Nawfal
Building an open-source, low-cost 10.5 GHz phased array radar with phased array antenna and Pulse LFM modulation—available in 3km and 20km range versions. For researchers, drone developers, and serious SDR enthusiasts.
The Vision:
Phased array radar is the gold standard for electronic beam steering—enabling instant tracking, weather resilience, and precision sensing. Yet today, even entry-level systems cost more than $250,000, locking this technology away from researchers, students, and independent innovators.
I'm building the “AERIS-10” to change that. An open source “32x16 element X-band phased array radar” with full electronic beam steering, Pulse Linear Frequency Modulation (LFM) at a fraction of traditional cost.
Why This Matters
Today, anyone who needs advanced radar capability faces three flawed options, each with unacceptable tradeoffs.
Military surplus equipment might seem like a bargain at $10,000-50,000, but you're buying decades-old technology. These systems use mechanical scanning only—no electronic beam steering. They're analog, completely obsolete, and come with no API or modern interface. When they break (and they will), there are no spare parts.
Commercial radar systems deliver modern performance but at an astronomical price: $250,000 to over $1 million. Even at that cost, you're getting a closed "black box." The firmware is locked, the beam patterns are fixed, and there's no way to modify or extend the system for your specific research needs. You're renting capability, not owning technology you can build upon.
Building from scratch is the path for well-funded research labs or obsessive hobbyists—but it's a multi-year undertaking requiring a deep team with specialized expertise across RF, FPGA programming, signal processing, and mechanical engineering. Just the test equipment (spectrum analyzers, network analyzers) costs more than $50,000. And building a phased array from discrete components? For a small team, it's nearly impossible to achieve consistent, calibrated performance.
The result: A massive capability gap. There is no affordable, programmable, electronically-scanned radar platform for researchers, educators, and innovators who want to push the boundaries of what's possible with radar.
AERIS-10 changes this. By combining modern SDR technology with an innovative system, we deliver true phased array performance at 90-95% below commercial alternatives—with open APIs that let you build your own applications.
Technical Specifications:
- The AERIS-10 comes in 2 versions:
- AERIS-10N (Nexus) with Range up to 3Km
- AERIS-10E (Extended) with scanning Range up to 20Km
- Frequency: 10.5GHz
- Antenna Type: 8x16 patch antenna array for the Nexus and 32x16 dielectric-filled slotted waveguide antenna array for the Extended version.
- Electronically controlled Elevation and Azimuth Beam steering. (The prototype uses the 16 antenna elements to steer the Elevation beam and the Azimuth is performed using a stepper motor; but the designed system can be hacked to control both Elevation and Azimuth electronically.
- Output: Range & Doppler of Multi-Targets
- Interface: A GUI written in Python
- A Power Management Board that supplies all the necessary voltage levels to the electronics components with proper filtering and sequencing (This late is ensured by the microcontroller)
- A Frequency Synthesizer Board using a high performance Low Jitter Clock Generator (AD9523-1) that supplies phased aligned clock references for the:
- RX and TX Frequency Synthesizers (ADF4382)
- DAC
- ADC
- FPGA
- A Main Board containing:
- A DAC to generate the RADAR Chirps
- 2 Microwave Mixers (LT5552) for up-conversion and IF-down-conversion
- 4 4-Channels Phase Shifters (ADAR1000) for the RX and TX chain
- 16 Front End chips (ADTR1107) used for Both Low Noise Amplifying (RX) and Power Amplifying (TX) Stages
- An XC7A100T FPGA used for RADAR Signal Processing: ...
Pierros Papadeas
Jae Choi
Ever
Leonardo