Development of sensing and measurement system with input of acoustic signals

• Main Author: Wang, Jing Xuan
• Other Authors: Xie Ming
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Robots
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/158507
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV) are used extensively for military and research purposes, which were developed to reduce the risks associated with underwater operations. Integrating the Underwater Acoustic System (UWAS) on USV can offer numerous advantages, such as providing comprehensive and precise data. However, the ability of a USV to successfully detect and acquire source information is highly dependent on the UWAS. Accordingly, there is a need for improved UWAS, and Graphical User Interface holds promise for this application. The immediate objective of this research project is to develop a Graphical User Interface for the members of the NTU RobotX Team. The results obtained from the Graphical User Interface are essential to the control module for it to pass through the entry gates with an active pinger, encircle the black buoy, and leave the gate with an active pinger in the least amount of time, with the hope of completing a task from RobotX Challenge 2022. This paper begins by introducing the project, detailing the background and requirements of the acoustic systems. Following that, a review of past work and algorithms is presented. Next, schematics of the hardware and software components that comprise a UWAS are proposed. The detailed software development will also be explained. The Graphical User Interface has demonstrated its capability in supporting the following functions: audio processing, Direction of Arrivals (DOA) estimation, locating pinger with Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC), and determining the distance and source location with audio measurements. The effort will contribute to the continued development of novel assets to meet search and rescue needs in the complex and challenging sea environment.