EchoGuard traffic-detection or avoidance system

The EchoGuard is a short-range 4D surveillance radar from Echodyne, built as a software-defined, metamaterials electronically scanned array (MESA) in a compact solid-state package. Used as a traffic-detection and collision-avoidance sensor, it detects and tracks aircraft, vehicles and people, and it is applied to drone detection, perimeter security and ground surveillance. Because it is a solid-state array with no rotating antenna, it scans electronically and fits portable and fixed installations alike.

The key figures describe what the sensor can do in a system. The field of view is 120 degrees in azimuth by 80 degrees in elevation, so one unit covers a wide sector rather than a narrow beam. Track accuracy is better than 1 degree in azimuth and better than 1.5 degrees in elevation, and the track update rate is 10 Hz, which gives a downstream fusion or avoidance function a fresh position ten times a second. The radar holds up to 20 simultaneous tracks within an instrumented range of 6 km. Typical tracking ranges are more than 1 km on a Phantom 4 class small drone, more than 1.4 km on a Matrice 600, more than 2.2 km on a person and more than 3.5 km on a vehicle.

The radar operates in K-band, 24.45 to 24.65 GHz for the US version and 24.05 to 24.25 GHz for the international version. Onboard classification models sort objects into classes such as human, vehicle and drone, which reduces the load on the operator or the integrating software. Several radars can be networked through the EchoWare software so that a target keeps its track as it passes from one radar to the next.

For integration, control and data use Gigabit Ethernet with a proprietary data format in standard TCP/IP packets, and power enters through a 12-pin snap-lock connector. The US version accepts 15 to 28 VDC and the international version 15 to 24 VDC, with an operating draw of 50 W and a hot-standby draw below 10 W for the US version and below 7 W for the international one. The unit measures 16.3 cm by 20.3 cm by 5.7 cm, weighs 1.25 kg and mounts on a VESA 75 mm and 100 mm pattern. It operates from -40 to +75 degrees C and carries an IP67 weather rating. Kits are offered for desk integration, backpack deployment and tower mounting of up to four radars on poles of 66 to 218 mm.

Regulatory markings are FCC for the US version, CE marking with RED compliance for the international version, and RoHS 3 compliance; the radar is commercially exportable under ECCN 6A008.e. Typical applications are counter-UAS detection, critical infrastructure and airport perimeter protection, border and mobile security, and low-altitude airspace awareness for unmanned aircraft operations.