IEEE Radar Challenges

This year, IEEE RadarConf'26 will be hosting two challenges, the RSP Radar Challenge and the AESS Radar Challenge. For the RSP Radar Challenge 2026 we have partnered with Analog Devices and MathWorks to provide participants with an exciting opportunity to practice and showcase their skills with state-of-the-art radar hardware, specifically the Phaser 10 GHz Phased Array Radar platform from Analog Devices. This is a low cost, simplified phased array radar which allows real beamforming hardware to be used for education, project proposals, and even software development. More information available at https://www.analog.com/cn0566.

The official IEEE AES Radar Challenge page can be found below, which will contain up to date information regarding the challenge. Information on the Challenge will be also posted on the website of the IEEE Radar Conference 2026. Please keep an eye on both website for information.
https://ieee-aess.org/radar-challenge
https://2026.ieee-radarconf.org/ 
 

1. Form your team to take part to the challenge. The team can consist of undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students or industry engineers; there is a recommended maximum of 5 people.
 a. Please note that at least one team member should be planning on physically          attending the IEEE Radar 2026 conference in Phoenix, AZ.

2. Register your team by sending an email to the dedicated address for the 2026 Radar Challenge (here: radarchallenge@ieee-radarconf.org), which you can also find in the above mentioned websites. Proposals should include:

a. Names and email address of team members along with a short biography of each member
b. Team name and GitHub site (or similar)
c. 2-page description of your radar project that your team will work on. Include your project objectives and your proposed approach to create the solution. Keep it attainable, but the more creative the better! See here for some inspiration on past projects (https://ieee-aess.org/radar-challenge/radar-challenge-2024 ). Consider for example how you can use the different parameters of the FMCW signals, the phase array element of the device for angular positions measurements, different beamforming algorithms to an illuminator, MTI processing, or even SAR by combining the device with a moving platform. Possible example projects might be:
i. Radar ISAR or SAR imaging
ii. Drone tracking
iii. MTI processing of moving targets
iv. Clutter suppression techniques
v. Experimenting with different transmit and receive antennas.
vi. Exploring virtual arrays
vii. Multiple Beam radars
viii. Calibration techniques and comparisons
d. All projects must be demonstrated on the Phaser hardware. But modifications to the Phaser kit are allowed, if necessary. Please bear in mind the relatively tight timeline when proposing your project and committing to the Challenge.
e. All project proposals are tentatively due by September 15th, 2025.

3. Project Selection:
a. There are a limited number of Phaser kits available. Therefore, the project proposals will be reviewed, and a limited number of teams will be selected to participate. 
b. All teams will be notified as to acceptance status, within about one month from the project submission deadline.
c. The selected teams will be loaned a complete Phaser (CN0566) kit. If the project is completed successfully, and presented at the 2026 IEEE Radar conference, then that team may keep the kit to continue their project or education.  
d. Phaser kits are expected to be shipped by around mid-October.

4. The following tasks must be performed by the dates indicated:
a. Nov 2025:  Setup and follow the online tutorial here.  
b. Jan 2026: Create a test environment where you sense a 10 cm x 10cm metal or foil plate at 1m – 5m in 0.5m steps, showing the accuracy of your range estimations.
c. Feb-Apr 2026: Keep in touch with your ADI/MathWorks mentor during this period while you are working on your own project idea with the equipment.
d. May 2026: Share a PPT showing the latest outputs from your project and attend the conference to present outcomes.

5. At least one team member needs to attend the 2026 Radar Conference in Phoenix, AZ, where you will demonstrate that you have implemented the tasks and any additional capabilities your team was able to implement. Specifically, we ask you to deliver a presentation of approximately 5-6 slides at the Challenge event showing your results with the Phaser; the presentation can also include a video to show live capabilities.

6. By attending and providing your demonstration, your team will compete for the Radar Challenge Prize. The team will be ranked by a selected jury from members of the IEEE AESS Radar System Panel, looking at criteria such as technical quality and creativity of the proposed solution.

