Ultrasonic ranging sensor using simultaneous emissions from different transducers

• Published in: IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control Vol. 51; no. 12; pp. 1660 - 1670
• Main Authors: Hernandez, A., Urena, J., Garcia, J.J., Mazo, M., Hernanz, D., Derutin, J.-P., Serot, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.12.2004; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Acoustics; Algorithms; Animals; Biomimetic Materials; Echolocation; Engineering Sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Ferroelectric materials; Field programmable gate arrays; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); General equipment and techniques; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; Imaging, Three-Dimensional - methods; Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy; Mobile robots; Performance evaluation; Physics; Pulse measurements; Real time; Reflection; Reproducibility of Results; Robotics - methods; Sensitivity and Specificity; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Sensors; Signal processing; Time measurement; Transducers; Ultrasonic transducers; Ultrasonic variables measurement; Ultrasonics, quantum acoustics, and physical effects of sound; Ultrasonography - instrumentation; Ultrasonography - methods; Ultrasound; User-Computer Interface; Crosstalk; Measurement sensor; Simultaneous measurement; Signal processing; Distance measurement; Acoustic antenna; Reliability; Real time; Ultrasonic transducer; Ultrasound
• ISSN: 0885-3010; 1525-8955
• DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2004.1386683

In recent applications based on ultrasound, several ultrasonic transducers have been geometrically and electronically associated to constitute a global sensor. There are several different methods used to process the ultrasonic signals obtained from these transducers. In this work, multimode techniques using Golay complementary sequences are proposed for processing the ultrasonic signal. The system increases scan rate, precision, and reliability. It is also capable of echo discrimination, allowing simultaneous measurements to be made and detection of the same obstacle by different transducers without cross-talk problems. The real-time implementation of the algorithm is presented on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device.