SBIR-STTR Award

VAWD Applied Science and Technology is pleased to offer the following proposal in response to DARPA's Small Business Initiative SB121-004, Biometrics-at-a-Distance. VAWD"s experience with development and testing of stand-off range Sense-Through-the-Wall (STTW) and Foliage Penetration (FOPEN) radars for detection and tracking of human motion in last five years enable VAWD to propose the following tasks to meet the requirements in Phase I. Use a BioPac BioHarness to collect human postural sway, breathing and heartbeat micro-movement data. Use simulation and analysis to develop radar DSP algorithms for extracting, discriminating and classifying micro-Doppler signatures associated with human postural sway, breathing, and heart-beat. Build human micro-movement simulator hardware for testing with one of VAWD"s Sense Through Obstruction Remote Monitoring Sensor (STORMS) radar products. Perform initial tests at stand-off ranges of 20, 30, and 50 meters with and without an obstructing wall. Final delivery will consist of a report containing the results and analysis from both the simulation and the initial testing.

Keywords:
Micro Doppler, Radar, Biometric, Discrimination, Classification

Sensors capable of remotely detecting and measuring human vital signs and other physiological activity at a stand-off range greater than 10 meters within a building or behind an obstruction (i.e. non-line-of-sight) in a cluttered environment is of significant interest to the DOD, law enforcement, search and rescue, and the intelligence communities. The capability to remotely monitor vital signs also has applications in the medical field. The focus of this research is to continue development of a system capable of remote vital sign and physiological signature extraction. In Phase I, the feasibility of using radar to remotely detect and measure postural sway, breathing, and heartbeat through a cinder block wall at greater than 10 meters stand-off in a cluttered environment was demonstrated. Phase II will continue the development of algorithms to locate up to 10 people in range and cross-range at greater than 10 meters stand-off, through obstructions, in a cluttered environment, and extract their individual physiological signature including postural sway, breathing rate, and heartbeat rate. An advanced ultra-high dynamic range MIMO radar based on VAWD?s existing STORM III radar will be used for algorithm development and testing, leading up to a demonstration of the technology in a realistic environment.

Keywords:
Remote Biometric Monitoring, Vital Sign Extraction, Mimo Radar, Physiological Signatures, Micro-Doppler, Sense Through Obstruction