In one form, a method for acoustic distance measurement includes generating an acoustic signal with an acoustic transducer at a first time. A pulse is detected with the acoustic transducer in response to the acoustic signal encountering an obstacle within a predetermined distance. Detecting the pulse includes detecting a second time relative to the first time when a magnitude of the pulse rises above a predetermined threshold, and detecting a peak magnitude of the pulse. A correction ratio is determined as a ratio of the predetermined threshold to the peak magnitude of the pulse. A correction time is determined in response to the correction ratio. A corrected time-of-flight is determined by adjusting the second time by the compensation time.

An electronic device includes a display, wherein the display is configured to present a user interface, wherein the user interface comprises a coordinate system. The coordinate system corresponds to physical coordinates. The display is configured to present a sector selection feature that allows selection of at least one sector of the coordinate system. The at least one sector corresponds to captured audio from multiple microphones. The sector selection may also include an audio signal indicator. The electronic device includes operation circuitry coupled to the display. The operation circuitry is configured to perform an audio operation on the captured audio corresponding to the audio signal indicator based on the sector selection.

The present invention concerns a method and apparatus for the modulation of an acoustic field for providing tactile sensations. A method of creating haptic feedback using ultrasound is provided. The method comprises the steps of generating a plurality of ultrasound waves with a common focal point using a phased array of ultrasound transducers, the common focal point being a haptic feedback point, and modulating the generation of the ultrasound waves using a waveform selected to produce little or no audible sound at the haptic feedback point.

The invention relates to an ultrasonic sensor device for a motor vehicle, comprising a membrane (11) for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, comprising an excitation element (12) designed for providing an electrical reception signal upon reception of the ultrasonic waves and also for exciting the membrane (11) for transmitting the ultrasonic waves, comprising a transmitter (13) for emitting electrical pulses to the excitation element (12) and comprising a receiver (16) for receiving and conditioning the electrical reception signal, wherein the ultrasonic sensor device (2) comprises a diagnosis unit (22), which is designed to carry out a diagnosis of the receiver (16) and in the process to check the receiver (16) with regard to its functionality.

An endpoint among a plurality of endpoints, synchronizes a clock across the plurality of endpoints. The endpoint generates a received ultrasonic signal by transducing ultrasonic sound received at a microphone from a spatial region. The ultrasonic sound includes an identical ultrasonic signal transmitted from the plurality of endpoints and echoes from the spatial region. The identical ultrasonic signal is generated with respect to the synchronized clock. The endpoint computes an error signal based on removing the identical ultrasonic signals and the echoes from the received ultrasonic signal. The endpoint detects motion in the spatial region based on a change in the error signal over time.

A marine electronic device is provided including a user interface comprising a display, a marine electronic device processor, and a memory. The memory includes computer program code configured to cause the marine electronic device to receive sonar return data from at least one transducer element configured to transmit sound waves into a body of water, receive the sonar return signals from the body of water, and convert the sonar return signals into sonar return data. The computer program code is further configured to cause the marine electronic device to generate one or more sonar images based on the sonar return data, identify one or more degraded performance characteristics associated with the sonar return data or the one or more sonar images, and cause an alert based on identification of the one or more degraded performance characteristics.

The invention relates to a method for operating an ultrasonic sensor apparatus (2) of a motor vehicle (1), in which method ultrasound waves are emitted into a surrounding region (9) of the motor vehicle (1) by at least one ultrasonic sensor (3) of the ultrasonic sensor apparatus (2) in order to carry out a distance measurement, wherein an exhaust gas cloud (22) which is emitted into the surrounding region (9) by an exhaust system (11) of the motor vehicle (1) and at which the ultrasound waves are reflected is detected by the ultrasonic sensor apparatus (2) on the basis of sensor data from at least one sensor (18, 19, 20, 21) of the motor vehicle (1), which at least one sensor is different from the ultrasonic sensor (3), and the ultrasonic sensor apparatus (2) is operated depending on the detection of the exhaust gas cloud (22).

In one form, an acoustic signal is generated for an acoustic transducer, where the acoustic transducer transmits the acoustic signal to determine a first position of an obstacle. In response to the acoustic signal encountering the obstacle within a predetermined distance, an echo, or pulse, is detected at the acoustic transducer. At a first time, a magnitude is detected in response to a rising edge of the pulse intersecting a determined threshold. A second magnitude is detected in response to the detection of a first peak of the pulse. A time of flight of the acoustic signal, within the predetermined distance, is determined when a compensation time is extracted from a correction calculation algorithm in response to detecting the first magnitude and the second magnitude. The compensation time is subtracted from the first time, and the difference of the compensation time and the first time is the time of flight.

A method for steering an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle along an object buried below a seabed: the AUV being equipped with at least one acoustic transmitter for generating acoustic signal towards the buried object and the seabed; arranging a first sensor assembly substantially flush with the AUV hull of the starboard side of the AUV for recording reflected acoustic signal from the buried object and the seabed with the first sensor assembly comprising one or more acoustic sensors, arranging a second sensor assembly substantially flush with the AUV hull of the port side of the AUV for recording reflected acoustic signal from the buried object and the seabed with the second sensor assembly comprising one or more acoustic sensors, generating an acoustic signal with a center frequency range between 1 kHz and 24 kHz with the at least one acoustic transmitter, recording reflected energy from the seabed and recording reflected energy from the buried object with the first and second sensors, registering reflected energy from the buried object in the recorded reflected energy data provided by the first and the second sensors and distinguishing the buried object from the seabed as the later arrival of the reflected energy of the seabed and the buried object, determining which of starboard and port side the object lies relative the AUV by determining which sensor assembly receiving the reflected energy data from the buried object first, and navigating the AUV towards the buried object based on which of starboard and port side the object lies relative the AUV.

A sonar method and assembly for detecting and/or determining the position and/or speed of objects underwater and/or on the water in a specified region. The orthogonality of Doppler-shifted transmission sequences is explored. First, a transmission sequence is generated, spread for some possible Doppler shifts and output via the transmission elements. If the transmission sequence is chosen carefully, the spread versions become orthogonal to each other and enable MIMO signal processing. If one of the assumed spreads matches the speed of the object, the spread is canceled out again to form the original transmission signal. This allows the binary detection of the presence of an object with the correlation of only one sequence and reduces the computing effort at the respective receivers enormously.