DIY Radar System using Arduino & Ultrasonic Sensor

This article is about how to make a radar with ultrasonic sensor and Arduino. The programming is done in the Arduino IDE and the radar is displayed using the Processing IDE.

In simple words this is how the project works. The ultrasonic sensor is mounted on a servo motor which rotates sideways. The sensor scans area within its distance (around 200cm far).

If there is no object in a specified range let’s say that there is nothing in front of the sensor at about a distance of 40cm then all green lines are display on the radar. On the other hand, if we place an object within the 40cm range then the sensor detects the object and that is indicated by the red lines on the radar.

Components need for this Project

Arduino Uno ➜ 1 pc
Ultrasonic Sensor ➜ 1pc
SG90 Servo Motor ➜ 1 pc
Breadboard ➜ 1 pc
Male-Male Jumper Wires ➜ 5 pcs
Male-Female Jumper Wires ➜ 4 pc

Hook up with Arduino

Ultrasonic Sensor with Arduino Uno

VCC ➜5V
Trigger ➜10
Echo ➜11
GND➜GND

SG90 Servo Motor with Arduino Uno

Black Wire ➜GND
Red Wire➜5V
Orange Wire➜12

Software

Arduino IDE

Download the Arduino IDE software from the link.

Arduino IDE download link: https://www.arduino.cc/en/software

Processing

Download the processing software from the link.

Software download link: https://processing.org/download

Coding

Coding Part 1: Arduino IDE

Step 1: Open a new sketch after Installing Arduino IDE.

Step 2: Copy the code given bellow and paste in the sketch.

// Includes the Servo library
#include <Servo.h>. 
// Defines Tirg and Echo pins of the Ultrasonic Sensor
const int trigPin = 10;
const int echoPin = 11;
// Variables for the duration and the distance
long duration;
int distance;
Servo myServo; // Creates a servo object for controlling the servo motor
void setup() {
  pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT); // Sets the trigPin as an Output
  pinMode(echoPin, INPUT); // Sets the echoPin as an Input
  Serial.begin(9600);
  myServo.attach(12); // Defines on which pin is the servo motor attached
}
void loop() {
  // rotates the servo motor from 15 to 165 degrees
  for(int i=15;i<=165;i++){  
  myServo.write(i);
  delay(30);
  distance = calculateDistance();// Calls a function for calculating the distance measured by the Ultrasonic sensor for each degree
  
  Serial.print(i); // Sends the current degree into the Serial Port
  Serial.print(","); // Sends addition character right next to the previous value needed later in the Processing IDE for indexing
  Serial.print(distance); // Sends the distance value into the Serial Port
  Serial.print("."); // Sends addition character right next to the previous value needed later in the Processing IDE for indexing
  }
  // Repeats the previous lines from 165 to 15 degrees
  for(int i=165;i>15;i--){  
  myServo.write(i);
  delay(30);
  distance = calculateDistance();
  Serial.print(i);
  Serial.print(",");
  Serial.print(distance);
  Serial.print(".");
  }
}
// Function for calculating the distance measured by the Ultrasonic sensor
int calculateDistance(){ 
  
  digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW); 
  delayMicroseconds(2);
  // Sets the trigPin on HIGH state for 10 micro seconds
  digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH); 
  delayMicroseconds(10);
  digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
  duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH); // Reads the echoPin, returns the sound wave travel time in microseconds
  distance= duration*0.034/2;
  return distance;
}

Step 3: Select the Board and PORT and then run the program. Remember the Port number.

Coding Part 2: Processing

Step 1: Unzip the downloaded Processing Software.You will find processing IDE inside the folder.

Step 2: Open the processing. Copy the code given bellow and paste in the sketch.

import processing.serial.*; // imports library for serial communication
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent; // imports library for reading the data from the serial port
import java.io.IOException;
Serial myPort; // defines Object Serial
// defubes variables
String angle="";
String distance="";
String data="";
String noObject;
float pixsDistance;
int iAngle, iDistance;
int index1=0;
int index2=0;
PFont orcFont;
void setup() {
  
 size (1200, 700); // ***CHANGE THIS TO YOUR SCREEN RESOLUTION***
 smooth();
 myPort = new Serial(this,"COM5", 9600); // starts the serial communication
 myPort.bufferUntil('.'); // reads the data from the serial port up to the character '.'. So actually it reads this: angle,distance.
}
void draw() {
  
  fill(98,245,31);
  // simulating motion blur and slow fade of the moving line
  noStroke();
  fill(0,4); 
  rect(0, 0, width, height-height*0.065); 
  
  fill(98,245,31); // green color
  // calls the functions for drawing the radar
  drawRadar(); 
  drawLine();
  drawObject();
  drawText();
}
void serialEvent (Serial myPort) { // starts reading data from the Serial Port
  // reads the data from the Serial Port up to the character '.' and puts it into the String variable "data".
  data = myPort.readStringUntil('.');
  data = data.substring(0,data.length()-1);
  
  index1 = data.indexOf(","); // find the character ',' and puts it into the variable "index1"
  angle= data.substring(0, index1); // read the data from position "0" to position of the variable index1 or thats the value of the angle the Arduino Board sent into the Serial Port
  distance= data.substring(index1+1, data.length()); // read the data from position "index1" to the end of the data pr thats the value of the distance
  
