A. Outline
Fig.1 shows the construction of the proposed system. The
system primarily consists of an ultrasonic sensor array unit, a
signal processing unit and an identification unit. In this study,
the x coordinate position on the x − z plane is defined as the
width direction position of the measured object, and the z coordinate
position on the x − z plane is defined as the depth
direction position of the measured object in the coordinate system
shown in the figure. The slope of the base of the object
with respect to the x − y plane is defined as the pose of the
object.
The ultrasonic sensory array unit has two-dimensional ultrasonic
receivers and one transmitter. The transmitter positions
the center of the receiver’s array and irradiates an ultrasonic
to the measured object. The signal processing unit extracts
the features of the measured object from the sensor array outputs
using the signal processing circuit. The extracted data
is inputted into the identification unit. The identification unit
consists of two types of neural networks that perform shape
identification and material identification, respectively.