Ultrasonic flow sensor

1 . A system comprising:

a first ultrasonic assembly that includes a first waveguide formed by a first monolithic body, and a first ultrasonic transducer mounted to the first waveguide, wherein the first monolithic body includes a first mounting surface adapted to couple to the first ultrasonic transducer, a first housing surface, and a first coupling surface adapted to couple to an outer surface of a pipe and opposite the first housing surface;

a second ultrasonic assembly that includes a second waveguide formed by a second monolithic body, and a second ultrasonic transducer mounted to the second waveguide, wherein the second monolithic body includes a second mounting surface adapted to couple to the second ultrasonic transducer, a second housing surface, and a second coupling surface adapted to couple to the outer surface of the pipe, and the second ultrasonic assembly is a different assembly from the first ultrasonic assembly and opposite the second housing surface;

a housing that a) directly removably couples to the first housing surface of the first ultrasonic assembly and b) directly removably couples to the second housing surface of the second ultrasonic assembly, and c) does not extend past the first coupling surface of the first ultrasonic assembly that couples to the outer surface of the pipe;

an ultrasonic flow sensor that comprises the first ultrasonic assembly and the second ultrasonic assembly and is configured to monitor water flow in either a first direction or a second direction; and

a controller configured to:

determine, using one or more first ultrasonic waves detected while water is not flowing through the pipe and one or more second ultrasonic waves detected while water is flowing through the pipe, one or more sensor calibration settings for the ultrasonic flow sensor that has a distance between the first ultrasonic assembly and the second ultrasonic assembly, including detecting, from the first direction and the second direction for the water flow, a flow direction calibration using the one or more first ultrasonic waves detected while water is not flowing through the pipe and the one or more second ultrasonic waves detected while water is flowing through the pipe; and

cause the ultrasonic flow sensor to have the flow direction calibration using the one or more sensor calibration settings.

2 . The system of claim 1 , comprising a housing that couples to the first ultrasonic assembly and the second ultrasonic assembly, wherein:

the first ultrasonic assembly comprises a coupling device adapted to couple the first waveguide to the housing; and

the first waveguide has an angle between the first mounting surface and the first coupling surface adapted to cause a majority of waveforms transmitted by the first ultrasonic transducer through an area that is not intersected by the coupling device.

3 . The system of claim 1 , comprising the housing that a) couples to the first ultrasonic assembly and the second ultrasonic assembly, and b) includes a housing guide,

wherein at least one of the first ultrasonic assembly or the second ultrasonic assembly comprises a first guide on a first surface and a second guide on a second surface opposite the first surface, the first guide and the second guide adapted to slide along the housing guide included in the housing.

4 . The system of claim 1 , comprising a controller adapted to drive at least one of the first ultrasonic transducer or the second ultrasonic transducer at a frequency that is different than a resonant frequency of the respective transducer.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the housing defines an internal aperture adjacent to the first ultrasonic transducer and the first mounting surface and contacts at least two side surfaces of the first monolithic body other than the first mounting surface and the first coupling surface.

6 . A method comprising:

receiving, for a pipe to with which an ultrasonic flow sensor couples, pipe configuration data, the ultrasonic flow sensor configured to monitor water flow in either a first direction or a second direction;

determining, using the pipe configuration data, a distance for a space between a first ultrasonic device and a second ultrasonic device both included in the ultrasonic flow sensor;

emitting, while the first ultrasonic device is the distance away from the second ultrasonic device and water is not flowing through the pipe and using each of two ultrasonic flow transducers included in the ultrasonic flow sensor, one or more first ultrasonic waves;

emitting, while the first ultrasonic device is the distance away from the second ultrasonic device and water is flowing through the pipe and using each of the two ultrasonic flow transducers included in the ultrasonic flow sensor, one or more second ultrasonic waves; and

determining, using the one or more first ultrasonic waves and the one or more second ultrasonic waves, one or more sensor calibration settings for the ultrasonic flow sensor that has the distance between the first ultrasonic device and the second ultrasonic device, the determining comprising detecting, from the first direction and the second direction for the water flow, a flow direction calibration using the one or more first ultrasonic waves detected while water is not flowing through the pipe and the one or more second ultrasonic waves detected while water is flowing through the pipe; and

causing the ultrasonic flow sensor to have the flow direction calibration using the one or more sensor calibration settings.

