A Low-cost Ultrasonic Rangefinder based on Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave

摘要

In the present work the performance of a low-cost ultrasonic rangefinder system exploiting linear chirp excitation signal and the Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave technique is analyzed, evaluated in terms of resolution and computational cost, and compared with the results achievable by means of the standard technique based on the matched-filter theory. The system, based on a Voltage Controlled Oscillator and an analog mixer, shifts some of the processing required by the FMCW protocol in the analog domain, strongly relaxing the requirements on the signal sampling rate without reducing the achievable range resolution. The final target is to evaluate the possibility of implementing the FMCW technique in very low cost and hand held devices.