An acoustic vector sensor and a method of detecting an acoustic vector are described. An object suspended in the fluid medium by a non-contact support structure. The object and the non-contact support structure are configured so that the object moves in response to any disturbance of the fluid by an acoustic wave; The non-contact support structure of the object comprises a plurality of solenoids that each produce a magnetic field in a fluid medium. A measurement measures movement of the object. A processing device determines an acoustic intensity vector of the acoustic wave based on the measured movement of the object.

An acoustic vector sensor and a method of detecting an acoustic vector are described. An object suspended in the fluid medium by a non-contact support structure. The object and the non-contact support structure are configured so that the object moves in response to any disturbance of the fluid by an acoustic wave; The non-contact support structure of the object comprises a plurality of solenoids that each produce a magnetic field in a fluid medium. A measurement measures movement of the object. A processing device determines an acoustic intensity vector of the acoustic wave based on the measured movement of the object.

A system includes a plurality of acoustic sensor elements co-located with one another, each acoustic sensor element of the plurality of acoustic sensor elements being configured to generate a signal representative of sound incident upon the plurality of acoustic sensor elements, and a processor configured to determine data indicative of a location of a source of the sound based on the signals representative of the incident sound. The plurality of acoustic sensor elements include a directional acoustic sensor element configured to generate a signal representative of a directional component of the sound.

The invention relates to a method for establishing the presence of a misalignment of at least one sensor within a sensor group with two or more sensors which detects objects in the surroundings of a motor vehicle, wherein at least two of the sensors differ from each other in their measuring principle and the measurement signals from the sensors are compared with each other.

The invention relates to a method for establishing the presence of a misalignment of at least one sensor within a sensor group with two or more sensors which detects objects in the surroundings of a motor vehicle, wherein at least two of the sensors differ from each other in their measuring principle and the measurement signals from the sensors are compared with each other.

A detection device and a detection system that detect a whistle sound to estimate the distance to the sound source are provided. The detection device (1) includes a detector (20) that detects a sound wave; storage (30) that contains characteristic information indicating frequencies of a fundamental and harmonics of a whistle sound and levels of the harmonics relative to the fundamental; a frequency analysis unit (41) that determines a frequency spectrum of a sound wave detected by the detector; a determination unit (45) that determines whether the frequency spectrum has peaks of the fundamental and the harmonics and how many times the peaks of the harmonics from the fundamental exceed a preset minimum level; and a distance estimation unit (46) that estimates a distance to a sound source of a whistle sound detected by the detector, based on a relationship between propagation distances and attenuations of a sound wave as well as information on the levels included in the characteristic information and the result of determination by the determination unit.

A detection device and a detection system that detect a whistle sound to estimate the distance to the sound source are provided. The detection device (1) includes a detector (20) that detects a sound wave; storage (30) that contains characteristic information indicating frequencies of a fundamental and harmonics of a whistle sound and levels of the harmonics relative to the fundamental; a frequency analysis unit (41) that determines a frequency spectrum of a sound wave detected by the detector; a determination unit (45) that determines whether the frequency spectrum has peaks of the fundamental and the harmonics and how many times the peaks of the harmonics from the fundamental exceed a preset minimum level; and a distance estimation unit (46) that estimates a distance to a sound source of a whistle sound detected by the detector, based on a relationship between propagation distances and attenuations of a sound wave as well as information on the levels included in the characteristic information and the result of determination by the determination unit.

The systems, devices, and processes described herein may identify a beam of a voice-controlled device that is directed toward a reflective surface, such as a wall. The beams may be created by a beamformer. An acoustic echo canceller (AEC) may create filter coefficients for a reference sound. The filter coefficients may be analyzed to identify beams that include multiple peaks. The multiple peaks may indicate presence of one or more reflective surfaces. Using the amplitude and the time delay between the peaks, the device may determine that it is close to a reflective surface in a direction of the beam.

The systems, devices, and processes described herein may identify a beam of a voice-controlled device that is directed toward a reflective surface, such as a wall. The beams may be created by a beamformer. An acoustic echo canceller (AEC) may create filter coefficients for a reference sound. The filter coefficients may be analyzed to identify beams that include multiple peaks. The multiple peaks may indicate presence of one or more reflective surfaces. Using the amplitude and the time delay between the peaks, the device may determine that it is close to a reflective surface in a direction of the beam.

An acoustic vector sensor and a method of detecting an acoustic vector are described. An object suspended in the fluid medium by a non-contact support structure. The object and the non-contact support structure are configured so that the object moves in response to any disturbance of the fluid by an acoustic wave; The non-contact support structure of the object comprises a plurality of solenoids that each produce a magnetic field in a fluid medium. A measurement measures movement of the object. A processing device determines an acoustic intensity vector of the acoustic wave based on the measured movement of the object.