Ultrasonic Sensor System Research Articles

Ultrasonic mode conversion for in-line foam structure measurement in highly aerated batters using machine learning

An ultrasonic-based method was developed to enable in-line measurements of foam structure parameters for highly aerated batters by mode conversion. Biscuit batters were foamed to different degrees (density: 364–922 g/L) by varying the mixing head speed and pressure. Density and foam structure changes were detected by efficient offline analytics (nref measurement = 96). Ultrasonic signal data were recorded using two ultrasonic sensors attached to an industry-standard tube. Mode conversion effects in the ultrasonic signals were obtained to predict the rheological parameters of the batters. The frequency range in which surface waves are expected was particularly suitable for detecting rheological changes in highly aerated batters. An ultrasonic-based, online-capable method for process monitoring was implemented and established regarding feature selection in combination with machine learning and 5-fold cross-validation. The developed ultrasonic sensor system shows high accuracy for online density measurement (R2 = 0.98) and offers decent accuracy for measurements of foam structure parameters (Bubble count: R2 = 0.95, Relative span: R2 = 0.93, Sauter diameter: R2 = 0.83). The main benefit of this novel technique is that integrating ultrasonic signal features based on mode conversion leads to a robust foam structure analysis, which has the advantage of being retrofitable into existing processes.

SMART CANE WITH OBSTACLES DETECTION

The project describes ultrasonic blind walking stick with the use of Arduino. According to World Health Organisation, 30 million peoples are permanently blind and 285 billion peoples with vision impairment. If u notice them, you can very well know about it they can’t walk without the help of other. One has to ask guidance to reach their destination. They have to face more struggles in their life daily life. Using this blind stick, a person can walk more confidently. This stick detects the object in front of the person and give response to the user by vibrating. So, the person can walk without any fear. This device will be best solution to overcome their difficulties. Generally, blind people use a traditional cane (known as white cane) for moving from one place to another. Activities like walking down the road, knowing and recognizing the presence of an obstacle in front of them, reading road signs etc. We represent a model of walking stick for blind people. This consists of GPS module, GPS Antenna, Arduino, ultrasonic sensor and buzzer. This stick can detect place and obstacles. The system employs a point-by-point approach to analyze the surrounding environment, providing real-time feedback to the user. Blind people consists of a large group of people in our society. Losing their eyesight has caused them inconvenience in performing daily tasks. Hence, smart cane had been developed in order to increase the life quality of a blind person. The purpose of this project is to design a smart cane with ultrasonic sensor and global system for mobile (GSM) for the blind. This embedded system mainly has mobility. For mobility system, it is equipped with ultrasonic sensor, HCSR04 and vibrating motor. Ultrasonic sensor will send the trigger pulse to detect obstacles. When an obstacle is detected, signals will be sent to vibrating motor and activate it. The vibrating motor will vibrate with different strengths according to the distance of the obstacle. The microcontroller used in this embedded system is Arduino UNO. The prototype of smart cane was built to increase the mobility of the blind people. Keywords— Signal processing, Internet of things, Ultrasonic sensor, visual impaired people

Enhancing Clinical Accuracy in DIBH Pattern Detection with a Combined Ultrasonic and IR Sensor System

This study aimed to develop a DIBH monitoring system using IR (Infrared- VL6180X Time of Flight) distance sensors and a microcontroller, and to demonstrate its functionality and performance in various irregular free and DIBH breathings from the left breast and lung patients. A total of ten patients who performed DIBH breathing for treatment planning and optimized treatment delivery were randomly selected for the study. The breathing motion of the system was tested using an RPM (Real-Time Positioning Management) phantom. The IR sensors were interfaced with an Arduino microcontroller, and a body phantom was used to mimic the DIBH pattern on a CT scan. The detector holder was mounted perpendicularly between the xiphoid and umbilicus, with the ability to compensate for various patient body habitus and adapt to clinical setups. The plastic devices were 3D printed, and the sensors were mounted approximately 100mm apart to receive directed echo signals and prevent unwanted signals from scattering. The IR sensor DIBH system was able to detect and record the patient's breathing pattern in real-time. The IR sensor showed better visualization of breathing rhythm with fewer fluctuations and reduced noise than the previous ultrasonic sensor system. The breathing amplitude and duration for the patients were compared to our treatment planning of Varian Eclipse and verified in TrueBeam's Breath-Hold Gating mode. The amplitude and duration from the primary study were measured to ±5mm, including 3mm sensor noise level and ±1.5 second. The IR sensor DIBH system demonstrated better performance compared to the ultrasonic sensor, with a better visualization of breathing rhythm and reduced fluctuations and noise. It provided a clinically acceptable DIBH pattern for monitoring chest and abdominal motion in patients with irregular breathing. The findings of this study have the potential to enhance clinical accuracy in radiation therapy treatment planning and delivery for patients undergoing DIBH.