  // converts the String variables into Integer
  iAngle = int(angle);
  iDistance = int(distance);
}
void drawRadar() {
  pushMatrix();
  translate(width/2,height-height*0.074); // moves the starting coordinats to new location
  noFill();
  strokeWeight(2);
  stroke(98,245,31);
  // draws the arc lines
  arc(0,0,(width-width*0.0625),(width-width*0.0625),PI,TWO_PI);
  arc(0,0,(width-width*0.27),(width-width*0.27),PI,TWO_PI);
  arc(0,0,(width-width*0.479),(width-width*0.479),PI,TWO_PI);
  arc(0,0,(width-width*0.687),(width-width*0.687),PI,TWO_PI);
  // draws the angle lines
  line(-width/2,0,width/2,0);
  line(0,0,(-width/2)*cos(radians(30)),(-width/2)*sin(radians(30)));
  line(0,0,(-width/2)*cos(radians(60)),(-width/2)*sin(radians(60)));
  line(0,0,(-width/2)*cos(radians(90)),(-width/2)*sin(radians(90)));
  line(0,0,(-width/2)*cos(radians(120)),(-width/2)*sin(radians(120)));
  line(0,0,(-width/2)*cos(radians(150)),(-width/2)*sin(radians(150)));
  line((-width/2)*cos(radians(30)),0,width/2,0);
  popMatrix();
}
void drawObject() {
  pushMatrix();
  translate(width/2,height-height*0.074); // moves the starting coordinats to new location
  strokeWeight(9);
  stroke(255,10,10); // red color
  pixsDistance = iDistance*((height-height*0.1666)*0.025); // covers the distance from the sensor from cm to pixels
  // limiting the range to 40 cms
  if(iDistance<40){
    // draws the object according to the angle and the distance
  line(pixsDistance*cos(radians(iAngle)),-pixsDistance*sin(radians(iAngle)),(width-width*0.505)*cos(radians(iAngle)),-(width-width*0.505)*sin(radians(iAngle)));
  }
  popMatrix();
}
void drawLine() {
  pushMatrix();
  strokeWeight(9);
  stroke(30,250,60);
  translate(width/2,height-height*0.074); // moves the starting coordinats to new location
  line(0,0,(height-height*0.12)*cos(radians(iAngle)),-(height-height*0.12)*sin(radians(iAngle))); // draws the line according to the angle
  popMatrix();
}
void drawText() { // draws the texts on the screen
  
  pushMatrix();
  if(iDistance>40) {
  noObject = "Out of Range";
  }
  else {
  noObject = "In Range";
  }
  fill(0,0,0);
  noStroke();
  rect(0, height-height*0.0648, width, height);
  fill(98,245,31);
  textSize(25);
  
  text("10cm",width-width*0.3854,height-height*0.0833);
  text("20cm",width-width*0.281,height-height*0.0833);
  text("30cm",width-width*0.177,height-height*0.0833);
  text("40cm",width-width*0.0729,height-height*0.0833);
  textSize(40);
  text("MHR Radar ", width-width*0.875, height-height*0.0277);
  text("Angle: " + iAngle +" °", width-width*0.48, height-height*0.0277);
  text("Dist: ", width-width*0.26, height-height*0.0277);
  if(iDistance<40) {
  text("        " + iDistance +" cm", width-width*0.225, height-height*0.0277);
  }
  textSize(25);
  fill(98,245,60);
  translate((width-width*0.4994)+width/2*cos(radians(30)),(height-height*0.0907)-width/2*sin(radians(30)));
  rotate(-radians(-60));
  text("30°",0,0);
  resetMatrix();
  translate((width-width*0.503)+width/2*cos(radians(60)),(height-height*0.0888)-width/2*sin(radians(60)));
  rotate(-radians(-30));
  text("60°",0,0);
  resetMatrix();
  translate((width-width*0.507)+width/2*cos(radians(90)),(height-height*0.0833)-width/2*sin(radians(90)));
  rotate(radians(0));
  text("90°",0,0);
  resetMatrix();
  translate(width-width*0.513+width/2*cos(radians(120)),(height-height*0.07129)-width/2*sin(radians(120)));
  rotate(radians(-30));
  text("120°",0,0);
  resetMatrix();
  translate((width-width*0.5104)+width/2*cos(radians(150)),(height-height*0.0574)-width/2*sin(radians(150)));
  rotate(radians(-60));
  text("150°",0,0);
  popMatrix(); 
}

Step 3: Check in the code line 20. You will find the port number Witten as “COM13”. You must match it with the COM number you used in your Arduino IDE. For example, your port can be “COM5” or “COM6” etc.

Step 4: Mention the PORT name and then run the program.