An ultrasonic transducer includes a transducer case and an ultrasonic element. The transducer case is formed into a bottomed, cylindrical shape having a side plate portion and a bottom plate portion that seals one end side of the side plate portion in an axial direction to configure a diaphragm. The ultrasonic element is fixedly supported to the bottom plate portion to face an interior space surrounded by the side plate portion and the bottom plate portion. The ultrasonic element is arranged in a position being offset in an in-plane direction orthogonal to the axial direction relative to a center position of the diaphragm in the in-plane direction to be capable of generating a first transmission wave having first directivity characteristics and a second transmission wave having second directivity characteristics that are directivity characteristics differing from the first directivity characteristics and in which sound pressure in the axial direction is decreased.

An intelligent ultrasonic system may include: a camera sensor unit configured to take an image of a road ahead of a driving vehicle; an ultrasonic signal input unit configured to receive an ultrasonic signal sensed through one or more ultrasonic sensors mounted on the vehicle; a feature extraction unit configured to extract a feature of the received ultrasonic signal; a data collision unit configured to collect one or more data related to a surrounding situation of the road on which the vehicle is driven; and a control unit configured to divide the surrounding situation into two or more classes based on the one or more data collected through the data collection unit, and change or reset an existing parameter to a parameter corresponding to any one class of the classes when the surrounding situation corresponds to the one class or is changed to the one class.

An autonomous moving object includes: at least one distance sensor configured to detect distances to first and second positions located in a moving direction of the autonomous moving object on a road surface; and a determination unit configured to calculate a difference between a differential time between a time when the distance value to the first position detected by the at least one distance sensor is greater than a first threshold value and a time when the distance value to the second position is greater than a second threshold value and a moving time in which the autonomous moving object moves between the first and second positions and to determine that the distance sensor is abnormal only when the calculated difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

An obstacle detection device includes a plurality of ultrasonic sensors and a detection control unit. The detection control unit detects an object by using one of at least two of the ultrasonic sensors as a transmission sensor that transmits an ultrasonic wave and the other of the at least two of the ultrasonic sensors as a reception sensor that receives the ultrasonic wave transmitted by the transmission sensor and reflected. A difference of heights of the one used as the transmission sensor and the other used as the reception sensor attached to a surface of a vehicle body from a ground is a predetermined threshold height that is defined based on twice a height of a bump on the ground as a non-detection object.

A method for correcting at least one ultrasound-based measurement of an ultrasonic sensor of a sensor arrangement using a control device. At least one ultrasonic sensor transmits and/or receives sound waves, wherein, based on a time-of-flight measurement of the sound waves, at least one distance to a reflection position along a measurement plane is determined, at least one angle within the measurement plane and/or outside the measurement plane is determined by evaluation of measurement data from transducer elements of at least one ultrasonic sensor array, and a localization error of the at least one determined distance between the ultrasonic sensor and the reflection position is corrected using the determined angle. A sensor arrangement, a control device, a computer program, and a machine-readable storage medium are also described.

An autonomous moving object includes: at least one distance sensor configured to detect distances to first and second positions located in a moving direction of the autonomous moving object on a road surface; and a determination unit configured to calculate a difference between a differential time between a time when the distance value to the first position detected by the at least one distance sensor is greater than a first threshold value and a time when the distance value to the second position is greater than a second threshold value and a moving time in which the autonomous moving object moves between the first and second positions and to determine that the distance sensor is abnormal only when the calculated difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

A method for determining the elevation angle and/or azimuth angle of a signal received by an ultrasound sensor includes: providing an ultrasound sensor with a frequency-dependent radiation pattern; transmitting a first ultrasound wave at a first frequency; transmitting a second ultrasound wave at a second frequency different from the first frequency; receiving reflections of the first and second waves, the reflections being caused by an object; and determining the elevation angle of the first and second reflected waves based on amplitudes of the reflections of the first and second waves. Determining the elevation angle (and/or azimuth angle includes calculating a ratio between the amplitudes of received reflections of the first and second waves and mapping a calculated ratio to an elevation angle and/or azimuth angle. The mapping is based on a predetermined ratio curve or ratio dataset which associates a certain amplitude ratio to an elevation angle and/or azimuth angle.