Acoustic material flow sensor

A system for measuring crop material flow through a harvesting machine, comprising:

• at least one material flow sensor;
• an acoustic chamber, comprising an impact plate and a housing;
• a pneumatic impulse line;
• a microphone;
• an electronics module;
• wherein the acoustic chamber and the microphone are connected by the pneumatic impulse line;
• wherein the housing is shaped so as to direct sound waves created by crop matter striking the impact plate into the pneumatic impulse line;
• wherein the sound waves move through the pneumatic impulse line into the microphone;
• wherein the microphone detects the sound waves and converts them into an electrical signal;
• wherein the electrical signal is a representation of a sound power derived from the sound waves;
• wherein the microphone is electrically connected to the electronics module;
• and
• wherein the electronics module analyzes the electrical signal and converts it into a representative mass of the crop matter striking the impact plate.