Abstract: Systems and methods for locating the shooter of supersonic projectiles are described. The system uses at least five, preferably seven, spaced acoustic sensors. Sensor signals are detected for shockwaves and muzzle blast, wherein muzzle blast detection can be either incomplete coming from less than 4 sensor channels, or inconclusive due to lack of signal strength. Shooter range can be determined by an iterative computation and/or a genetic algorithm by minimizing a cost function that includes timing information from both shockwave and muzzle signal channels. Disambiguation is significantly improved over shockwave-only measurements.

Abstract: Shockwave-only solutions that estimate shooter position and shot trajectory are extremely sensitive to the quality and precision of the shock time-of-arrival (TOA) measurements as well as the accuracy to which relative sensor positions in space are known. Over the life of a long-deployed system, the sensor positions can shift and the performance of some sensors may degrade for various reasons. Such changes can degrade the performance of deployed shooter estimation systems. Disclosed are systems and methods that can be used to calibrate sensor positions based on shock and muzzle measurements processed from a series of shots fired from a known location and in a known direction, as well as an approach for dynamically adapting shock-only shooter estimation algorithms to compensate for sensor degradation and/or loss.

Abstract: Systems and methods for locating the shooter of supersonic projectiles based on shockwave-only measurements are described. Muzzle blast signals are neither sought nor required. The system uses at least five, preferably seven, acoustic sensors that are spaced apart at least 1 meter. The sensor signals are acquired with a time resolution in the order of microseconds and processed to find and disambiguate the shockwave arrival angle unit vector. Two different Time-Difference-Of-Arrival (TDOA) measurement techniques are described, with one technique using counters in each signal channel and the other technique using cross-correlation between signal channels. A genetic algorithm can be used to efficiently disambiguate the results.

Abstract: The invention provides, in various embodiments, a transducer for generating hyper-directional sound beams, and a system and method employing a hyper-directional sound transducer for producing pressure gradients and forces across stationary and moving objects.

Abstract: Systems and methods for locating the shooter of supersonic projectiles based on shockwave-only measurements are described. Muzzle blast signals are neither sought nor required. The system uses at least five, preferably seven, acoustic sensors that are spaced apart at least 1 meter. The sensor signals are acquired with a time resolution in the order of microseconds and processed to find and disambiguate the shockwave arrival angle unit vector. Two different Time-Difference-Of-Arrival (TDOA) measurement techniques are described, with one technique using counters in each signal channel and the other technique using cross-correlation between signal channels. A genetic algorithm can be used to efficiently disambiguate the results.

Abstract: Shockwave-only solutions that estimate shooter position and shot trajectory are extremely sensitive to the quality and precision of the shock time-of-arrival (TOA) measurements as well as the accuracy to which relative sensor positions in space are known. Over the life of a long-deployed system, the sensor positions can shift and the performance of some sensors may degrade for various reasons. Such changes can degrade the performance of deployed shooter estimation systems. Disclosed are systems and methods that can be used to calibrate sensor positions based on shock and muzzle measurements processed from a series of shots fired from a known location and in a known direction, as well as an approach for dynamically adapting shock-only shooter estimation algorithms to compensate for sensor degradation and/or loss.

Abstract: Systems and methods for locating the shooter of supersonic projectiles are described. Muzzle blast signals are neither sought nor required. The system uses at least two sensors, with each sensor having a 3-axis accelerometer. The sensors are spaced apart at least 1 meter and have each a diameter of about one centimeter. The three accelerometer signals of each sensor represent pressure gradients and are processed to find the shockwave arrival angle unit vector, the shockwave arrival time instant and peak pressure. Noise signals seldom cause false detections with this sensing method because the sensors have maximum sensitivity at the high frequency characteristics of shockwaves, while their sensitivity to the low frequency characteristics of ambient noise is relatively low.

Abstract: Two embodiments (FIGS. 1 and 4) of a portable crane/winch/hoist allowing a safe flexible use with attachments to a vehicle or other designated use area while simple to assemble/disassemble with it's relatively light weight sections allows for a one person assembly and operation, is not intrusive to a vehicle's body nor is permanently attached and exposed to the elements. This device allows for a safe operation to load and unload objects while not being risky for a strain or injury when attempted by only one person in lieu of requiring two or more persons to accomplish the task. By reducing the injury risk thus limiting the potential for missed work hours and insurance claims; should result in enhanced performance production and insurance friendly rates. Additionally, this device can be adapted to shop work benches and other areas, as well as multiple vehicles particularly in the service industry i.e.; delivery, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, lawn equipment, recreational vehicles, SUV's, vans, boats/motors.