A Multi-Sensor Fusion Approach Based on PIR and Ultrasonic Sensors Installed on a Robot to Localise People in Indoor Environments.

This work illustrates an innovative localisation sensor network that uses multiple PIR and ultrasonic sensors installed on a mobile social robot to localise occupants in indoor environments. The system presented aims to measure movement direction and distance to reconstruct the movement of a person in an indoor environment by using sensor activation strategies and data processing techniques. The data collected are then analysed using both a supervised (Decision Tree) and an unsupervised (K-Means) machine learning algorithm to extract the direction and distance of occupant movement from the measurement system, respectively. Tests in a controlled environment have been conducted to assess the accuracy of the methodology when multiple PIR and ultrasonic sensor systems are used. In addition, a qualitative evaluation of the system's ability to reconstruct the movement of the occupant has been performed. The system proposed can reconstruct the direction of an occupant with an accuracy of 70.7% and uncertainty in distance measurement of 6.7%.

Drone Detection using Ultrasonic Sensors for Passive Forward Scattering Radar System

Passive Forward Scattering Radar (PFSR) is a great system that can be used to identify ground moving targets, especially in unsafe areas for reason such as protection and security. Although PFSR can detect any moving target, there are some limitations as PFSR cannot measure height and detect small target such as a drone flying in the sky. A drone is a good device based on the latest technologies, therefore it can also be very dangerous as it can fly in the sky entering prohibited areas that can, for example, breach a border protection system. By developing a system using ultrasonic range sensor interfacing with Raspberry Pi (RPi) and also implementing Internet of Things (IoT) using mobile phone application, which is Telegram, as a security alarm system, this system can integrate with PFSR to be a better system. This project aims to improve the PFSR system with an ultrasonic range sensor remote measuring device. When set up next to the PFSR system, the ultrasonic range sensor has large distance measurement capabilities and use low power to operate. Since ultrasonic range sensors cannot work by themselves, the RPi was used as an operating host that helped to operate and collect data. Then, the data collected was saved into Comma Separated Values (CSV) files to be sent to Telegram mobile application later to the user as notification. The data collected from both systems were compared in order to relate that the ultrasonic range sensor system can indeed support the PFSR system. Since the result was obtained and analysis was done successfully, it can be concluded that the system can support the PFSR system, whereby as the drone height (cm) increased, the signal captured in time (sec) decreased. In addition, this system can contribute in many areas such as borders or streets, to detect speed of vehicles or as a traffic surveillance system and for some other reasons such as protection, security and research.

Ultrasonic Wave Mode-Based Application for Contactless Density Measurement of Highly Aerated Batters.

An ultrasonic wave mode-based method for density measurement in highly foamed batters was developed. Therefore, a non-contact ultrasonic sensor system was designed to generate signals for batch-wise processes. An ultrasonic sensor, containing a piezoelectric ceramic at the fundamental longitudinal frequency of 2 MHz, was used to take impedance measurements in pulse-echo mode. The ultrasonic signals were processed and analysed wave-mode wise, using a feature-driven approach. The measurements were carried out for different mixing times within a container, with the attached ultrasonic sensor. Within the biscuit batter, the change to the ultrasonic signals caused by density changes during the batter-mixing process was monitored (R2 = 0.96). The density range detected by the sensor ranges between 500 g/L and 1000 g/L. The ultrasonic sensor system developed also shows a reasonable level of accuracy for the measurements of biscuit batter variations (R2 > 0.94). The main benefit of this novel technique, which comprises multiple wave modes for signal features and combines these features with the relevant process parameters, leads to a more robust system as regards to multiple interference factors.

