A concept study for a radar-based navigation device with sector scan antenna for visually impaired people

One of the main challenges in everyday life of visually impaired people is the orientation in unknown environments. Especially the avoidance of collision with obstacles when walking in public places is a major problem. In this paper a concept for a radar based navigation device for visually impaired people is investigated. The device scans the environment around the user and translates the distance information into a 3D audio signal, which is fed to a hearing device. The main sensor is a highly integrated FMCW radar with a center frequency of 80 GHz and a bandwidth of 24 GHz. One of the main challenges in the development of the device is the design of an antenna that can be worn on the head and allows to scan a sufficient angle around the user.