7 . The method of claim 6 , comprising detecting whether there is a leak in a second pipe or a device connected to the pipe using the ultrasonic flow sensor configured with the one or more sensor calibration settings.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the pipe and the second pipe are the same pipe, pipe branch, or pipe sub-branch.

9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the pipe configuration data comprises at least one of a pipe type or a pipe diameter.

10 . The method of claim 6 , comprising providing, to a device, data that indicates the distance for the space between the first ultrasonic device and the second ultrasonic device both included in the ultrasonic flow sensor.

11 . The method of claim 6 , comprising adjusting, using data that indicates the distance for the space between the first ultrasonic device and the second ultrasonic device both included in the ultrasonic flow sensor, a position of at least one of the first ultrasonic device or the second ultrasonic device.

12 . The method of claim 6 , comprising:

determining, using the one or more sensor calibration settings, a likelihood that the ultrasonic flow sensor was installed correctly; and

performing one or more actions using the likelihood that the ultrasonic flow sensor was installed correctly.

13 . One or more non-transitory computer storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

accessing, for a pipe to with which an ultrasonic flow sensor couples, pipe configuration data;

determining, using the pipe configuration data, a distance for a space between a first ultrasonic device and a second ultrasonic device both included in the ultrasonic flow sensor;

detecting, using each of two ultrasonic flow transducers included in the ultrasonic flow sensor, one or more first ultrasonic waves emitted while water is not flowing through the pipe and the first ultrasonic device is the distance away from the second ultrasonic device;

detecting, using each of the two ultrasonic flow transducers included in the ultrasonic flow sensor, one or more second ultrasonic waves emitted while water is flowing through the pipe and the first ultrasonic device is the distance away from the second ultrasonic device;

determining, using the one or more first ultrasonic waves detected while water is not flowing through the pipe and the one or more second ultrasonic waves detected while water is flowing through the pipe, one or more sensor calibration settings for the ultrasonic flow sensor that has the distance between the first ultrasonic device and the second ultrasonic device, the determining comprising detecting a flow direction calibration using the one or more first ultrasonic waves detected while water is not flowing through the pipe and the one or more second ultrasonic waves detected while water is flowing through the pipe; and

causing configuration of the ultrasonic flow sensor using the one or more sensor calibration settings, the causing comprising causing the ultrasonic flow sensor to have the flow direction calibration using the one or more sensor calibration settings.

14 . The media of claim 13 , the operations comprising detecting whether there is a leak in a second pipe or a device connected to the pipe using the ultrasonic flow sensor configured with the one or more sensor calibration settings.

15 . The media of claim 14 , wherein the pipe and the second pipe are the same pipe, pipe branch, or pipe sub-branch.

16 . The media of claim 13 , wherein the pipe configuration data comprises at least one of a pipe type or a pipe diameter.

17 . The media of claim 13 , the operations comprising adjusting, using data that indicates the distance for the space between the first ultrasonic device and the second ultrasonic device both included in the ultrasonic flow sensor, a position of at least one of the first ultrasonic device or the second ultrasonic device.

18 . The media of claim 13 , the operations comprising:

determining to trigger a calibration process given aging of the ultrasonic flow sensor, wherein detecting the one or more first ultrasonic waves emitted while water is not flowing through the pipe and the first ultrasonic device is the distance away from the second ultrasonic device and detecting the one or more second ultrasonic waves emitted while water is flowing through the pipe and the first ultrasonic device is the distance away from the second ultrasonic device are both responsive to determining to trigger a calibration process given aging of the ultrasonic flow sensor.