A measurement principle based on the acousto-optic effect for localization of sound sources has been demonstrated by means of theoretical analysis and experimental results. Despite the difficulties encountered when assembling the experimental setup, the presented acousto-optic beamformer proves to be immune to spatial aliasing. This is a feature that can never be achieved with a transducer array. The presented method not only extends the frequency range of analysis, but it is also a non-invasive technique. Transducer-based methods always require the immersion of a device into the sound field under investigation. This is especially critical at high frequencies, where a large number of transducers are required to avoid spatial aliasing, but at the same time it turns the array into a bulk instrument that can yield scattering effects. The use of light as a sensing element does not influence the sound. There is yet another major difference between the presented acousto-optic beamformer and conventional beamforming techniques. The acousto-optic beamformer is a spatial filter that amplifies sound that propagates perpendicularly to the beam of light, and attenuates otherwise. This means that, unlike conventional beamforming, one has to steer the acousto-optic beamformer physically into a set of different angular directions in order to obtain a complete map of the acoustical space under investigation. Similarly to radar antennas used for air traffic control, the acousto-optic beamformer could in practice rotate at a constant rate, sweeping the different positions of interest. This would not even be required in some particular cases, e.g., surveillance purposes, where it was only necessary to listen to a single direction. Nevertheless, this trade-off does not outshine the advantages of the acousto-optic beamformer.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    An acousto-optic beamformer



    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2012


    Size :

    6 Seiten, 9 Bilder, 21 Quellen




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




    Acousto-optic materials and acousto-optic cell applications

    Kludzin, V. V. / Kulakov, S. V. / Molotok, V. V. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1996


    Acousto-optic spectroellipsometry

    Pystovoit, V. / Pozhar, V. / Academy of Sciences of the USSR et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1990


    Acousto-optic synchronous linkage method and acousto-optic synchronous linkage system

    DAI KUO / WANG JUN / SONG SHULIN et al. | European Patent Office | 2023

    Free access

    Acousto-optic control system

    YU CHANGJIN / LIU YONG / HUANG HUAHUA et al. | European Patent Office | 2024

    Free access

    Acousto-optic image correlators

    Das, Pankaj K. / DeCusatis, Casimer M. | SPIE | 1992