Long-range object detection system

An object detection method implemented in an object detection system comprising:

• a transmission device and a reception device,
• the reception device being distant from the transmission device and the reception device being raised with respect to the transmission device and comprising at least two sensors,
• wherein the method comprises the steps of:
• transmitting, by the transmission device, signals using a colored transmission method in a first plane being coded by a color;
• receiving signals, from at least two sensors of the reception device, the sensors of the reception device being arranged in a second plane perpendicular to the first plane, the second plane being transverse to the first plane, wherein each sensor comprises a radiating element that covers at least a part of the first plane, the sensors being interconnected by a link and forming a one-dimensional receive antenna array, the sensors being further suspended to a high point such that the sensors are arranged between the ground and a high point, the height of the highest sensor among said sensors being greater than the height at which the transmission device is fixed;
• determining the presence of an object;
• and
• estimating:
• a direction and a distance of the object in the first plane based on signals received from at least one of the sensors of the reception device, using the color of the signals received from said at least two selected sensors of the reception device, and
• a direction and a distance of the object in the second plane based on the signals received from said at least two selected sensors of the reception device.

An object detection system, wherein the object detection system comprises:

• a transmission device transmitting signals using a colored transmission method in a first plane, a transmission direction of said signals in the first plane being coded by a color,
• a reception device comprising at least two sensors arranged in a second plane, the second plane being transverse to the first plane, and
• processing means detecting the presence of an object and estimating:
• a direction and a distance of the object in the first plane based on signals received from at least one of the sensors of the reception device, said processing means using the color of the received signals to estimate the direction and the distance of said object,
• a direction and a distance of the object in the second plane based on signals received from at least two selected sensors of the reception device,
• wherein the reception device is distant from the transmission device, the reception device being raised with respect to the transmission device, wherein the sensors are interconnected by a link, the interconnected sensors being further suspended to a high point such that the sensors are arranged between the ground and a high point, wherein the first plane is a vertical plane, and the second plane is a horizontal plane, wherein the sensors are arranged to form a triangle, the detection of the presence of an object and the estimation of the direction and the distance of a detected object in the horizontal plane being performed for each branch of the triangle, respectively, and then combined to remove ambiguities regarding the position of the objects with respect to the sensors in the horizontal plane.