RFbeam Microwave V-MD3 User manual

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |V-MD3 |user manual 05/2020 – Revision A |Page 1/16
PRODUCT INFORMATION
– Easy evaluation of the radar sensor V-MD3 over a GUI
– Easy adjustment of parameters for optimization to customer
applications
– Real-time streaming of all relevant radar processing data
– Data recording and playback including video using a webcam
– Firmware update over boot loader
– Saves time to market and reduces NRE costs
– Getting started with the V-MD3
– Real-time optimisation of the radar parameters
fordifferentapplications
– Situation recording including video data
forlateranalysisinthelab
– Learning about the potential of a V-MD3 sensor
The V-MD3 is a high-end 3D radar transceiver with integrated sig-
nal processing and tracking algorithms. It can measure the speed,
direction, distance and angle (in azimuth and elevation) of moving
and static objects. The digital structure and wide power supply
range make it very easy to use this sensor in any stand-alone or
MCU based application.
The control panel described in this user manual allows a simp-
le and quick evaluation of the sensor with all its parameters. All
settings can be easily adjusted in the control panel and the effects
can be verified in real time. The recording function also offers
the option of subsequently playing back and analysing measure-
ments.
Features
Applications
Description
Control Panel
user manual
V-MD3
digital 3D radar transceiver
Figure 1: Control panel GUI overview

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |V-MD3 |user manual 05/2020 – Revision A |Page 2/16
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Product Information ............................ 1
Features ......................................... 1
Applications ...................................... 1
Description....................................... 1
Control Panel..................................... 1
Installation ....................................... 3
Quick Start ...................................... 3
Software update................................ 4
Control Panel ................................... 5
Views ............................................ 6
Miscellaneous Display Controls ................... 10
Modes .......................................... 10
Tabs ............................................ 11
System Requirements ....................... 16
Revision History .............................. 16

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |V-MD3 |user manual 05/2020 – Revision A |Page 3/16
INSTALLATION
QUICK START
1. Connect the delivered USB Stick to your PC or
download and unzip the control panel software
from www.rfbeam.ch.
2. Open the installer folder.
3. Install the V-MD3 Control Panel by double clicking
the setup.exe file. If no .net framework is installed,
the installer will install it automatically.
1. Connect the V-MD3 over Ethernet to a hostPC
and change the IPV4 connection settings
onthehost to a static setting with the following
parameters:
IP-Address: 192.168.100.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
2. Power up the V-MD3 by applying 12 or 24V on
the pin 1 and GND on the pin 3 of the M12 male
A-coded connector.
3. Start the V-MD3 control panel software.
4. The control panel now tries to ping the V-MD3 on
the default IP address 192.168.100.201. As soon
as the sensor is ready the “Connect” button will
become available.
5. Press the “Connect” button.
6. On a system with multiple webcams, a dialog will
pop up. Select the webcam you want to use.
7. The mode indicator switches to Live stream and
the software is ready to use.
To use the integrated video function, install and
test your webcam before you go to the next
chapter. Please download and install neces-
sary drivers for the webcam from the manu-
facturer website.
At the first start, Windows will ask whether
the firewall should allow communication
connections for the V-MD3 control panel.
Allow it, otherwise the firewall will block
the UDP packets sent from the sensor to
thehost.

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SOFTWARE UPDATE
1. Connect the V-MD3 over Ethernet to a hostPC
and change the IPV4 connection settings
onthehost to a static setting with the following
parameters:
IP-Address: 192.168.100.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
2. Start the Control Panel and switch to the Soft-
ware update tab.
3. Power up the V-MD3 and wait until the “Connect”
button becomes active. Press the “Connect”
button in the next 4s to connect to the bootloa-
der. The connection was successful if the mode
display changed from Disconnected to Bootloa-
der mode and the bootloader and FPGA version
are displayed.
4. Use the “Browse” button to select the firmware
update file provided by RFbeam Microwave.
5. Press the “Update” button to start the update.
6. Wait until the process has finished. A message
box indicates if the update was successful. The
application starts automatically and by switching
to the communication tab it is possible to directly
connect to the sensor.

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |V-MD3 |user manual 05/2020 – Revision A |Page 5/16
CONTROL PANEL
The control panel contains many configuration op-
tions. The structure of the panel views is designed to
guide through the different steps of the radar proces-
sing, which is described in detail in the datasheet of
the V-MD3.
The control panel consists of three different areas
which are described in detail in the next chapters.
Figure 2: Overview control panel areas
Figure 3: Data output example
Views
Miscellaneous
Display Controls
Tabs
There are many views to select in the miscellaneous
display controls area. All of them have a preceded
shortcut based on the data output which is used in
the views (RADC, RFFT, RMRD, PDAT, TDAT). To use
the different views the according data output needs to
be enabled.
For example, if «PDAT – RAW Target Data» is turned
on in the «Data output» section, the views below will
start to visualise the V-MD3 data.
– PDAT – Raw Target Speed/Range
– PDAT – Raw Target Range/Range
– PDAT – Raw Target 3D

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Views
The control panel features the possibility to
simultaneously show two views in parallel
to visualise the sensor data in different
ways. How to switch between the different
views is described in the chapter Miscella-
neous Display Controls
Video
If a webcam is connected to the PC it is possible to show
thevideo picture in this view.
To start the video stream the button «Start» needs to be pressed.
RADC – Raw ADC Data
The RADC view shows all sampled ADC channels of the sensor.
Checkboxes:
It is possible to enable and disable the different groups of chan-
nels using the checkboxes.
Recalculate axis button:
Button to recalculate the Y axis of the view.

