Cambridge Pixel has added support for Garmin Fantom and GMR xHD marine radars to its radar processing software, giving maritime systems integrators another range of sensors that can be connected to the company’s SPx Server platform. The interface uses Garmin’s GSI 10 gateway device to provide radar video to the software, which can then process returns and form target tracks. The addition extends Cambridge Pixel’s existing support for more than 80 radar makes and models and follows a customer request for a particular Garmin installation.
Maritime surveillance and uncrewed surface vessel projects frequently combine radar with other instruments and onboard processing. Their sensors must fit the available space and electrical supply, withstand the operating environment and provide data that the chosen software can interpret. Garmin compatibility lets integrators consider another hardware range while retaining the same SPx processing environment, an option that can be useful where equipment selection is constrained by vessel design or the project’s available budget.
Marine radar transmits radio-frequency energy and receives reflections from vessels, shorelines, structures and other objects. The returned signals provide information about the direction and distance of detected targets, but the display and tracking functions depend on how successive measurements are processed. The sensor’s output can contain clutter from the sea surface, weather and other reflections. Software processing must distinguish useful detections from background returns before the resulting information can be presented consistently to an operator or used by another onboard system.
SPx Server provides radar video processing and target tracking functions above the sensor interface. As radar sweeps are received, tracking software can associate detections over time to build a sequence of observations for a moving object. The quality of those tracks is influenced by radar performance, target characteristics, environmental conditions and the configuration of the processing system. Cambridge Pixel says the new Garmin interface enables SPx Server to produce tracks from video provided through the GSI 10 connection.
The GSI 10 gateway forms the specified route between the supported Garmin radars and SPx Server. Marine radar hardware and external processing applications may use different interfaces and data formats; the gateway provides access to the radar video consumed by Cambridge Pixel’s software. Engineers selecting this arrangement must still verify compatibility between the actual radar model, gateway and software release, together with communications performance under the proposed installation conditions. Radar video becomes a usable tracking input only after the whole connection has been configured and tested.
Uncrewed surface vessels introduce particular integration demands because radar information may have to be combined with other navigation and situational-awareness inputs. Cameras, satellite positioning, inertial sensors and electronic identification equipment each provide different observations, with their own errors and update rates. Radar tracking can contribute information about objects that are detected by reflected energy, while a wider autonomy system must handle sensor alignment, timing and decision logic. Adding another supported radar manufacturer broadens the hardware choices within that engineering process.
On shore-based monitoring systems and conventional vessels, an additional supported radar can extend an existing display or tracking installation without requiring the complete processing environment to be replaced. The extent of reuse depends on the installed communications interfaces, processing capacity and operator requirements. A common software environment also lets developers work with several radar models, although performance and operational approval must be assessed for each installation rather than inferred from the manufacturer’s inclusion on a compatibility list.
Cambridge Pixel principal engineer Andrew Haylett said the Garmin interface broadens customers’ sensor choices. The company already develops radar processing, tracking, sensor integration and operator display software, so the new interface builds on functions used in other installations. Its development was prompted by a project whose customer had selected a Garmin radar, demonstrating how an individual equipment choice can lead to an additional supported interface across the wider product range.
Differences in antenna characteristics, scan behaviour, target resolution and data delivery affect the information presented to tracking software. A track built from successive detections depends on the installed radar and the conditions in which it operates, particularly when combined with observations from other sensors. Cambridge Pixel’s interface adds a supported data path; the resulting detection and tracking performance must be established against the particular sensor configuration and maritime application.
Projects specifying Garmin Fantom or GMR xHD radars can now assess the GSI 10 and SPx Server combination against their processing and display requirements. Cambridge Pixel is offering the interface following a customer-led integration request, extending its existing radar support rather than introducing a separate tracking platform. The next engineering steps sit with individual system integrators selecting compatible equipment, setting up the connection and testing the resulting tracks within the overall vessel or surveillance system.
