EP-3827228-B1 - SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETACHABLE AND ATTACHABLE ACOUSTIC IMAGING SENSORS

Inventors

• STUART, MICHAEL D.
• PRABHAKAR, DILEEPA

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20190724

Claims (10)

1. An acoustic imaging system (200) having detachable sensor heads comprising: a communication interface; a processor (212) configured to communicate, via the communication interface, with a detachable sensor head having a first plurality of acoustic sensor elements arranged into a first acoustic sensor array; and a housing (230) supporting the processor and the communication interface; wherein the communication interface comprises a docking port (1410) in communication with the processor and integrated into the housing, the docking port being configured to removably receive the detachable sensor head; characterized in that the detachable sensor head comprises: a first sensor section having the first plurality of acoustic sensor elements arranged into the first acoustic sensor array; at least one second sensor section including a second plurality of acoustic sensor elements arranged into a second acoustic sensor array, wherein the second acoustic sensor array has different sensing capabilities from the first acoustic sensor array; and an attachment mechanism configured to join the first sensor section and the at least one second sensor section.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a radio dongle having a docking mechanism (1420) configured to removably interface with the docking port and to wirelessly communicate with the detachable sensor head to provide communication between the detachable sensor head and the processor.
3. The system of either of claim 1 or 2, wherein the detachable sensor head comprises a docking mechanism configured to removably interface with the docking port, the docking mechanism and docking port being configured to provide electrical communication between the first acoustic sensor array and the processor when the docking mechanism interfaces with the docking port.
4. The system of claim 2 or 3, wherein the detachable sensor head comprises a neck extending between the docking mechanism and the first acoustic sensor array, optionally wherein: the neck comprises a flexible gooseneck (1824); and/or the neck comprises a telescoping section (1945).
5. The system of any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the docking mechanism comprises any one of: a direct plug-in attachment mechanism, comprising means to receive corresponding mating features of the detachable sensor head; a slide-in attachment mechanism, comprising one or more slide rails configured to receive edges of or one or more corresponding mating features of the detachable sensor head; or an attachment mechanism comprising latches, locks, friction fit elements, screws, clips, or hook and loop fasteners, configured to secure the detachable sensor head.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the attachment mechanism comprises a folding hinge such that the second sensor section is positionable between a first position, in which the folding hinge is folded and the at least one second sensor section overlays the first sensor section, and a second position, wherein the folding hinge is not folded and the at least one second sensor section is positioned adjacent to the first sensor section.
7. The system of either of claims 1 or 6, wherein the attachment mechanism is configured to removably attach the second sensor section to the first sensor section.
8. The system of claim 6 or 7, further comprising additional sensor sections, and wherein the system comprises means for a user to manually select to activate one or more sensor sections.
9. The system of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the detachable sensor head further comprises an electromagnetic imaging tool configured to receive electromagnetic radiation from a scene and output electromagnetic image data representative of the received electromagnetic radiation; wherein the processor is further in communication with the electromagnetic imaging tool; and wherein the processor is configured to: receive electromagnetic image data from the electromagnetic imaging tool; receive acoustic data from the first acoustic sensor acoustic sensor array via the communication interface; generate acoustic image data from the received acoustic data; and combine the generated acoustic image data and the received electromagnetic image data to generate a display image comprising acoustic image data and electromagnetic image data.
10. The system of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein a distance between adjacent acoustic sensor elements in the first array of acoustic sensor elements is smaller than a distance between adjacent acoustic sensor elements in the second array of acoustic sensor elements.

Description

RELATED MATTERS This application claims priority to US Patent Application No. 62/702,716, filed July 24, 2018. BACKGROUND Presently available acoustic imaging devices include acoustic sensor array configurations that have various frequency sensitivity limitations due to a variety of factors. For instance, some acoustic imaging devices are designed to be responsive to a range of acoustic frequencies between approximately 20 Hz and approximately 20 kHz. Other devices (e.g., ultrasonic devices) are designed to be responsive to a range of acoustic frequencies between approximately 38 kHz and approximately 45 kHz. However, acoustic imaging devices that are generally designed operating in the 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency range cannot effectively detect or image higher frequencies, for example, up to or above approximately 50 kHz. Likewise, acoustic or ultrasonic devices that are designed to operate in the 20 kHz to 50 kHz frequency range cannot effectively detect and/or image lower frequencies, for example, at or below 20 kHz. This can be for a variety of reasons. For example, sensor arrays which are optimized for lower (e.g., audible) frequencies typically contain individual sensors that are farther apart than do sensor arrays that are optimized for higher (e.g., ultrasonic) frequencies. Additionally or alternatively to hardware concerns, different calculation algorithms and methods of acoustic imaging are often better suited for acoustic signals having different frequencies and/or different distances to target, making it difficult to determine how to best to acoustically image a scene without, particularly to an inexperienced user. Such discrepancies in imaging different acoustic frequency ranges are due, in part, to the physics behind the propagation of sound waves of different frequencies and wavelengths through air. Certain array orientations, array sizes, and calculation methods can generally be better suited for acoustic signals having different frequency characteristics (e.g., audible frequencies, ultrasonic frequencies, etc.). Similarly, different array properties and/or calculation methods can be better suited for acoustic scenes at different distances to target. For example, near field acoustic holography for targets at very close distances, various acoustic beamforming methods for targets at greater distances. Accordingly, acoustic inspection using acoustic arrays (e.g., for acoustic imaging) can require a wide range of equipment, for example, for analysis of acoustic signals having different frequency ranges as well as expertise in understanding when different hardware and calculation techniques are appropriate for performing acoustic analysis. This can make acoustic inspections time- and cost-intensive, and can require an expert to perform such inspections. For example, a user may be forced to manually select various hardware and/or software for performing acoustic analysis. However, an inexperienced analyst may be incapable of knowing the preferred combination of hardware and software for a given acoustic analysis and/or acoustic scene. Additionally, isolating a sound of interest from within a scene can provide its own challenges, particularly in a cluttered scene, and may prove tedious and frustrating to an inexperienced user. For instance, a given acoustic scene, especially in a noisy environment, can include acoustic signals including any number of frequency, intensity, or other characteristics that may obscure acoustic signals of interest. Traditional systems often require users to manually identify various acoustic parameters of interest prior to inspection in order to analyze the sounds of interest. However, an inexperienced user may be unaware of how to best isolate and/or identify various sounds of interest. Additionally, when multiple imaging technologies (e.g., visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, acoustic, or other imaging techniques) are used in tandem while inspecting the same object or scene, the physical placement and or other settings (e.g., focus position) of the tools used to perform the different imaging techniques can impact the analysis. For example, different locations and/or focus positions of each imaging device can result in a parallax error wherein the resulting images may be misaligned. This may result in inability to properly localize areas of interest and/or problem areas within a scene, documentation errors, and misdiagnosis of problems. For example, with respect to acoustic image data, it can be difficult to identify a location or source of an acoustic signal of interest if acoustic image data is misaligned with respect to image data from other imaging technologies (e.g., visible light and/or infrared image data). Existing ultrasonic test and inspection tools employ ultrasonic sensor(s), with or without the use of a parabolic dish in order to assist in focusing the sound towards the receiving sensor(s). When a sound of a specific frequency is detected, it is typically d