Compact Airborne Acoustic Transmitter for Buried Object Stimulation

Landmines and buried improvised explosive devices (IED) represent a clear and present danger to the modern U.S. warfighter. The ability to survey a potentially hazardous area from the air using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-mounted optical acoustic system has the potential to greatly reduce casualty rates. However, existing acoustic sources are inadequate to stimulate the earth at the necessary levels or frequencies from the desired altitudesa new, compact, efficient, and intense sound source is needed. In this program, Creare is developing a Compact Airborne Acoustic Transmitter (CAAT) capable of stimulating the ground at 100 dB over the 90 to 400 Hz frequency range from an altitude of 300 meters. The CAAT combines an innovative, highly efficient acoustic source with a novel, efficient, and directional acoustic horn to maximize the sound pressure level on the ground. In Phase I, we demonstrated the feasibility of this approach by modeling, fabricating, and testing a prototype sound source and numerically optimizing an acoustic horn. In Phase II, we will interface the subsystems and build, test, validate and deliver to the Navy a prototype of the required size, shape, weight, power consumption, and acoustic output.