Systems and methods for prioritizing detected objects in a vehicular radar system

A radar system for a vehicle comprising:

• a front end configured to detect one or more objects in an environment surrounding the vehicle with electromagnetic radiation, the front end comprising one or more antenna systems configured to emit and receive electromagnetic radiation;
• a control system configured to control operation of the one or more antenna systems of the front end, the control system comprising:
• a processor;
• a memory device storing control logic, the control logic comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
• provide a first set of waveforms having specified emission parameters for emission by the one or more antenna systems of the front end;
• analyze, with a processing algorithm, return signals received by the one or more antennas in response to the emission of the first set of waveforms;
• identify one or more objects in the environment surrounding the vehicle from the analysis of the return signals from the first set of waveforms;
• generate one or more parameters associated with each identified object based on the analysis of the return signals from the first set of waveforms, wherein the one or more parameters include a time to closest point of approach to the identified object, a distance to closest point of approach to the identified object, a grounded velocity for the identified object and a radial velocity for the identified object;
• determine priority factor values based on the time to closest point of approach, the distance to closest point of approach, the grounded velocity, and the radial velocity;
• calculate a priority score for each identified object using the determined priority factor values;
• determine whether the respective priority score for each identified object is greater than a predetermined threshold score;
• and
• provide a second set of waveforms having different specified emission parameters from those of the first set of waveforms for emission by the one or more antennas in response to the determined priority score for at least one identified object being greater than the predetermined threshold score.