Positioning and Tracking of Multiple Humans Moving in Small Rooms Based on a One-Transmitter–Two-Receiver UWB Radar Configuration

Abstract

The paper aims to propose a sequence of steps that will allow multi-person tracking with a single UWB radar equipped with the minimal antenna array needed for trilateration. Its localization accuracy is admittedly limited, but on the other hand, thoughtfully chosen placement of antennas can increase the detectability of several humans moving in their immediate vicinity and additionally decrease the computational complexity of the signal processing methods. It is shown that the UWB radar measuring with high rate and fine range resolution in conjunction with properly tuned processing parameters can continually track people even in the case when their radar echoes are crossing or merging. Emphasis is given to the simplified method of the time-of-arrival (TOA) estimation and association and the novel method needed for antenna height compensation. The performance of the proposed human tracking framework is evaluated for the experimental scenario with three people moving closely in a small room. A quantitative analysis of the estimated target tracks confirms the benefits of suggested high antenna placement and application of new signal processing methods in the form of decreasing the mean localization error and increasing the frequency of correct target position estimations.