Target classification of a pillar-like object located at any free position by ultrasonic sensor array

Ultrasonic sensors are often utilized for perceiving the outside world. In this paper, we propose the construction of a new ultrasonic recognition system for the identification of a pillar-like object located at a free position. The proposed recognition system consists of an ultrasonic transmitter, an ultrasonic receiver, and a recognition unit. The system's receiver is actually plural receivers on an ultrasonic sensor array. The receiver outputs the peak values and the positions of ultrasonic sound pressure waves. Their values and positions are input to a recognition unit, which consists of the neural networks for object identification. We have designed and built a prototype system. We tested this system by attempting to identify four kinds of objects. The experimental results showed good identification of the test objects.