High-resolution beam forming for ultrasonic arrays

Author

Webb, P. ; Wykes, C.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mech. Eng., De Montfort Univ., Leicester, UK

Volume

12

Issue

1

fYear

1996

fDate

2/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

138

Lastpage

146

Abstract

Array processing techniques are common in radar, sonar, and medical ultrasound. However, little work has been reported on the use of array processing with airborne ultrasound. This paper describes the application of array beam forming to airborne ultrasound. It also introduces a processing method which allows the separation between receiving elements to he increased above the traditional λ/2 limitation. This has the effect of increasing the resolution significantly above that normally expected from traditional array processing methods. A full evaluation of the method is given, a full error analysis of the resulting system is provided, and a comprehensive set of results are presented. The angular and longitudinal resolution of the improved beam former are also derived

Keywords

acoustic arrays; array signal processing; distance measurement; ultrasonic arrays; airborne ultrasound; angular resolution; array beam forming; error analysis; high-resolution beam forming; longitudinal resolution; ultrasonic arrays; Array signal processing; Manufacturing; Microphones; Phased arrays; Sensor arrays; Signal resolution; Sonar; Structural beams; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasonic transducers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Robotics and Automation, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1042-296X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/70.481759

Filename

481759