Airborne ultrasonic imaging system for parallelepipedic object localization

An ultrasonic image device was designed for use in robotic applications where parallelepipedic objects need to be manipulated. It is based on ranging measurement by an array of ten identical airborne ultrasonic transducers with an operating frequency of 200 kHz and a detection cone angle of approximately 7 degrees. An electronic scanning associated with a mechanical displacement of the array covers an area of 0.4/spl times/0.4 m in less than 0.5 seconds (100 measurement points). The system was tested in an automatic packaging line. It allowed a real-time localization of cubic objects as small as 2 cm and the determination of an emplacement in which a new object can be put by a robot arm.