Pedestrian detection and localization using antenna array and sequential triangulations

We propose a novel RF-based technique for pedestrian detection and localization. The approach involves a passive antenna array receiver at the vehicle side and a low-power transmitter attached to the pedestrian. With the help of high-resolution direction finding techniques, angle-of-arrival (AOA) of the transmitter is detected by the device in the vehicle. The pedestrian location is determined by a simple triangulation based on the detected AOAs at two subsequent locations along the vehicle moving direction. The proposed method is an extension of the traditional sensor-based pedestrian detection systems such as Radar and Lidar. It can be incorporated with other sensor-based techniques to improve the overall performance of pedestrian detection in the traffic.