A system for detecting distances using chaotic signals

摘要

A system for detecting distances, usable, for instance, in the vehicle sector or in robotics applications, comprises at least one transducer (16), such as a piezoelectric transducer, for generating a transmission signal to be sent in the direction of an obstacle (O) and for obtaining a receiving signal corresponding to an echo produced by the reflection of said transmission signal off the obstacle (O). The transducer (16) is driven by a chaos generator (10), such as a Chua's circuit (10). The system preferably comprises a correlator (18) for correlating the transmission signal (TX) and the receiving signal (RX) so that the distance between the obstacle and the transducer (16) is identified by the instant at which the aforesaid correlation assumes the maximum value. Preferably, the transmission signal (TX) is a square-wave signal selectively generated with one first frequency and one second frequency, the jumps between said two frequencies being determined by the instants of emission of the pulses (CPPM) generated by a pulse generator of an analog type (12) driven by the chaos generator (10).