Radar Data Clustering and Bounding Box Estimation with Doppler Measurements

High-resolution automotive radars, which are widely used nowadays, yield multiple measurements per frame from a single target. Clustering these measurements accurately and finding the tight bounding boxes are two challenging problems. In this work, the shape is estimated using a rectangular bounding box using the position and range rate measurements from the radar. While the Doppler (or range rate) measurements provide extra information about the target velocity, the presence of micro-Doppler (for example, returns from tires of a car) can significantly degrade the clustering, bounding box and heading estimates. It is necessary to cluster the measurements corresponding to different targets, as well as those that occur due to micro-Doppler. A clustering method is developed that can effectively use the Doppler information to differentiate closely spaced targets while avoiding the drawbacks of micro-Doppler. The bounding box estimate is refined by using only the measurements corresponding to the target bulk and, in turn, further aids in clustering iteratively. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified using simulations for different scenarios.