A sonic distance measurement approach using linear frequency modulated signal

This paper deals with the development of an alternative approach for sonic distance measurement. A linear frequency modulated signal (chirp signal) is regarded as a template signal. The sonic distance measurement system transmits the template signal and receives the echo signal, then calculate the correlation between template and echo signal. The time of flight is determined according to the position of the peak in the correlation result, then the distance is calculated. The major advantage of this approach is that it can detect weak echo signals among noises and increase measurement range significantly. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.