GPA Integrates a MEMS acoustic array in a drone for rescue applications

Integration on a Drontecnic DT6P platform of a MEMS 4×4 acoustic array with a myRIO processing system

New acoustics MEMS arrays Project

Last March we designed two new Acoustic Array boards. Each board has 16 Mems microphones with a circular and square geometry respectively.

Visit to the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Eindhoven University of Technology

In January 2018, Dr. Lara del Val visited the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Eindhoven University of Technology, invited by Inés López Arteaga, full Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and part-time professor at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, within the Marcus Wallenberg Laboratory for Acoustics and Vibration Research. During this visit, supported by the Erasmus + mobility grants programme, Lara del Val gave a talk on Beamforming, as part of the course “Coupled Problems: Vibro Acoustic”, to postgraduate students. This visit laid the foundations for joint work on the use of machine learning techniques, in which Lara del Val has experience, for the detection of faults in vibrating plates, from acoustic images obtained with microphone arrays.

Stay at Vrije Universitetit Brussel (VUB)

Professor Alberto Izquierdo Fuente has made a training stay in the ETRO group of the Department of Industry Sciences (INDI) of the Free University of Brussels (VUB) (Belgium). He has worked with Prof. Abdellah Touhafi in the area of ​​acoustic arrays with embedded systems based on reconfigurable FPGA.

Using a Planar Array of MEMS Microphones to Obtain Acoustic Images of a Fan Matrix

This paper proposes the use of a signal acquisition and processing system based on an 8X8 planar array of MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems) microphones to obtain acoustic images of a fan matrix. A 3X3 matrix of PC fans has been implemented to perform the study. Some tests to obtain the acoustic images of the individual fans and of the whole matrix have been defined and have been carried out inside an anechoic chamber. The nonstationary signals received by each MEMS microphone and their corresponding spectra have been analyzed, as well as the corresponding acoustic images. The analysis of the acoustic signals spectra reveals the resonance frequency of the individual fans. The obtained results reveal the feasibility of the proposed system to obtained acoustic images of a fan matrix and of its individual fans, in this last case, in order to estimate the real position of the fan inside the matrix.

See full story: Using a Planar Array of MEMS Microphones to Obtain Acoustic Images of a Fan Matrix

Guest Lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University

Prof Alberto Izquierdo has made a 1-month stay as a visiting professor with Prof Jose Moura of Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburg-USA). July 2017 

Sixth edition of the Málaga Transfers Forum

During the 15th and 16th of February, the sixth edition of the Transfer Forum is held in Malaga, which is the main national event on R & D + i, where Aberto Izquierdo attended, as a representative of our Array Processing Group.

At Transfiere, public and private agents linked to the R + D + i ecosystem, as well as independent professionals and representatives of SMEs and multinationals, public administrations, universities, technological centers and science and technology parks, among others, meet every year.

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New 3D positioner system for building Virtual Arrays

In collaboration with the UBU, a 3D positioning system has been designed allowing that 8×8 SAM array could be moved with millimetric precision. With this new tool, virtual arrays of thousands of sensors can be built with angular resolutions of tenths of degree.