Terms and conditions. 
A. Phaser hardware may not be sent, or used by, any ITAR prohibited or sanctioned countries.   
B. Phaser kit may not be resold.  
C. All teams agree to return the Phaser kits if the above deadlines are not met, or if the team is unable to present or demonstrate their project at the conference.  
D. This is an open-source project.  Therefore, the team’s presentation and example code will be expected to be made available in some form.   
E. Please note that by agreeing to participate photographs and video footage will be taken throughout the 2026 IEEE Radar Conference. These may be used for marketing and publicity in IEEE/Analog Devices/MathWorks blogs, websites, and in social media or third-party publications.

Possible Resources and Ideas for Projects:
I. MIT Cantenna labs:  https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-ll-003-build-a-small-radar-system-capable-of-sensing-range-doppler-and-synthetic-aperture-radar-imaging-january-iap-2011/
II. Small and Short-Range Radar Systems:  https://a.co/d/h8UzIRr
III. Introduction to Radar With Python and Matlab:  https://a.co/d/j8LHwoB
IV. Previous edition of the Radar Challenge: https://ieee-aess.org/radar-challenge/radar-challenge-2024 
V. https://github.com/mathworks/Phaser-Control-with-MATLAB
 

1. MIT Cantenna labs:  https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-ll-003-build-a-small-radar-system-capable-of-sensing-range-doppler-and-synthetic-aperture-radar-imaging-january-iap-2011/
2. Small and Short-Range Radar Systems:  https://a.co/d/h8UzIRr
3. Introduction to Radar With Python and Matlab:  https://a.co/d/j8LHwoB
4. Previous edition of the Radar Challenge: https://ieee-aess.org/radar-challenge/radar-challenge-2024

IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Board of Governors (BoG) plans to fund the development of challenge problems and solutions in technical areas of AESS. The challenge problems are intended to stimulate excitement about research problems of interest to members of AESS. The IEEE AESS BoG has elected radar systems for its first challenge problem as that is the most active area of research in the AESS community. This request for proposals (RFPs) is for a development of challenge problem in the area of radar systems. One proposal in response this RFP will be funded to develop the proposed challenge problem. It anticipated that IEEE AESS will fund through future RFPs four developers of solutions to the challenge problem after it has been developed and documented.

IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Board of Governors (BoG) plans to fund the development of challenge problems and solutions in technical areas of AESS.  The challenge problems are intended to stimulate excitement about research problems of interest to members of AESS. Following the development and publication of a challenge problem, IEEE AESS BoG will solicit proposals for the investigation and development of solutions to the challenge problem.  It is anticipated that four or five proposals for solutions will be funded and those solutions will be presented at an IEEE AESS-sponsored conference in a special session. It is anticipated that solutions will have varying levels of complexity and the multiple solutions will lead to confidence in the technical solutions and implementations in real-world systems.   

The IEEE AESS BoG has elected radar systems for its first challenge problem as that is the most active area of research in the AESS community.  This request for proposals (RFPs) is only for the development of a challenge problem in the area of radar systems. The challenge problems may be software, hardware, or a mixture of software and hardware.  The specific topic and implementation details of the challenge problem are left to the proposer. It is anticipated that four proposals for solutions will be funded through future RFPs and those solutions will be presented at an IEEE Radar conference in a special session. It is anticipated that solutions will have varying levels of complexity and the multiple solutions will lead to confidence in the technical solutions and implementations in real-world radar systems.   
The RFP is organized as follows.  Section 2 gives the objectives of this first challenge problem, while Section 3 provides the program details and schedule. Section 4 defines the format and requested content for the proposal. Section 5 summarizes the selection criteria and  Section 6 provides concluding remarks. 

This RFP solicits proposals for the development of a challenge problem in the area of radar systems.  While the topic and specific details of the challenge problem are to be determined by the proposer, the problem should fit with an active area of research that is regularly part of the IEEE Radar Conference.  The challenge problem will be published in the proceedings of the IEEE Radar Conference.  The delivery of the challenge problem will include software for computer simulations and performance assessment and any hardware needed to implement the challenge problem.  The developer should consider making arrangements for any special-purpose software and/or hardware to be provided by a vendor as part of the program.