Ainstein LR-D1 User manual

1421 Research Park Dr
Lawrence, KS 66049
Long Range Radar Altimeter
LR-D1
User Manual
D00.01.08
2/20/2023
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Revision History
Version Number
Date
Authors
Notes
D00.00.01
Sep 13, 2018
Hao Liu,
Liqiang Ren,
Zhenyu Hu
Initial Draft
D00.00.03
Oct 17, 2018
Zhenyu Hu
Add section 7 - Known
Issues
D00.01.01
Nov 5, 2018
Andrew
Megaris
Technical Revision
D00.01.02
Dec 6, 2018
Zhenyu Hu
Spec updates
D00.01.03
Jan 14, 2019
Zhenyu Hu
Data protocol update
D00.01.04
May 17, 2021
Zhenyu Hu
From original version
of V2.2
P00.01.04
June 2, 2021
Ethan Perrins
Public Version
D00.01.05
June 18, 2021
Zhenyu Hu
From original version
of V2.4
D00.01.06
September 17, 2021
Camron Myers
Added 8. Firmware
Change Log, 9.
Firmware Update
Instructions, and 10.
Test Tool GUI.
D00.01.07
Oct 7, 2021
Zhenyu Hu
From original version
of V3.0 for firmware
3.223.7/3.0.7
D00.01.08
Feb 20, 2023
Camron Myers
V2.2 Hardware
Changes
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Copyright 2019 © Ainstein AI, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be
reproduced, published, or distributed in any form or by any means (electronically,
mechanically, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or stored in a database retrieval
system, without the prior written permission of Ainstein AI, Inc. in each instance.
Warning!
FAILURE OR IMPROPER SELECTION OR IMPROPER USE OF THE PRODUCTS AND/OR
SYSTEMS DESCRIBED HEREIN OR RELATED ITEMS CAN CAUSE DEATH, PERSONAL
INJURY AND PROPERTY DAMAGE.
• This document and other information from Ainstein AI Inc, its subsidiaries and authorized
distributors provide product and/or system options for further investigation by users having
technical expertise.
• The user, through its own analysis and testing, is solely responsible for making the final
selection of the system and components and assuring that all performance, endurance,
maintenance, safety and warning requirements of the application are met. The user must
analyze all aspects of the application, follow applicable industry standards, and follow the
information concerning the product in the current product catalog and in any other materials
provided from Ainstein or its subsidiaries or authorized distributors.
• To the extent that Ainstein or its subsidiaries or authorized distributors provide component
or system options based upon data or specifications provided by the user, the user is
responsible for determining that such data and specifications are suitable and sufficient for
all applications and reasonably foreseeable uses of the components or systems.
• The Buyer and/or end-user will be solely responsible for final disposal of all products.
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Table of Contents
Title Page 1
Revision History 2
Table of Contents 4
1. Product Description 6
1.1 LR-D1 6
1.2 Compliances 6
2. Installation Guidelines 6
2.1. Mounting Angle 6
2.2 Mounting to an Aircraft 6
2.3. Line of Sight Clearance 7
2.4. Integration Requirements 7
3. Operational Requirements 8
3.1 Obstruction to the LR-D1 Field of View 8
3.2 Excessive Pitch/Roll 8
3.3 Terrain 8
3.4 Power Source 8
3.5 Orientation of LR-D1 8
3.6 Minimum and Maximum Operating Altitude 8
4. Technical Data: 9
5. UART Data Protocol For LR-D1: 11
6. Mechanical Drawing: 13
7. Radiated Emissions 14
8. Hardware Interface: 14
9. Cabling Diagram: 16
10. Known Issues 18
11. Firmware Change Log: 19
12. Firmware Update Instructions: 20
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Remote Firmware Update 20
13. LR-D1 Altimeter Test Tool GUI : 20
Operating the Test Tool GUI 20
14. Contact Us: 21
Appendix 1: Malfunction Alert Information List 22
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1. Product Description
1.1 LR-D1
The LR-D1 Radar Altimeter uses the principles of radio detection and ranging to
determine the altitude of the aircraft. A microwave signal is transmitted out of the
sensor, reflects off the target and is received by the sensor. Distance and horizontal
velocity from the sensor to the terrain (altitude) is derived by the difference in time from
when the signal is sent from the sensor to when the signal is received by the sensor.
