A Stand Alone Millimetre Wave Imaging Scanner: System Design and Image Analysis Setup

Millimetre wave sensors are capable of measuring the structure and composition as well as detecting small variations thereof in a wide range of dielectric materials, such as plastics, dry goods and foodstuffs. To produce an image that modern image recognition algorithms can be applied on, a resolution, i.e. pixel density, comparable to those of optical cameras has to be realized. In this paper, we present a rotating scanner system that operates in a CW mode at 90 GHz and allows for a high pixel density for medium measurement object velocities using only a single measurement channel. Additionally, we present an image exploitation setup for the detection of defects in scanned goods and the fusion of amplitude and phase data as well as images acquired from an optical camera for fast and easy goods inspection.