ACOUSTIC SENSOR DEVELOPMENT FOR USE IN ROBOTICS

THE PROBLEM BEING ADDRESSED BY PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW TYPE OF LOW COST ROBOTIC ACOUSTIC SENSOR THAT PROVIDES FOR (1) EFFICIENT COUPLING OF THE SENSOR PIEZOELECTRIC ELEMENT TO AIR WITH THE CONSEQUENT INCREASED RANGE OF OPERATION AND (2) MINIMAL ARRAY CROSSTALK FOR SENSORS OPERATING IN THE ULTRASONIC FREQUENCY RANGE OF 20 TO 30 HZ. TO MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS, THE PROJECT USES A NOVEL CONFIGURATION OF ACOUSTIC SYMMETRIC MULTILAYER ANTIREFLECTION COATINGS FOR SENSORS. THIS NEW TYPE OF ACOUSTIC SENSOR WILL HAVE APPLICATIONS TO OTHER MANUFACTURING PROCESSES, SUCH AS THOSE THAT TAKE PLACE IN HARSH OR DANGEROUS ENVIRONMENTS. PHASE I IS PRIMARILY A DESIGN AND PRACTICAL FEASIBILITY STUDY. THE DESIGN TASK WILL PROVIDE CHOICE OF MATERIALS FOR THE ANTIREFLECTION COATING AS WELL AS SPECIFIC FABRICATION PARAMETERS FOR EACH FREQUENCY OF INTEREST. PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTAL WORK WILL IDENTIFY ANY PROBLEMS ATTENDANT IN FABRICATING THE COATING AND ATTACHING IT TO A ROBOTIC SENSOR.