Systems and methods for high velocity resolution high update rate radar for autonomous vehicles

A method for controlling an autonomous vehicle (AV) based upon radar, the method comprising:

• receiving first radar data that is indicative of a first radar return received from an object in a driving environment of the AV by a radar system mounted on the AV;
• computing a first value that is representative of velocity of the object during a first period of time based upon the first radar data;
• receiving second radar data that is indicative of a second radar return received from the object by the radar system after the radar system receives the first radar return;
• computing a second value that is representative of velocity of the object during a second period of time that partly overlaps with the first period of time based upon the second radar data and a subset of the first radar data;
• and
• controlling motion of the AV by way of a steering system, a propulsion system, or a braking system, based upon the first value and the second value.

An autonomous vehicle (AV) comprising:

• a radar system that emits a radar signal that comprises a plurality of frequency-variant chirps into a driving environment of the AV and receives reflections of the radar signal from objects in the driving environment;
• a propulsion system;
• a steering system;
• a braking system;
• and
• a computing system that comprises:
• a processor;
• and
• memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:
• receiving first radar data that comprises a first plurality of chirps, the first plurality of chirps being representative of a radar return received by the radar system from an object in the driving environment over a first period of time;
• computing, based upon the first chirps, a first value that is representative of velocity of the object during the first period of time;
• receiving second radar data that comprises a second plurality of chirps, the second plurality of chirps being representative of a radar return received by the radar system from the object in the driving environment after the first period of time;
• computing, based upon the second chirps and a subset of the first chirps, a second value that is representative of velocity of the object during a second period of time that partly overlaps with the first period of time;
• and
• controlling at least one of the propulsion system, the steering system, or the braking system based upon the first velocity and the second velocity.