Ultrasonic sensor system for detection of the objects position in two-dimensional plane

Ultrasonic sensors are usually used to measure the distance to the object in front of it. It can be used to measure object distances accurately at a detection angle of 15 degrees to the sensor's normal plane and can be carried out up to a maximum distance of 4 m. Three ultrasonic sensors arrange in a triangular configuration can be used to determine the position of objects within the detection area formed by the three sensors. The sensors are positioned and the coverage angle is limited so that detection between sensors in the formation does not overlap or interfere with each other. In addition, using the position data for each unit of time, it is possible to find out the direction of movement of the object. Based on the above concepts, microcontrollers, data acquisition systems, and data processing systems can be used to measure the position and orientation of an object's movement in real time.

Measurement of blood flow rate by ultrasonic sensor system

Measurement of blood flow rate by ultrasonic sensor system

Research and Conceptual Design of Sensor Fusion for Object Detection in Dense Smoke Environments

In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for a sensor fusion system that can detect objects in a dense smoke environment with a visibility of less than 1 m. Based on the review of several articles, we determined that by using a single thermal IR camera, a single Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave (FMCW) radar, and multiple ultrasonic sensors simultaneously, the system can overcome the challenges of detecting objects in dense smoke. The four detailed methods proposed are as follows: First, a 3D ultrasonic sensor system that detects the 3D position of an object at a short distance and is not affected by temperature change/gradient; Second, detecting and classifying objects such as walls, stairs, and other obstacles using a thermal IR camera; Third, a 2D radial distance measurement method for a distant object using an FMCW radar; Fourth, sensor fusion for 3D position visualization of multiple objects using a thermal IR camera, 3D ultrasonic sensor system, and FMCW radar. Finally, a conceptual design is presented based on the proposed methodologies, and their theoretical usefulness is discussed. The framework is intended to motivate future research on the development of a sensor fusion system for object detection in dense smoke environments.

Combined Longitudinal and Surface Acoustic Wave Analysis for Determining Small Filling Levels in Curved Steel Containers.

Measurement of the small filling levels in closed steel container systems is still a challenge. Ultrasound, however, is a sensitive and non-invasive technique and is suitable for online monitoring. This study describes a new ultrasonic sensor system for sensing small filling levels using longitudinal and surface acoustic wave analysis. The sensor system consists of one transducer for the longitudinal wave analysis and two transducers for the longitudinal and surface acoustic wave analysis. All transducers were mounted to the outer wall of the steel container, ensuring non-invasiveness, and a filling level ranging from 0 to 5 cm was investigated. Combining both approaches, a consistent determination of small filling levels was achieved for the entire measuring range (R2 = 0.99).

Blind People Stick Tracking Using Android Smartphone and GPS Technology

Blindness is a term to describe conditions of people who have visual impairments. When a visually impaired do an activity outside, he usually needs a stick to help them move. This study aims to develop a stick tracking that enable a family member to find the location of the blind when they are outside their home and can help the blind to travel. GPS (Global Positioning System) technology allows the stick to get a signal for its location coordinates. When a family member wants to get the location of the blind, he can send a text message with the keyword TRACKER to the mobile phone number of the stick. A GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) module will send a reply containing the global coordinate, which Google Maps can visualize. In addition, the blind can actively send an emergency help signal to families if they have difficulty finding their way home. An emergency push button is available on the stick, which, if pressed, will send the coordinates to the family's phone number in the form of a short text message. During travelling, blind people can identify obstacles in front of them thanks to an ultrasonic sensor system on the stick. The sensor can detect an object in the range of 100 cm. If the sensor detects an object less than 100 cm, a buzzer will emit an edible sound for the blind. Observations show that the developed stick works well with an average error on the GPS module at a level of 11.89 meters. It also shows a fluctuating percentage of ultrasonic sensor errors depending on the distance of objects.

