Robust target detection of intelligent integrated optical camera and mmWave radar system

Abstract

Target detection is pivotal for modern urban computing applications. While image-based techniques are widely adopted, they falter under challenging environmental conditions such as adverse weather, poor lighting, and occlusion. To improve the target detection performance under complex real-world scenarios, this paper proposes an intelligent integrated optical camera and millimeter-wave (mmWave) radar system. Utilizing both physical knowledge and data-driven methods, a long-term robust radar-camera fusion algorithm is proposed to solve the heterogeneous data fusion problem for detection improvement. For the occlusion scenarios, the proposed algorithm can effectively detect occluded targets with the help of memory through performing long-term detection. For dark scenarios with low-light conditions, the proposed algorithm can effectively mark the target in the dark picture as well as provide rough stickman imaging. The above two innovative functions of the hybrid optical camera and mmWave radar system are tested in real-world scenarios. The results demonstrate the robustness and significant enhancement in the target detection performance of our integrated system.