The LR-D1 is enclosed in a black metallic case, the radome, which is conducive to radar
telemetry.
1.2 Compliances
FCC and CE certifications pending.
2. Installation Guidelines
2.1. Mounting Angle
When mounting the device, the front face of the LR-D1 must be perpendicular to the
ground below the aircraft. There should not be any angle of inclination in any direction
while the device is fastened to the aircraft.
Figure 1
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2.2 Mounting to an Aircraft
The device should be secured to the aircraft, where it is not free to move in any
direction.
2.3. Line of Sight Clearance
Keep the face of the radar clean, and do not cover it with any additional materials. Any
coatings, coverings, and modifications to the radome can degrade the performance of
the radar device.
Additionally, keep any unexpected objects out of the radar’s FoV (Field of View).
Obstructions to the LR-D1’s field of view will cause a decrease in the performance of the
radar. It is highly recommended that the LR-D1 be mounted on the underside of the
aircraft far away from the landing gear, other aircraft structures, or other equipment.
Figure 2
2.4. Integration Requirements
The LR-D1 outputs altitude measurements and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
measurements when operational. When integrating the LR-D1 radar altimeter, it is
necessary to use SNR measurements in conjunction with malfunction alerts (see
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appendix 1) to properly filter out erroneous altitude values.
Caution! Altitude measurements associated with a SNR value of 13dB or lower are
considered erroneous.
The altitude measurements should not in any circumstances be used as true
measurements independently of the corresponding SNR values.
A filtering algorithm should be used to estimate vehicle position, velocity and
angular orientation based on rate gyroscopes, accelerometer, compass, GPS, airspeed
and barometric pressure measurements in addition to the recorded LR-D1
measurements. Sensor redundancy is heavily advised for the LR-D1.
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3. Operational Requirements
The LR-D1 will perform optimally if the operational requirements below are fully
satisfied. Failure to meet the operational requirements may cause a decrease in
performance, accuracy, or reliability of the LR-D1 altimeter and is not advised.
3.1 Obstruction to the LR-D1 Field of View
Objects or aircraft structures that are located within the LR-D1’s conical field of view
which obstruct the radar’s view of the ground may cause multipath reflections or other
degrative phenomena to occur. The LR-D1 should be mounted a safe distance away
from the landing gear and any other components of the aircraft below it.
3.2 Excessive Pitch/Roll
Pitch and roll angles that exceed 21.5° and 15° respectively may also cause the
performance of the LR-D1 to worsen. This sensitivity increases with altitude.
3.3 Terrain
Terrain with poor reflectivity may cause the performance of the LR-D1 to worsen.
Flying at the limit of the LR-D1’s range over dry, loose soil, such as tilled farmland, or
sand is not recommended.
Terrain with high reflectivity may cause the LR-D1 to output abnormally high values at
low altitudes due to high saturation.
3.4 Power Source
Any power source used to operate the LR-D1 that does not provide the minimum
power and voltage can worsen the performance of the device or cause it’s operation to
stop altogether.
3.5 Orientation of LR-D1
The LR-D1 must be mounted upon the aircraft in such a manner as to be fully
horizontal, it’s radome directly facing the ground. Any angle of inclination may
degrade performance.
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3.6 Minimum and Maximum Operating Altitude
Operating the LR-D1 at altitudes below 0.7 meters and above 500 meters will result in a
degradation of performance and potentially erroneous measurements. Also, any
reading at the altitude of greater than 655.35m would be considered as the error or
overflowed reading (see appendix 1) .
