An autonomous vehicle is improved with a navigational system having both cameras and echolocation sensors. The cameras and echolocation sensors may be part of an optical and echolocation system, respectively, that may work in conjunction with, for example, a global positioning system to determine a course for the autonomous vehicle to reach an objective while detecting and avoid obstacles along the course.

An autonomous vehicle is improved with a navigational system having both cameras and echolocation sensors, each including overlapping fields of view. The cameras and echolocation sensors may be part of an optical and echolocation system, respectively, that may work in conjunction with a global positioning system to determine a course for the autonomous vehicle to reach an objective while detecting and avoid obstacles along the course.

An underwater detection apparatus that includes a transmission transducer including a plurality of transmission elements to be fixed to a vessel, at least one of the plurality of transmission elements extending in an oblique direction relative to a fore-aft direction of the vessel in a state where the transmission transducer is fixed to the vessel; a reception transducer including a plurality of reception elements; processing circuitry that acquires an attitude information of the vessel; a transmission circuit that drives the plurality of transmission elements based on the attitude information to control the transmission transducer to transmit a transmission wave in a given direction relative to a water surface; and a reception circuit that obtains a reception signal from at least one of the plurality of reception elements based on a reflection wave of the transmission wave.

An ultrasonic transducer device comprises a piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT), a transmitter with first and second differential outputs, and a controller. The PMUT includes a membrane layer. A bottom electrode layer, comprising a first bottom electrode and a second bottom electrode, is disposed above the membrane layer. The piezoelectric layer is disposed above the bottom electrode layer. The top electrode layer is disposed above the piezoelectric layer and comprises a segmented center electrode disposed above a center of the membrane layer and a segmented outer electrode spaced apart from the segmented center electrode. The controller, responsive to the PMUT being placed in a transmit mode, is configured to couple the first and second segments of the bottom electrode layer with ground, couple the first output of the transmitter with the segments of the segmented center electrode, and couple the second output with the segments of the segmented outer electrode.

A system comprising: at least one hardware processor; and one or more software modules are configured to, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, receive a selection of a mission marker; display a diver's position, heading, depth and course history for the selected mission marker; and a sonar display comprising a plurality of sonar color palettes.

The present disclosure provides systems and methods associated with determining velocity and/or acceleration information using ultrasound. A system may include one or more ultrasonic transmitters and/or receivers. An ultrasonic transmitter may be configured to transmit ultrasound into a region bounded by one or more surfaces. The ultrasonic receiver may detect a Doppler shift of reflected ultrasound to determine an acceleration and/or velocity associated with an object. The velocity and/or acceleration information may be utilized to modify the state of a gaming system, entertainment system, infotainment system, and/or other device. The velocity and/or acceleration date may be used in combination with a mapping or positioning system that generates positional data associated with the objects.

A survey system including a multibeam echo sounder having a single projector array and a single hydrophone array constructs a multi-component message for ensonifying multiple fans and deconstructs a corresponding message echo for use in analyzing the returns from each fan.

A survey system including a multibeam echo sounder and a beam selector for selecting beams with the largest amplitudes.

Sonar devices for detecting underwater objects are provided whereby a set of angled ultrasound transducers are employed to sense ultrasound signals from a plurality of different spatial regions. The angled ultrasound transducers may include a first pair of side-viewing ultrasound transducers and a second pair of ultrasound transducers configured for interrogating forward and reverse directions. The ultrasound signals from the set of angled ultrasound transducers may be processed to identify the presence of underwater objects in each spatial region, and the resulting identified underwater objects may be displayed, on a per-region basis, on a user interface. The ultrasound signals may additionally or alternatively be processed to generate a topographical model of the bed surface, and to generate a topographical surface image based on the three-dimensional topographical model. The topographical surface image may be displayed as a fly-over animation.

A method is disclosed for improving performance of a Sodar system adapted to locate discontinuities in the atmosphere by transmitting pulse compression signals such as plural acoustic chirps. The method comprises transmitting the acoustic chirps, receiving acoustic echoes of the chirps, and processing the acoustic echoes to provide an indication of the discontinuities, wherein the processing includes correcting range or resolution error associated with the acoustic echoes.