Systems and methods for non-intrusive material quality inspection using three- dimensional monostatic radar based imaging

A processor implemented method, comprising:

• acquiring, via one or more hardware processors, a first set of radar return data from a first reflected signal and a second set of radar return data from a second reflected signal, the first reflected signal being a signal reflected off a first sample setup and the second reflected signal being a signal reflected off a second sample setup in response to a transmitted signal from a single static radar positioned at a predefined inclination from the first sample setup and the second sample setup, wherein the first sample set up comprises a mechanical rotating platform and the second sample set up comprises an object under inspection positioned on the mechanical rotating platform with an offset to center thereof and undergoing a circular translation motion during each rotation of the mechanical rotating platform, and wherein a sample material is placed inside the object under inspection and wherein the radar return data is in form a range time matrix;
• performing, via the one or more hardware processors, a non-coherent subtraction between the first set of radar return data and the second set of radar return data to obtain a resultant radar return data, wherein resultant radar return data is indicative of a background subtracted range time matrix;
• performing, via the one or more hardware processors, a plurality of preprocessing steps on the resultant radar return data to obtain a processed range time matrix;
• applying, via the one or more hardware processors, a range-doppler processing technique on the processed range time matrix to obtain a range-gated matrix indicative of a range time matrix constrained to an observation window;
• creating, via the one or more hardware processors, a transverse plane image of the object under inspection at a predefined height of the single static radar by applying a modified Delay-and-Sum algorithm on the range-gated range-time matrix, wherein the modified Delay-and-Sum algorithm determines a plurality of virtual antenna positions of the single static radar around the object under inspection and a distance of each pixel of the transverse plane image from each of the plurality of virtual antenna positions of the single static radar;
• iteratively performing, via the one or more hardware processors, steps of acquiring the first set of radar return data and the second set of radar return data to creating the transverse plane image of the object under inspection to obtain a plurality of transverse plane images of the object under inspection at a plurality of virtual heights of the single static radar, wherein the plurality of virtual heights of the single static radar is indicative of a plurality of transverse cross sections of object under inspection at a plurality of heights;
• and
• obtaining, via the one or more hardware processors, a three-dimensional reconstructed image of the object under inspection by combining the plurality of transverse plane images.

One or more non-transitory computer readable mediums comprising one or more instructions which when executed by one or more hardware processors cause:

• acquiring, a first set of radar return data from a first reflected signal and a second set of radar return data from a second reflected signal, the first reflected signal being a signal reflected off a first sample setup and the second reflected signal being a signal reflected off a second sample setup in response to a transmitted signal from a single static radar positioned at a predefined inclination from the first sample setup and the second sample setup, wherein the first sample set up comprises a mechanical rotating platform and the second sample set up comprises an object under inspection positioned on the mechanical rotating platform with an offset to center thereof and undergoing a circular translation motion during each rotation of the mechanical rotating platform, and wherein a sample material is placed inside the object under inspection and wherein the radar return data is in form a range time matrix;
• performing, a non-coherent subtraction between the first set of radar return data and the second set of radar return data to obtain a resultant radar return data, wherein resultant radar return data is indicative of a background subtracted range time matrix;
• performing, a plurality of preprocessing steps on the resultant radar return data to obtain a processed range time matrix;
• applying, a range-doppler processing technique on the processed range time matrix to obtain a range-gated matrix indicative of a range time matrix constrained to an observation window;
• creating, a transverse plane image of the object under inspection at a predefined height of the single static radar by applying a modified Delay-and-Sum algorithm on the range-gated range-time matrix, wherein the modified Delay-and-Sum algorithm determines a plurality of virtual antenna positions of the single static radar around the object under inspection and a distance of each pixel of the transverse plane image from each of the plurality of virtual antenna positions of the single static radar;
• iteratively performing, steps of acquiring the first set of radar return data and the second set of radar return data to creating the transverse plane image of the object under inspection to obtain a plurality of transverse plane images of the object under inspection at a plurality of virtual heights of the single static radar, wherein the plurality of virtual heights of the single static radar is indicative of a plurality of transverse cross sections of object under inspection at a plurality of heights;
• and
• obtaining, a three-dimensional reconstructed image of the object under inspection by combining the plurality of transverse plane images.