Study of a nondestructive inspection system by guide wave traveling to axis direction of a hot pipe using a long ultrasonic waveguide

Corrosion inspection of high temperature pipes for heat exchange installed in gas turbine buildings is important for safe operation management. Ultrasonic inspection is one of the promising inspection methods, but ultrasonic sensor systems are vulnerable to high temperatures. In this research, we aim to use an ultrasonic sensor system in a normal temperature environment by using a long waveguide to overcome this problem. For that purpose, we report the results of the ultrasonic sensor ability installed in the long waveguide, the propagation characteristics of the waveguide, and the ultrasonic wave characteristics from the waveguide to the pipe.

Development of an Internet-of-Things-Based-Container for UAV Payload Transport Application in Disaster’s Location

Natural disaster often occurs nowadays all around the world result in environmental damage and broken infrastructure which prevent logistics transportation for the evacuees. Therefore, it has been developed a payload transport UAV based on Internet of Things (IoT) for transportation of goods (foods, clothes and medicines) to the disaster location. The transport system consists of a relatively small (52.5 cm, 52.5 cm and 26.5 cm of length, width and height respectively) container (as the main part of the system) lifted by an UAV using a rope, servo motor and a pulley which are controlled by IoT Platform for user friendly access through a smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer. The system is equipped with automatic door and lock system, ultrasonic sensor system for distance measurement and pulley system with 17 N cm torque servo motor 360° for loading and unloading mechanism. Lolin Node (Microcontroller Unit) MCU v3 using Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol of IoT for WiFi and GSM networks has been used for the system for control and communication application. Hereinafter, the pulley system has been successfully tested to lift until 9.27 kg of load, 50 cm of distance motion with 6.3 cm/s upward velocity and 11.4 cm/s downward velocity.

Arduino Based automatic Vehicle Control

The objective of this research is to develop a system to keep the vehicle secure and protect it by the occupation of the intruders. The aim is automatically controlling the speed of vehicle and accident avoidance using arduino and ultrasonic sensors. Arduino mega 2560 is used to create the path through programing. The programed path is fed into the Arduino which is followed by the vehicle. Whenever any obstacle is detected by the running vehicle, depends on distance automatically control the speed of vehicle. The ultrasonic sensor system continuously sends signals and monitors any car or other obstacles are in front of vehicle. The distance up to which ultrasonic sensor can work may be up to 4 m. When any obstacle or vehicle is detected by ultrasonic sensor system, it will send signal to the embedded board. After receiving this signal embedded board sends a signal to the motor to reduce the vehicle speed automatically which can control vehicle speed immediately. Vehicle is controlled automatically without any manual operation when the obstacle is at 4 m distance away from the front vehicle. In critical cases, if vehicle is met into accident GSM send a message to the user.

Airborne ultrasonic sensor system combined with phased array transmitter and MUSIC method for high resolution environmental recognition

Airborne ultrasonic sensor system combined with phased array transmitter and MUSIC method for high resolution environmental recognition

Distance monitoring applications, angle and speed between nozzle and work piece: Ultrasonic detection sensor system of Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)

The use of human resources in Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) can cause defects, such as lack of penetration and uneven moldings due to the long distance between the blowpipe nozzle to the workpiece. The purpose of this study is to develop the distance monitoring applications, angle, and speed between nozzle and workpiece for GMAW by using an ultrasonic detection sensor system. The distance monitoring tool between the nozzle and workpiece for GMAW was developed based on the ADDIE model. Respondent included two experts of wiring and electronics, three experts of software and quality, and two experts in the mechanical field, selected by using purposive sampling methods. Monitoring tool developed using Arduino Uno programming technology. Besides, high-quality electronic components such as Ultrasonic HCSR04 and MPU6050 Gyroscopes are used. Based on the analysis, the whole application of distance monitoring, angle, and speed between the nozzle and workpiece for the GMAW can work well and suitable for GMAW with excellent ergonomic features that are easy to maintain and used. The study results will provide benefits in the welding industry as it can reduce defects in GMAW, and thus saving the cost of welding errors.

