# US 12,181,615 B2 · Temporally and spectrally adaptive sonar for autonomous vehicle navigation

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- Number: US 12,181,615 B2
- Document ID: US12181615B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/043,921
- Filed: 2021-09-02
- Published: 2023-10-12
- Granted: 2024-12-31
- Earliest claimed: 2020-09-03
- Assignees: The Regents of the University of California
- Applicants: The Regents of the University of California
- Inventors: Michael Moshe Yartsev
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12181615B2

## CPC

- G01S 7/52004: {Means for monitoring or calibrating (short-range imaging G01S7/5205)}
- G01S 15/42: Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates (indirect measurement G01S15/46)
- G01S 15/93: for anti-collision purposes
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES

## Abstract

In one example, a method performed by a processing system of an autonomous vehicle includes controlling a sonar system of the autonomous vehicle to emit a plurality of sonar beams into an environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle, detecting a change in conditions in the environment, and adjusting, in response to the change in conditions, at least one of: a temporal parameter of the plurality of sonar beams or a spectral parameter of the plurality of sonar beams.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method, comprising:
controlling, by a processing system of an autonomous vehicle, a sonar system of the autonomous vehicle to emit a plurality of sonar beams into an environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle;
detecting, by the processing system, a change in conditions in the environment; and
adjusting, by the processing system in response to the change in conditions, at least one of: a temporal parameter of the plurality of sonar beams or a spectral parameter of the plurality of sonar beams, wherein the spectral parameter comprises a spectral frequency of the plurality of sonar beams, and wherein the adjusting of the spectral parameter comprises: changing the spectral frequency from a constant frequency to a modulated frequency, or changing the spectral frequency from a modulated frequency to a constant frequency.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the temporal parameter comprises a sampling rate of the plurality of sonar beams.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the sampling rate comprises a number of the plurality of sonar beams that is emitted by the sonar system within a fixed window of time.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the adjusting further comprises:
increasing, by the processing system, the sampling rate when the change in conditions comprises an increase in a density of objects in the environment; or
decreasing, by the processing system, the sampling rate when the change in conditions comprises a decrease in a density of objects in the environment.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the autonomous vehicle is an automobile.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the autonomous vehicle is a drone.

### Claim 7

A method, comprising:
controlling, by a processing system of an autonomous vehicle, a sonar system of the autonomous vehicle to emit a plurality of sonar beams into an environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle;
detecting, by the processing system, a change in an internal condition of the autonomous vehicle; and
adjusting, by the processing system in response to the change in the internal condition, at least one of: a temporal parameter of the plurality of sonar beams or a spectral parameter of the plurality of sonar beams, wherein the spectral parameter comprises a spectral frequency of the plurality of sonar beams, and wherein the adjusting of the spectral parameter comprises: changing the spectral frequency from a constant frequency to a modulated frequency, or changing the spectral frequency from a modulated frequency to a constant frequency.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the temporal parameter comprises a sampling rate of the plurality of sonar beams.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein the sampling rate comprises a number of the plurality of sonar beams that is emitted by the sonar system within a fixed window of time.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the internal condition comprises a status of a computing resource of the autonomous vehicle, and the adjusting further comprises:
increasing, by the processing system, the sampling rate when the change in the internal conditions comprises a decrease in a consumption of the computing resource; or
decreasing, by the processing system, the sampling rate when the change in the internal condition comprises an increase in the consumption of the computing resource.

### Claim 11 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the autonomous vehicle is an automobile.

### Claim 12 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the autonomous vehicle is a drone.

### Claim 13 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the internal condition comprises at least one of: a status of a computing resource of the autonomous vehicle or a status of an operating parameter of the autonomous vehicle.

### Claim 14

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processing system of an autonomous vehicle, cause the processing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:
controlling a sonar system of the autonomous vehicle to emit a plurality of sonar beams into an environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle;
detecting a change in at least one of: conditions in the environment or an operating parameter of the autonomous vehicle; and
adjusting, in response to the change, at least one of: a temporal parameter of the plurality of sonar beams or a spectral parameter of the plurality of sonar beams, wherein the spectral parameter comprises a spectral frequency of the plurality of sonar beams, and wherein the adjusting of the spectral parameter comprises: changing the spectral frequency from a constant frequency to a modulated frequency, or changing the spectral frequency from a modulated frequency to a constant frequency.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the temporal parameter comprises a sampling rate of the plurality of sonar beams.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the sampling rate comprises a number of the plurality of sonar beams that is emitted by the sonar system within a fixed window of time.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the adjusting further comprises:
increasing, by the processing system, the sampling rate when the change in conditions comprises an increase in a density of objects in the environment; or
decreasing, by the processing system, the sampling rate when the change in conditions comprises a decrease in a density of objects in the environment.

### Claim 18 (depends on 14)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the autonomous vehicle is an automobile.

### Claim 19 (depends on 14)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the autonomous vehicle is a drone.