Cao Develops Radar Technology for Safer Intersections

ECE assistant professor Siyang Cao is part of a research team that has developed a high-resolution radar sensor to monitor traffic for safer intersections. The National Institute for Transportation and Communities recently featured the team's work on millimeter-wave radar for intelligent multimodal traffic monitoring.

"The key problem in multimodal traffic monitoring is finding the speed and volume of each mode. A sensor must be able to detect, track, classify, and measure the speed of an object, while also being low-cost and low power consumption. With real-time traffic statistics we hope to improve traffic efficiency and also reduce the incidence of crashes," Cao said.

Cao is working with fellow University of Arizona engineering researchers Yao-jan Wu, professor of civil and architectural engineering and engineering mechanics (CAEM) and executive director of the Center for Applied Transportation Sciences; Feng Jin, a 2020 ECE PhD graduate, and Xiaofeng Li, a research assistant professor in CAEM. Their work has resulted in a radar sensor that can reliably distinguish between cars and pedestrians.

"We realize that sensor technology is moving to a stage that's going to have a lot of new applications," Cao said. "On one hand, the cost of sensors is dropping and their performance is improving significantly. Meanwhile the surrounding technology — for example, battery technology, communications, and computation enabled by artificial intelligence — is also improving. For multimodal traffic monitoring, a sensor can collect information that can be shared with drivers via a next-generation communication network to improve mobility and safety at intersections."