4. Technical Data:
Table 1: Specification
Frequency Band
24 GHz
Bandwidth
250 MHz
Power Consumption
< 11.00 W
Operating Voltage
10 - 30 V
Altitude Range
1.0m~500m（1）
Altitude Precision
±0.3644m（2）
Update Rate
40Hz
Detection Angle Range
Azimuth 43°，Elevation 30°（3）
Maximum Velocity
± 30 m/s in elevation
Temp. Range
-40℃~60℃
Dimensions
<112mm*102.5mm*31mm (mounting bracket is
NOT included)
Weight
316g (excluding external connector cable)
IP Rating
Built to the requirements of IP67 (Test pending) （4
）
Vibration Rating
IEC 60068-2-6.1995 sine vibration 5g XYZ three
axis
Shock Rating
IDT IEC 68-2-27:1987 half sine shock 20g XYZ
three axis
ESD Rating
IEC 61000-4-2.2008 8K/15K contact/air B class
Note:
1. Radar data may vary over different terrains when radar is out of its detection range.
Usually we recommend mounting the LR-D1 at the minimum height of at least 1.0m.
We do not recommend using LR-D1 at either lower than 1.0m or greater than 500m.
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When actual altitude is greater than 500m at some solid terrain, for example concrete,
the radar can operate normally till 600m. LR-D1 will report SNR = 0 and Altitude =
1.46m to indicate there is no target detected; Therefore, SNR = 0 can be considered as this
detection is invalid.
2. Range detection might be limited by terrains, pitch and roll of aircraft, etc.. The range
precision here only indicates the lab experiment/calibration result in the ideal case.
LR-D1 altitude data report step size could be smaller than this precision because of the
post processing.
3. Based on mm-wave radar specs, a large angle of pitch and roll would bring error for
detection.Under the same measurement circumstance, larger angle by aircraft bring
more error.
4. IP rate here only focuses on radar itself. This rating does not cover any cabling interface.
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5. UART Data Protocol For LR-D1:
●Protocol: UART
●I/O Standard: RS-232 (Default) and RS-422 (Per Request)
●Baud Rate: 115200 b/s
●Data length: 8 bits, plus one start bit and one stop bit, and no parity bit
Table 2: Data Packet Definition
From
LR-D1
To
Receiver
Byte
Data
Note
data1
0xEB
Packet Header MSB (Most Significant Bits)
data2
0x90
Packet Header LSB (Least Significant Bits)
data3
deviceID
Device ID Byte (0x00)
data4
0x1C
Data packet length; Fixed as 28 Bytes
data5
0x00: Normal
Others: Malfunction（1）
Malfunction Alert
FW 6.0.7.X: Malfunction Alert MSB
FW 18.X.X.X: Malfunction Alert LSB
data6
0x01
FW 6.0.7.X: Object Number; Fixed as 1;
FW 18.X.X.X: Malfunction Alert LSB
data7
high1_h（2）
Object 1 Altitude MSB
data8
high1_l（2）
Object 1 Altitude LSB
data9
snr1
Object 1 SNR
data10
speed1_h（3）
Object 1 Velocity MSB
data11
speed1_l（3）
Object 1 Velocity LSB
data12
high2_h
0xFF（4）
data13
high2_l
0xFF
data14
snr2
0xFF
data15
speed2_h
0xFF
data16
speed2_l
0xFF
data17
high3_h
0xFF
data18
high3_l
0xFF
data19
snr3
0xFF
data20
speed3_h
0xFF
data21
speed3_l
0xFF
data22
high4_h
0xFF
data23
high4_l
0xFF
data24
snr4
0xFF
data25
speed4_h
0xFF
data26
speed4_l
0xFF
data27
high5_h
0xFF
data28
high_l
0xFF
data29
snr5
0xFF
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data30
speed5_h
0xFF
data31
speed5_l
0xFF
data32
checksum
Checksum:
(data4+data5+…+data29+data31) bitwise-AND
with 0xFF
Note:
1. Please see Appendix 1 for details about malfunction information.
2. Altitude Data Parse: Altitude = (high_h * 256) + high_l; unit: 0.01 m (cm); Type:
Unsigned
3. Velocity Data Parse: Velocity = (speed _h * 256) + speed _l; unit: 0.01m/s; Type: Signed
4. Only support single target detection in the released version. When altitude reading is
overflowed, please see the Appendix 1 for details.
