Granted Patent B2

US 12,462,401 · App. 18/219,328 · Granted Nov 4, 2025

Inventor: Caitlin C. Bogdan (Little Compton, RI)

Assignee: Raytheon Company

G06T7/246G01H3/00H04N5/265H04N23/56H04N23/695G06T2207/20212

Abstract

Claims (64)

1 . A system for measuring acoustic wave vectors in a fluid, the system comprising:

a first camera and a second camera, each configured to be placed in the fluid to record any movement of at least one particle suspended in the fluid in response to any disturbance of the fluid by an acoustic wave;

a light source configured to be placed in the fluid; and

a controller configured to:

control the first camera;

control the second camera;

control the light source;

process images provided by the first camera and second camera to determine an acoustic wave vector of the acoustic wave based on the measurement movement of the at least one particle.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein processing images to determine an acoustic wave vector includes:

receiving one or more first images of a scene from the first camera, each image corresponding to a first perspective; and

receiving one or more second images of the scene from the second camera, each image corresponding to a second perspective.

3 . The system of claim 2 wherein processing images to determine an acoustic wave vector includes:

decomposing the one or more first and second images into a plurality of subbands;

amplifying a phase of at least one subband of the plurality of subbands; and

combining one or more of the plurality of subbands into one or more third images.

4 . The system of claim 3 wherein processing images to determine an acoustic wave vector includes:

identifying one or more particulates in the third images;

responsive to identifying the one or more particulates, determining motion of the one or more particulates; and

based on the motion of the one or more particulates, determining an acoustic wave vector corresponding to at least one of the one or more particulates.

5 . The system of claim 1 wherein the second camera is rotated relative to the first camera.

6 . The system of claim 5 wherein the second camera is rotated 90 degrees relative to the first camera.

7 . The system of claim 1 wherein the light source is configured to selectively provide light to a scene.

8 . The system of claim 7 wherein the light is adequate to illuminate at least one particulate in the scene.

9 . An Acoustic Vector Sensor (AVS), comprising:

a plurality of high-definition video cameras, each configured to be used in fluid to record over a small area any movement of at least one particle suspended in the fluid so as to record any object movement in response to any disturbance of the fluid by an acoustic wave within the small area between the video cameras; and

a processing device configured to process images of the particles to determine an acoustic intensity vector of the acoustic wave based on the measured movement of the particle.

10 . The AVS of claim 9 , further comprising a source of light to illuminate the at least one particle.

11 . The AVS of claim 9 , wherein the video cameras are configured for use in fluid.

12 . The AVS of claim 9 , wherein the processing device is configured to process the images to determine an acoustic wave vector includes:

receiving one or more first images of a scene from a first camera, each image corresponding to a first perspective;

receiving one or more second images of the scene from a second camera, each image corresponding to a second perspective;

decomposing the one or more first and second images into a plurality of subbands;

amplifying a phase of at least one subband of the plurality of subbands;

combining one or more of the plurality of subbands into one or more third images;

identifying one or more particulates in the third images;

responsive to identifying the one or more particulates, determining motion of the one or more particulates; and

based on the motion of the one or more particulates, determining an acoustic wave vector corresponding to the motion of at least one of the one or more particulates.

13 . The AVS of claim 9 , further comprising a controller configured to control a first camera and a second camera, and control the light source.

14 . A method of determining an acoustic wave vector comprising:

controlling a light source to illuminate a volume of a fluid;

controlling a first camera to capture one or more first images of the volume;

controlling a second camera to capture one or more second images of the volume, wherein the one or more first images and the one or more second images record any movement of at least one particle suspended in the fluid in response to any disturbance of the fluid by an acoustic wave; and

process the one or more first images and the one or more second images to determine an acoustic wave vector of at least one particulate in the volume of the fluid.

15 . The method of claim 14 wherein processing the one or more first images and the one or more second images further comprises:

decomposing the one or more first images and the one or more second images into a plurality of subbands;

amplifying a phase of at least one subband of the plurality of subbands; and

combining one or more of the subbands of the plurality of subbands into one or more third images.

16 . The method of claim 15 wherein processing the one or more first images and the one or more second images further comprises:

identifying one or more particulates in the one or more third images;

responsive to identifying the one or more particulates, determining motion of the one or more particulates; and

based on the motion of the one or more particulates, determining an acoustic wave vector corresponding to the one or more particulates.

17 . The method of claim 16 wherein the acoustic wave vector is determined at least in part by determining a vector based on a first position of at least one of the one or more particulates and a second position of the at least one of the one or more particulates, wherein the first position corresponds to a first time and the second position corresponds to a second time after the first time.

18 . A method of determining an acoustic wave vector comprising:

controlling a plurality of video cameras to capture one or more images of particulates located within a volume of fluid;

amplifying any motion of the particulates caused by an acoustic wave within the volume of the fluid; and

determining an acoustic intensity vector of the acoustic wave based on amplified motion of the particulates and at least two of the one or more images.

19 . The method of claim 18 further comprising activating a light source to illuminate at least one of the particulates.

20 . The method of claim 18 further comprising:

decomposing the one or more first and second images into a plurality of subbands;

amplifying a phase of at least one subband of the plurality of subbands;

combining one or more of the plurality of subbands into one or more third images;

identifying one or more particulates in the third images;

responsive to identifying the one or more particulates, determining motion of the one or more particulates; and

based on the motion of the one or more particulates, determining an acoustic wave vector corresponding to the motion of at least one of the one or more particulates.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (23)