Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) is an active sensing technology that emits radio-frequency electromagnetic pulses and detects reflected returns to measure the range, velocity, and bearing of objects in the environment. In robotics, radar sensors provide reliable obstacle detection and velocity estimation across diverse weather and lighting conditions where cameras and LiDAR may degrade, making them particularly valuable for autonomous ground vehicles, drones, and safety-critical proximity monitoring in industrial settings.
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- Radar complements LiDAR and depth cameras in robot perception stacks through sensor fusion, compensating for their weaknesses in adverse environmental conditions. Unlike LiDAR which produces dense point clouds, radar returns are sparser but provide direct velocity measurement via Doppler effect, making it valuable for detecting and tracking moving humans or vehicles in safety-critical collaborative robot environments.