. So we have

to amplify the output of the sensor to get a usable signal.

flow chart

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 Deliverables
This section will, to some extent, support the major purposes of the background and

introduction section. The major purposes are to show here are:

a) That the project you propose has a strong likelihood of success and the

expected deliverables at the end.

Information gained through a literature review should not go in this section.

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 References
Radar Fundamentals By Naval Post Graduate School

Sites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/mechanical-waves-and-sound/doppler-
effect/v/doppler-effect-reflection-off-a-moving-object

https://archer-soft.com/en/blog/lidar-vs-radar-comparison-which-system-better-automotive

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