An electronic device includes a processor, and a memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to learn a sound emitted by a legacy device and to issue an output when the electronic device subsequently hears the sound. For example, the electronic device can receive a training input and extract a compact representation of a sound in the training input, which the device stores. The device can receive an audio signal corresponding to an observed acoustic scene and extract a representation of the observed acoustic scene from the audio signal. The electronic device can determine whether the sound is present in the observed acoustic scene at least in part from a comparison of the representation of the observed acoustic scene with the representation of the sound. The electronic device emits a selected output responsive to determining that the sound is present in the acoustic scene.

There is disclosed a method of detecting failures or anomalies of a large number of sensor terminals without using manpower or expensive equipment in the seismic exploration business. The method includes preparing a plurality of sensor terminals having sensors that detect vibrations from outside, the plurality of sensor terminals receiving the vibrations and outputting vibration reception signals, and comparing a first vibration reception signal output by a first sensor terminal with a second vibration reception signal output by a second sensor terminal, thereby detecting if one of the first sensor and the second sensor is failed or anomalous.

A method for the quality inspection of an ultrasonic transducer and an ultrasonic sensor comprising an ultrasonic transducer and carrying out the quality inspection method are described. The ultrasonic transducer comprises a housing having an electrically conductive layer extending at least over an inner surface of a housing wall of the housing, and a piezoelectric transducer arranged in the housing, the end face of which equipped with an electrode is connected to the electrically conductive layer by means of a dielectric coupling layer. According to the method, at least one quality inspection of the ultrasonic transducer is carried out, in which a capacitance of a capacitor comprising the electrode, the electrically conductive layer serving as the counter electrode, and the dielectric coupling layer as a dielectric is measured and a quality defect of the ultrasonic transducer is determined if the measured capacitance is outside a specified capacitance range.

Disclosed are a directional acoustic sensor, a method of adjusting directional characteristics using the directional acoustic sensor, and a method of attenuating an acoustic signal in a specific direction using the directional acoustic sensor. The directional acoustic sensor includes a plurality of resonance units arranged to have different directionalities and a signal processor configured to adjust directional characteristics by calculating at least one of a sum of and a difference between outputs of the resonance units. In this state, the signal processor attenuates an acoustic signal in a specific direction by using a plurality of directional characteristics obtained by calculating at least one of the sum of and the difference between the outputs of the resonance units at a certain ratio.

A sensor device, including a sensor having a sound transducer to emit sonic waves and convert received sonic waves to electrical signals. A sensor evaluation unit carries out surrounding-area monitoring during a normal operation of the sensor, by evaluating electrical signals of the sound transducer. During a monitoring mode of the sensor, a monitoring unit of the sensor device measures an impedance of the sound transducer for different excitation frequencies of excitation signals produced with a signal generator of the sensor device. The sensor device includes a first and a second signal path, which are each connected to the sound transducer and are connectable to the signal generator. To reset the sensor from normal operation to the monitoring mode, a first control unit of the sensor device is configured to decouple the signal generator from the first signal path and to connect it to the second signal path.

A vibration amplification and detection device may include a coiled diaphragm coupled to a pin that is also coupled to a substrate. The coiled diaphragm may be coupled to the pin via at least one axle and a fulcrum disc, and the vibration detection device may be coupled to a surface via the substrate. Responsive to vibration associated with or proximate the surface, the coiled diaphragm may receive and amplify the received vibration. In addition, a sensor associated with the vibration detection device may capture or detect the received and amplified vibration. Further, the detected vibration may be processed and compared with known vibrations and associated properties. Moreover, one or more actions may be instructed based on the detected vibration and associated properties.

Disclosed are a directional acoustic sensor, a method of adjusting directional characteristics using the directional acoustic sensor, and a method of attenuating an acoustic signal in a specific direction using the directional acoustic sensor. The directional acoustic sensor includes a plurality of resonance units arranged to have different directionalities and a signal processor configured to adjust directional characteristics by calculating at least one of a sum of and a difference between outputs of the resonance units. In this state, the signal processor attenuates an acoustic signal in a specific direction by using a plurality of directional characteristics obtained by calculating at least one of the sum of and the difference between the outputs of the resonance units at a certain ratio.

Disclosed are a directional acoustic sensor, a method of adjusting directional characteristics using the directional acoustic sensor, and a method of attenuating an acoustic signal in a specific direction using the directional acoustic sensor. The directional acoustic sensor includes a plurality of resonance units arranged to have different directionalities and a signal processor configured to adjust directional characteristics by calculating at least one of a sum of and a difference between outputs of the resonance units. In this state, the signal processor attenuates an acoustic signal in a specific direction by using a plurality of directional characteristics obtained by calculating at least one of the sum of and the difference between the outputs of the resonance units at a certain ratio.

According to certain embodiments, a microphone array having a plurality of microphone elements is calibrated by ensonifying the microphone array at a first direction relative to the microphone array with a first acoustic signal to concurrently generate a first set of audio signals from two or more of the microphone elements and processing the first set of audio signals to calibrate the two or more microphone elements. One or more other sets of audio signals can be generated by ensonifying the microphone array with one or more other acoustic signals at one or more other directions relative to the microphone array, where the two or more microphone elements are calibrated using the first set and the one or more other sets of audio signals. The calibration process can be performed outside of an anechoic chamber using one or more acoustic sources located outside or inside the microphone array.

An acoustic testing apparatus may include connections for multiple devices under test (DUTs) to support simultaneous testing of two or more miniature electroacoustic devices. The acoustic testing apparatus may allow the testing of multiple DUTs with a ratio of less than one reference microphone per DUT. Thus, the speed of testing DUTs may be increased without adding significant cost through additional reference microphones. For example, a single reference microphone may be used to test two or four DUTs coupled together through an acoustic test cavity.