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |V-MD3 |user manual 05/2020 – Revision A |Page 7/16
RFFT – Raw Range-Doppler
The RFFT view shows the raw range Doppler map of one recei-
ving channel. Details about the internal processing can be found
in the V-MD3 datasheet.
RX antenna:
Drop-down list for changing the receiving antenna for the display-
ed data.
Threshold:
Value to change the visualisation colour of the view. Does not
affect the radar settings.
RMRD – Mean Range-Doppler
The RMRD view shows the mean range Doppler map, which is
an averaged and logarithmic map of all four receiving channels.
Details about the internal processing can be found in the V-MD3
datasheet.
Threshold:
Value to change the visualisation colour of the view. Does not
affect the radar settings.
The ADC values are complex values (I-Channel and
Q-Channel). Due to hardware coupling of these channels
targets in the lower half of the distance are seen mirrored
in the upper half of the distance but with less magnitude.

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PDAT – Raw Target Speed/Range
This view contains the raw targets found with the same axis as
the mean range Doppler view. The used detection area is also
visualized, which can be configured via the parameters in the de-
tection tab. It is helpful to compare this view with the mean range
Doppler when tuning the detection parameters.
No. of targets:
Count of actually reported raw targets
PDAT – Raw Target Speed/Range
This is one of the most interesting views as the information of the
raw targets is interpreted and shown in a two-dimensional map.
The targets show the radar’s view of the real world. Grey targets
are static targets without any speed. Green targets are moving
away from the radar and red targets are moving towards the
radar.
No. of targets:
Count of actually reported raw targets
Radar direction:
Defines the direction of the radar to the monitor. If «Same as
monitor» is used, the webcam video has to be mirrored to corres-
pond to the data.
PDAT – Raw Target 3D
This view shows the raw targets in three dimensions. The infor-
mation of the azimuth and elevation angles and the target dis-
tance are calculated to the location in a 3D-distance area. The
targets are coloured pins and the colour suits to the Z-dimension
(elevation).
No. of targets:
Count of actually reported raw targets
This view can only display 3D data if the radar setting
uses a 3D setting. Further it can be turned around with
the mouse to change the perspective.

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TDAT – Tracking Speed/Range
Compare this view with the corresponding raw view to see the
improvements of the tracking filter and to check the influence of
the tracking settings.
No. of targets:
Count of actually tracked targets
TDAT – Tracking Range/Range
Compare this view with the corresponding raw view to see the
improvements of the tracking filter and to check the influence of
the tracking settings.
No. of targets:
Count of actually tracked targets
Radar direction:
Defines the direction of the radar to the monitor. If «Same as
monitor» is used, the webcam video has to be mirrored to corres-
pond to the data.
TDAT – Tracking 3D
This view shows the tracked targets in three dimensions. The
information of the azimuth and elevation angles and the target
distance are calculated to the location in a 3D-distance area. The
targets are coloured pins and the colour suits to the Z-dimension
(elevation).
No. of targets:
Count of actually tracked targets
This view can only display 3D data if the radar setting
uses a 3D setting. Further it can be turned around with
the mouse to change the perspective.

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PDAT, TDAT – Digital Outputs
The sensor has two digital outputs that can be configured to ge-
nerate a detection when an object is in a configurable area. This
view shows a combination of the detection areas for both digital
outputs as well as the PDAT or TDAT targets depending on the
Digital output data setting. Below the view are two indicators that
show the detection status of each digital output.
Modes
The detection parameters for the digital outputs can be
configured in the digital outputs tab.
Miscellaneous Display Controls
The middle of the control panel is used to control which views are
visualised in the views area. It is easy to switch between the diffe-
rent views using the two drop down lists. Further the mode of the
GUI, the actual frame number and the cycle time of the frames is
displayed.
Figure 4: Miscellaneous display controls
Figure 5: Different possible modes Table 1: Different possible modes
It is not possible to display the same view left and right
atthe same time.
Mode Description
Disconnected No connection to the V-MD3.
Live Stream The control panel is connected to the V-MD3 and receives data.
Record Data will be recorded to the PC.
Playback Recorded data will be played and visualised.
Bootloader The control panel is connected to the boot loader of the V-MD3
and the sensor is ready for a software update.