Radar acoustic sounding systems (RASS) generate short acoustic pulses that are tracked by a colocated Doppler radar. They rely on the focussing effect of the expanding acoustic pulse and the Bragg effect to maximise the effective RCS of the acoustic pulses. This has been used for atmospheric profiling for many years. However, little work has been done on using it for indoor applications. We have recently completed a prototype RASS that operates at an acoustic frequency of 40 kHz and an EM frequency of just below 18 GHz that is capable of tracking pulses out to 10m or more.
Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering
PHD
Images made using such a sensor could be used to detect materials with extremely low reflectivities, such as anechoic materials, by using the extinction of the electromagnetic return. In conjunction, the acoustic system could operate as a sonar to provide a more conventional target detection modality. Such a dual modality imaging device could provide a more effective means of navigating indoors in smoky environments in which LIDAR and conventional radar sensors are unreliable.
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 2064