Accurate distance measurement by an autonomous ultrasonic system combining time-of-flight and phase-shift methods

This paper presents an efficient algorithm for distance measurement, combining both the pulse time-of-flight method and the CW phase-shift method, It copes with a low-rate sampling technique allowed by the limited bandwidth of two ultrasonic transducers working in air at 30 kHz and with modest software resources of autonomous devices. The measuring system was implemented and tested on a compact Motorola MC68HC16-based platform, with a minimum of attached hardware. Experimental results show an accuracy better than 1 mm for a poor reflecting target at a distance of about 1 m.