DIY Synthetic Aperture Radar

An anonymous reader lets us know about a DIY synthetic aperture radar built for $240 in parts (give or take). Here's PDF slideware from the Ph.D. student's research. "Using a discarded garage door opener, an old cordless drill, and a collection of surplus microwave parts, a high resolution X-band linear rail synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging system was developed for approximately $240 material cost. Entry into the field of radar cross section measurements or SAR algorithm development is often difficult due to the cost of high-end precision pulsed IF or other precision radar test instruments."

Comments

Crooks

[biryokumaru]

I'm part of a team who did something similar (We're presenting it at IEEE MWSCAS, it's much less cool than this, though). We built several thousands of dollars worth of test equipment using cheap junk and came out with stuff that was just as good. DIY folks have been doing this for decades, of course, but PhD students are now starting to publish these things. This is a big deal, and means that legitimate researchers can pick up this work and very easily enter a field of research their institutions may have previously been unable to fund. Our school has always just enlisted students to design and build all of our test equipment, but still. This is good.

I didn't RTFA, but I certainly hope they've open-sourced their backend interface software and hardware designs as well. Of course, if you're disassembling a microwave, you can hardly patent the technology. Closing off access to your work kind of defeats the purpose in science, though.

Re:Crooks

[jschottm]

What's your point? The grocery store wants to sell me a red pepper for $2 that I could grow for a few cents. That doesn't make them crooks, it's just the nature of capitalism and value add. Raising your own produce is only cheap if you know how to do it, have the space to do it, and are willing to put in the time to do so. And if your time is free. The free market also provides other options - I can get them cheaper at the farmers' market, but only during certain portions of the year and only if I'm willing to shop at specific times. It's all about tradeoffs and what people are willing to pay for.

The crooks are the people who charge $10,000 for something you can build in your garage for $50.

Most people can't build anything of the kind for any amount of money. How many people do you think know how to solder? The reason why this guy was able to build this for $240 is because he has a $150,000+ education, is far above average, and has access to the tools needed to make this.

Are you proposing that you get paid minimum wage once you graduate because students are willing to work for free or cheap on projects? Or do you expect to get paid enough to live above a student quality lifestyle, pay back student loans, support a family, etc.? Are you advocating for communism?

Does your $50 test equipment have a warranty? Support? Certification? Documentation? Insurance covering damages if it should short out and burn down the lab? Can a replacement be overnighted from the factory if need be? Are you factoring in the fact that your university is subsidized by research grants, donors, and possibly the government (if it's a public school) which distorts true costs? Are your scavenged parts going to be reliable? Are you providing health insurance for the people building the gear? Unemployment insurance? FICA? Paying rent on the facility? Allowing for a middle salesman who'll be vital to getting your product into customers' hands?

The basic fact of capitalism is that you price your product and/or service as high as you think the market will pay. Unless there's a monopoly, either you've priced yourself appropriately or someone will undercut you and you'll have to lower your prices or go out of business. There's nothing wrong with aiming for the high end of a market. If you can double your prices and still get half of your business, you're doing less work for the same money. Of course, your customers might not be very loyal as a result.

If you think that the test equipment is overpriced, once you graduate, find some investors and start your own company with better pricing. But I'd recommend taking a few business classes first. Even if you got your parts, tools, shipping, and rent for free (and paid no taxes), you'd still have to make and sell 4 or 5 pieces of test equipment at $50/each every week just to pay yourself minimum wage.

Stop Him Now

[Philip K Dickhead]

This could fall into the hands of terrorists.

Citizens are consumers. We are passing Intellectual Property laws, to ensure that they remain so, and do not make the mistake of becoming producers.

This man's brilliance sets another difficult example and precedent, which will be hard to contain or dismiss! I suggest a patent law-suit against him, and a criminal charges based on illegal production of weaponizable technology.

Re:Stop Him Now

[chargersfan420]

This could fall into the hands of terrorists.

Anything could fall into the hands of terrorists. This sort of statement is paranoia at its best.

That comforting green glow

[seniorcoder]

A strange thing happened shortly after this equipment was assembled and tested. I noticed that whenever I got angry, my skin would turn green and I would tear off my clothes.

Re:That comforting green glow

[capt.Hij]

After years of monitoring postings across the net I have finally found you. I knew the internet would be your weakness, and you would slip up. Now, I will hunt down your ip address and finally bring some small measure of justice to this world.

--Thunderbolt Ross

A lot more than 240

[apepooooop]

"A National Instruments PCI-6014 data acquisition card triggers radar pulses and digitizes the video data". http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/11442 With a $700 (not counting accessories) data acquisition card.

Re:A lot more than 240

[chill]

$150 to $450 on EBay, but still your point is valid.

Re:Old?

[stewbee]

You're right. I know the author of the slides. This was part of his PhD disertation. He graduated about 2-3 years ago. He just recently posted the "how to" on his blogspot page this week.

Re:Aperture Science

[gyrogeerloose]

My god, it's like it's 2004 again!

No, the AC is just a Mac user who finally got to play Portal when he downloaded Steam.

Re:DIY == Ph.D.?

[biryokumaru]

Looks like your technique is flawed.

Re:DIY == Ph.D.?

[Bigjeff5]

I would think most of the great Ph.D.'s would be DIY, else what's the point? Your thesis is supposed to be original research, and serious research at that, so I don't see how coming up with a way of building extremely expensive technology at a tiny fraction of the cost in your garage is anything but exactly what a Ph.D. thesis is all about.

It's not a book report or high school research paper, you know.