3D tracking sonars with high accuracy of range measurements for autonomous mobile robot navigation

An array of in-air sonar sensors using correlation techniques for range estimation is developed for accomplishing object identification and location in the 3D space; the intended applications are mainly in the field of autonomous mobile robot navigation. A major emphasis in this paper is given to the concept of the baseband equivalent receiver which is proposed for designing digital correlators of low complexity. Thanks to the combination of analog multiplexing and second order bandwidth sampling techniques, the baseband equivalent receiver we propose proves to be a valuable concept for designing a novel class of tracking sonar devices.