We use a 16-bit integer to indicate the LR-D1’s altitude reading in centimeters, therefore
the maximum valid altitude would be 65535 cm (655.35 m). If actual altitude is greater
than that, altitude reading overflow would occur.
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6. Mechanical Drawing:
Figure 3: Dimensions of LR-D1 (Units: mm)
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7. Radiated Emissions
Maximum Transmit Power (EIRP)
32 dBm
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8. Hardware Interface:
Table 3: Pin Out Definition
Pin
Wire Color
Pin Name
Function
Note
1
Red
VCC
Input Voltage
10 - 30 V
Power < 11W
2
Red
VCC
Input Voltage
10 - 30 V
Power < 11W
3
Blue
RS-422 T+ /
RS-232 T
RS422: TX+
RS232: TX
Default Setting:
RS232
4
Brown
RS-422 T- /
RS-232 R
RS422: TX-
RS232: RX
Default Setting:
RS232
5
White
RS-422 R+
RS422: RX +
Leave unwired
for RS232
6
Green
RS-422 R-
RS422: RX-
Leave unwired
for RS232
7
Black
GND
Ground
8
Black
GND
Ground
Note:
LR-D1's default hardware interface is RS-232. If the RS-422 interface is required, please
contact Ainstein for assistance.
Figure 4: LR-D1 Pinout Diagram
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9. Cabling Diagram:
The LR-D1 includes a 6 wire cable attached to a 90° connector. See Figure 4
BINDER 99-0425-75-08
Figure 4: 6 wire cable with 90° connector
Figure 5: 90° Connector Diagram
BINDER 99-0425-10-08
Figure 6: 6 wire cable with straight connector
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10. Known Issues
LR-D1 is a product still in development. Table 4 lists the known issues that will be
addressed in later revisions.
Table 4: LR-D1 Known Issues
Issue ID
Description
Notes
1
If the radar is mounted within its minimum
detection range (1.0 meters) to the ground, the
radar’s altitude data may incur unexpected
noise and erroneous spikes.
●For full confidence,
mount the radar with
at least 1.0 meters of
separation from the
ground
●If the radar is mounted
within 1.0 meters of
the ground, DO NOT
consider altitude data
while on the ground.
●It usually would
trigger error code of
0x0080 in appendix 1
2
Altitude data from radar may have unexpected
or incorrect readings if the application scenario
is indoor. Reason is the multipath reflection of
radar is complicated indoors, it may give
unexpected or incorrect reading under this
circumstance.
●DO NOT apply radar
in any indoor
application scenario
3
Altitude data from radar may have unexpected
or incorrect readings if aircraft pitch and/or
roll are beyond the radar’s detection angle
(Azimuth 43°，Elevation 30°). The ideal case is
keeping radar perpendicular to ground.
●Add a gimbal with
radar mounting
●DO NOT consider any
altitude data as valid if
aircraft’s pitch and/or
roll are beyond the
radar’s detection
angle.
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11. Firmware Change Log:
Table 5: LR-D1 Firmware Change Log
Firmware
Version
Release Date
Notes
3.0.7
10/14/2021
●Increase accuracy to 0.36m from .74m
●Increase stability of altitude measurements
●Add malfunction alert for IF saturation and altitude
overflow
6.0.7.2
07/16/2021
●Add firmware update feature, information
readability, and parameter configuration via serial
port.
●Fix negative velocity reading bug.
●Maintain performance from 6.0.7.
6.0.7
06/07/2018
●Original Firmware.
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12. Firmware Update Instructions:
Remote Firmware Update
To update the firmware:
1. Open the GUI application entitled “main”.
2. Select the Serial Port connected to the LR-D1.
3. Set the Baud Rate to 115200.
4. Click Browse and select the desired .bin file. (the bin file will be entitled
“fpga_232.bin” for RS-232 and “fpga_422.bin” for RS-422.
5. Click Load to update the firmware on the LR-D1.
6. Upon successful completion of the firmware update, the device will
automatically restart.
Figure 7: LR-D1 “main” Firmware Update GUI
13. LR-D1 Altimeter Test Tool GUI :
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