Wind speed and direction measurement based on time of flight ultrasonic anemometer

In this paper, an ultrasonic anemometer based in the time of flight is presented. The wind speed and direction is obtained using four ultrasonic transducers in an orthogonal configuration. Two transducers are used in each orthogonal direction as transmitter and receiver of a short sequence of pulses and the time of flight is recorded in both ways. The system is based on a low-cost Arduino-Nano board and the overall system was tested in a wind tunnel, where accuracy and linearity were analyzed. The developed anemometer is intended to be used in a scale model sailboat to support its autonomous navigation.