An in-air sonar system is provided for determining location and velocity information of objects in an environment. The in-air sonar system includes at least two emitters configured to emit respective sound signals into the environment; at least two receivers configured to receive sound signals from the environment; and a processing unit configured to perform: obtaining, from the receivers, respective received sound signals comprising the emitted sound signal reflected from objects in the environment; calculating, from the respective received sound signals, respective velocity-dependent range maps; deriving, from the calculated velocity-dependent range maps and the spatial diversity of the receivers, a velocity-dependent range-direction map comprising range information as a function of a received direction; determining therefrom a location of the respective objects; and extracting, from the velocity-dependent range maps and the spatial diversity of the receivers, a velocity of the respective objects based on the determined location.

A device optionally includes a housing defining a cavity extending through the housing. The device includes, for example, a first sensing membrane having a first deflectable surface that deflects in response to a pressure wave and a second sensing membrane spaced from the first membrane having a second deflectable surface that deflects in response to a pressure wave and connected with the housing. A device includes a coupling positioned between the first membrane and the second membrane. The coupling is configured to transmit a representation of the deflection of one or more of the membranes. A device optionally includes a sensor in communication with one or more of the first membrane, the second membrane or the coupling.

In some implementations, a method includes collecting a first set of sensor data comprising a pressure time series and at least two velocity time series collected from at least two horizontal axes, wherein the first set of sensor data is obtained from a first acoustic vector sensor; generating an azigram from the first set of sensor data obtained from the first acoustic vector sensor; generating a histogram based on the azigram; generating a first set of azimuthal estimates derived from one or more maxima of the histogram; performing azigram thresholding to generate a first set of binary images for the first set of azimuthal estimates; and transmitting the first set of binary images and the first set of azimuthal estimates to a centralized processing unit to enable object localization. Related systems, methods, and articles of manufacture are also disclosed.

A system and method for generating three-dimensional (3D) images using sonar technology comprises a circular phased array to create 3D point clouds from the echoes of a single sonar ping and may be configured to measure Doppler shift. The circular phased array is a circular receiver array that is combined with a single, wide opening angle projector that transmits at least one pulse of acoustic energy. The echoes from this pulse are received by the circular array. The signals from the receiver elements are combined using Delay and Sum beamforming processes to perform spatial filtering with resolution as discussed above. The system and method combine advantages of Mills Cross systems and square arrays, providing high-resolution, instantaneous 3D imaging employing a 1D array, leading to a more efficient and scalable design.

The invention relates to a method for operating a driver assistance system (110). The method has the steps of: a) receiving (S1) a drive state sensor signal (SIG0(t)), which indicates the drive state, at a number of different points in time (t0-t5), b) receiving (S2) a number of sensor signals (SIG1(t)), which indicate the surroundings (200), at a number of different points in time (t0-t5), c) detecting (S3) a number of objects (210, 211) in the surroundings (200) on the basis of a first number of sensor signals (SIG1(t)), which have been detected at a first point in time, d) ascertaining (S4) a position (POS) and a movement vector (VEC) for a detected object (210, 211) on the basis of the first number of sensor signals (SIG1 (t)) and a second number of sensor signals (SIG1(t)), which have been received at a second point in time following the first point in time, using a plurality of different ascertaining methods (V1, V2), wherein different ascertaining methods (V1, V2) of the plurality have a different degree of computing complexity, and e) outputting (S5) a warning signal if a potential collision with the detected object (210, 211) is ascertained on the basis of the drive state sensor signal (SIG0(t)) received at a specified point in time and the position (POS) and the movement vector (VEC) ascertained for the detected object (210, 211).