The Problem
Building a phased array radar system is usually the exclusive playground of well-funded labs, defense contractors, or massive corporations. If you’re a researcher, drone developer, or radar enthusiast, you're stuck between overpriced proprietary systems or cobbling together barely-functioning DIY solutions from random datasheets, forums, and sheer guesswork. Good luck debugging beamforming or pulse compression when you don’t even have access to the schematics.
What This Does
AERIS-10 is a fully open-source 10.5 GHz phased array radar system designed to be modular, hackable, and affordable. It’s got everything: schematics (4Schematics and Boards Layout/), firmware (9Firmware/), simulations (5Simulations/), and even the datasheets for its RF and analog components (7Components Datasheets and Application notes/). The hardware design spans a power management board, frequency synthesizer board, and main board, all working together to deliver beamforming, Doppler processing, and target tracking.
For beam steering, the system uses 4x ADAR1000 ICs (files like 9Firmware/91Microcontroller/911CCppLibraries/adar1000.c handle their setup). On the software side, a Python GUI (8Utils/Python/) lets you control the radar, visualize data, and analyze results. The FPGA (Xilinx XC7A100T) handles the heavy-duty signal processing like FFT, MTI, and CFAR detection.
Want to simulate or design a new antenna? Jump into 5Simulations/ where you’ll find Python scripts (QuartzWaveguide.py) and MATLAB files (SlottedDielectricFilledWaveguide.m) for antenna modeling, as well as outputs like arraypatternheatmap.png.
Real-World Use
Let’s say you’re a drone startup testing collision avoidance. You’d start with the AERIS-10N (3km range) and use the Python GUI to visualize targets in real-time. Customize the radar chirp by modifying 9Firmware/91Microcontroller/911CCppLibraries/RadarSettings.cpp. The FPGA handles signal processing, so all you need to do is analyze the output data (smalltestradardata.csv) with a Jupyter notebook.
Want to extend the range? Upgrade to the AERIS-10X and swap out the antenna for the 32x16 slotted waveguide design in /5Simulations/SimBPFTe100um/. If you’re feeling adventurous, tweak the SimBPFTe100um.sch or even the Gerber.kicadpcb layout.
The Bottom Line
AERIS-10 is a nerd's dream—an open-source radar system with all the code, schematics, and simulations you need to build and experiment. It’s not plug-and-play, and you’ll need to know your way around RF, embedded systems, and signal processing. But for the right audience (think researchers, engineers, and advanced hobbyists), this thing is a treasure chest. Just know it’s not for the faint of heart—this isn’t some Arduino project-level toy.