An electrically scanning radar for Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems was developed. Many scanning antennas for automotive radar have been developed in various countries, but they have difficulties with reliability or in realizing a wide scanning range. To solve these problems, the authors developed a semi-electrical phase shifter and applied it to a phased array antenna. The phase shifter comprises a metal plate, a dielectric image line, and a gap controlling equipment. The beam of the millimeter-wave is scanned by changing the gap between the metal plate and the dielectric image line. Using the phase shifter, a wide scanning range and high angular accuracy were achieved: the scanning range of the radar is +-7 degrees, and the angular error of the radar is less than +-0.5 degrees. An evaluation of the performance of the radar on roads found the distance error to be less than 1m. For the covering abstract see ITRD E114174.
Samenvatting