An automated technique for characterising foamed bitumen using ultrasonic sensor system

ABSTRACT The foam characteristics that are used to assess the quality of foamed bitumen are conventionally measured manually using a dipstick and stopwatch. Considering the related safety concerns in manual measurement and sensitivity of the performance characteristics of foamed bituminous mixes (FBMs) to the foam characteristics, the present study aimed to improve the process of determining the bitumen foam characteristics during the foaming process. Accordingly, an ultrasonic sensor system which is capable of automatic non-contact measurement of foam characteristics was developed. The capability of the proposed method in terms of producing repeatable results was evaluated based on repeatability limit, Analytical Performance Value (APV) and coefficient of variation (CV). The study results indicate that the ultrasonic sensor system is very promising in terms of its ability to provide a detailed history of the change of volume of foamed bitumen with time with high repeatability. Conversely, the repeatability of the manual method of measurement was found to be very low at all most all foaming conditions. In addition, to eliminate any possibility of error in determining the foam characteristics obtained from the ultrasonic sensor system, a data analysis algorithm was recommended to analyse the bitumen foam height profile data collected from the device.

Polarization-insensitive, omnidirectional fiber-optic ultrasonic sensor with quadrature demodulation.

We report an ultrasonic sensor system based on a low-finesse Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) formed by two weak chirped fiber Bragg gratings (CFBGs) on a coiled single-mode fiber. The sensor system has several desirable features for practical applications in detecting ultrasound on a solid surface. By controlling the birefringence of the fiber coil during the sensor fabrication, the sensor is made insensitive to the polarization variations of the laser source. The circular symmetric structure of the fiber coil also renders the omnidirectional response of the sensor to ultrasound. While the fiber coil is bonded directly to the structure, the CFBGs are suspended from the structure and free from large background strains with little reduction to the sensitivity of the sensor. The low-finesse FPI features a sinusoidal reflection spectrum. Like the conventional phase-generated carried technique, a phase modulator is utilized to implement quadrature demodulation. Therefore, the sensing system is adaptive to large background perturbations experienced by the fiber coil.

Pedestrian Detection During Vehicle Backing Maneuvers Using Ultrasonic Parking Sensors.

Ultrasonic parking sensors are an active technology designed to alert drivers to the presence of objects behind their vehicle but not the presence of a human. The purpose of this study was therefore to ascertain if these sensor systems can successfully detect a human subject. We accordingly conducted experiments using four vehicles equipped with both rear-facing center and corner ultrasonic parking sensor systems to determine the detection distance between the vehicle and a 1-m tall, 75-mm diameter pipe, a child, an adult woman, and an adult man. The detection of human subjects was evaluated under front-facing and side-facing conditions behind each vehicle. The results indicate that for a front-facing and side-facing child, the center sensor detection distances were 50-84% and 32-64%, respectively, shorter than that of the pipe. For front-facing and side-facing adults, the center sensor detection distances were just less than or roughly equivalent to that of the pipe at 89-102% and 78-97%, respectively. A similar trend was seen for the corner sensors. Notably, under the side-facing condition, the sensor detection distances were slightly shorter for all subjects than under the front-facing condition. These results reveal that ultrasonic parking sensor systems can not only detect objects but also humans, indicating that ultrasonic sensors are an available countermeasure to prevent backover accidents involving pedestrians. To address the shorter detection distance of children, a combination of ultrasonic parking sensors with other systems, such as backup cameras, may be more effective for avoiding backover collisions.

Ultrasensitive ultrasound detection using an intracavity phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating in a self-injection-locked diode laser.

We report a high-sensitivity fiber-optic ultrasonic sensor system using a self-injection-locked distributed-feedback (DFB) diode laser where a π-phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (πFBG) serves as both the locking resonator and the sensing element in a fiber ring feedback loop. By controlling the delay time of the feedback light through a fiber stretcher, the laser wavelength is locked to an external cavity mode on the spectral slope of the πFBG, and the ultrasound-induced wavelength shifts of the πFBG are converted to laser intensity variation. The ultrasonic sensing scheme simplifies the feedback control because the self-injection locking automatically pulls the laser wavelength to the πFBG resonant wavelength. In addition, it improves the detection sensitivity because the frequency noise of the DFB laser is drastically reduced. We show that the sensor system achieves a strain sensitivity of 78 fε/Hz1/2 at around 200kHz.