RADAR flashlight for through the wall detection of humans

Prior to the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia, several versions of a radar vital signs monitor (RVSM) were developed by Georgia Tech Research Institute researchers. The most recent version RVSM was developed to measure the heart rate of Olympic rifle and bow and arrow competitors to determine if their training allowed them to the detect their heartbeats and if so, whether they were capable of using that training to avoid an approximate 5 milliradian movement of the bow or rifle that occurs each time the heartbeats. The RVSM that was developed was tested to detect the shooter's heartbeat at a distance of 10 meters without the requirement of a physical connection to the subject. It was found that a second channel could be added to the RVSM to detect the shooter's respiration rate from a distance of 20 meters without physical connection between the RVSM and the shooter. The RADAR Flashlight, a spin-off of these predecessor systems developed at GTRI, is the topic of this paper. The RADAR Flashlight was designed to detect the respiration of a human subject behind a wall, door or an enclosed space with non-conductive walls. The use of the system as a foliage penetration radar has also been explored. It has been determined that the RADAR Flashlight is capable of detecting a human hiding within a tree line behind light foliage. This paper describes the current status of the RADAR Flashlight and presents typical test data produced when the system is operated in the laboratory environment.