A study on MEMS vector hydrophone and its orientation algorithm

Abstract

Purpose The problem of port and starboard ambiguity will exist when only utilize the vector or scalar parameters. Meanwhile, the amplitude-phase error between the vector and scalar can also cause this problem. In this paper, a compound MEMS vector hydrophone which contains cilia vector microstructure and piezoelectric ceramic tube has been presented to solve the problem. Compared with traditional MEMS vector hydrophone, the compound MEMS vector hydrophone can realize the measurement of sound pressure and vibration velocity simultaneously. Design/methodology/approach A compound MEMS vector hydrophone has been presented. The unipolar directivity of the combined signal which combine the acoustic pressure and vibration velocity is used to achieve the direction of arrival (DOA). This paper introduced the working principle and the target detection mechanism of the compound vector hydrophone. The amplitude and phase error are analyzed and corrected in the standing wave tube. After that, the authors use beam-forming algorithm to estimate the DOA. Findings The experimental results in the standing wave tube and the external field verified the vector hydrophone's directional accuracy up to 1 and 5 degrees, respectively. Practical implications The research of compound vector hydrophone plays an important role in marine acoustic exploration and engineering applications. Originality/value This research provides a basis for MEMS hydrophone directivity theory. The compound vector hydrophone has been applied in the underwater location, with a huge market potential in underwater detection systems.

Recent advances in acoustic technology for aquaculture: A review

“…Hydrophones are used to obtain scalar or vector information of the underwater acoustic field. Currently, micro–electro–mechanical system (MEMS) hydrophones, 110 piezoelectric/piezoresistive hydrophones, 111 fibre‐optic hydrophones 112 and vector hydrophones are widely used 113 . Various new sensing mechanisms have emerged.…”

“…Currently, microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS) hydrophones, 110 piezoelectric/ piezoresistive hydrophones, 111 fibre-optic hydrophones 112 and vector hydrophones are widely used. 113 Various new sensing mechanisms have emerged. Notably in China, various vector hydrophones based on different mechanisms have been developed, such as moving coil, velocity, piezoelectric (vibration), piezoresistive and fibre-optic hydrophones.…”

Combined noise reduction and DOA estimation algorithm for MEMS vector hydrophone based on variational mode decomposition

“…The underwater acoustic field contains both scalar and vector information; the sound pressure hydrophone can only obtain scalar information, but the vector hydrophone can collect scalar and vector signals simultaneously. The micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) vector hydrophone is designed based on piezoresistive principle and bionic principle by North University of China, which has the characteristics of small scale, low power consumption and high sensitivity in wide band and low frequency detection performance (Nehorai and Paldi, 1994; Xue et al , 2007; Shang et al , 2020a, 2020b). Vector hydrophones is the best choice for obtaining low frequency, small-scale spatial gain and accurately giving underwater target azimuth information.…”

Numerical simulation and experimental analysis of directivity of a MEMS piezoelectric vector hydrophone

“…[3][4][5] It has a natural dipole directivity. [6][7][8] It can only use a single device to orient the target, and the directivity becomes independent of the frequency range of the target source under certain conditions. In addition, compared with sound pressure hydrophones, the vector hydrophone has strong antiisotropic noise ability.…”