Target-velocity estimation using position variance

A radar system comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• computer-readable storage media comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the radar system to:
• receive a plurality of detections of a target for respective different times as the target moves relative to a host vehicle;
• determine, based on the detections, positions of the target, in two dimensions relative to the host vehicle, at the respective different times, the two dimension including a first dimension and a second dimension perpendicular to the first dimension;
• determine, based on the single-point radar detections, at each of the respective times, spatial variance in detections including a first variance amongst the positions of the target in the first dimension and a second variance amongst the positions of the target in the second dimension;
• calculate an estimated velocity of the target based on the first variance and the second variance at each of the respective times;
• and
• output the estimated velocity of the target for receipt by a vehicle component of the host vehicle.

A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

• receive a plurality of detections of a target for respective different times as the target moves relative to a host vehicle;
• determine, based on the detections, positions of the target, in two dimensions relative to the host vehicle, at the respective different times, the two dimension including a first dimension and a second dimension perpendicular to the first dimension;
• determine, based on the single-point radar detections, at each of the respective times, spatial variance in detections including a first variance amongst the positions of the target in the first dimension and a second variance amongst the positions of the target in the second dimension;
• calculate an estimated velocity of the target based on the first variance and the second variance at each of the respective times;
• and
• output the estimated velocity of the target for receipt by a vehicle component of the host vehicle.