Device for determining temperature
阅读说明:本技术 用于确定温度的设备 (Device for determining temperature ) 是由 金·范乐 约瑟夫·托马斯·马丁内斯·范贝克 马穆卡·卡图基亚 于 2019-08-30 设计创作,主要内容包括:一种设备,所述设备包括:声换能器布置,所述声换能器布置被配置成发射至少一个声学信号并且被配置成检测所述至少一个声学信号的反射;以及控制器,所述控制器被配置成确定所述至少一个声学信号的飞行时间,所述控制器另外被配置成基于所述至少一个声学信号的所述飞行时间和指示飞行时间与所述设备所在的空间中的温度之间的关系的校准信息确定指示温度的至少第一值。(An apparatus, the apparatus comprising: an acoustic transducer arrangement configured to emit at least one acoustic signal and configured to detect a reflection of the at least one acoustic signal; and a controller configured to determine a time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal, the controller being further configured to determine at least a first value indicative of temperature based on the time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal and calibration information indicative of a relationship between time of flight and temperature in a space in which the device is located.)
1. An apparatus, characterized in that the apparatus comprises: an acoustic transducer arrangement configured to emit at least one acoustic signal and configured to detect a reflection of the at least one acoustic signal; and a controller configured to determine a time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal, the controller further configured to determine at least a first value indicative of temperature based on the time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal and calibration information indicative of a relationship between time of flight and temperature in a space in which the device is located.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the acoustic transducer arrangement is configured to one or both of transmit the at least one acoustic signal in different directions and receive the at least one acoustic signal from different directions such that a path followed by the at least one acoustic signal extends through a first portion of the space and a second, different portion of the space, and wherein the controller is configured to determine at least two values indicative of temperature, the at least two values comprising: based on the at least one acoustic signal following the path through the first portion and thereby indicating a first value of the temperature of the first portion, and based on the at least one acoustic signal following the path through the second portion and thereby indicating a second value of the temperature of the second portion.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the transducer arrangement comprises:
a first acoustic transducer configured to emit a first acoustic signal in a first direction; and a second acoustic transducer configured to detect the reflection of the first acoustic signal; and
a third acoustic transducer configured to emit a second acoustic signal in a second direction different from the first direction; and a fourth acoustic transducer configured to detect the reflection of the second acoustic signal.
4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the transducer arrangement comprises a phased array acoustic transducer transmitter configured to transmit a first acoustic signal substantially in a first direction and a second acoustic signal substantially in a second different direction, the transducer arrangement further comprising at least one acoustic transducer configured to receive the reflections of the first and second acoustic signals.
5. The device of claim 2, wherein the transducer arrangement comprises at least one acoustic transducer configured to transmit the at least one acoustic signal, the transducer arrangement further comprising a phased array acoustic transducer receiver configured to receive a first acoustic signal substantially from a first direction, the first acoustic signal comprising at least a reflected portion of the at least one acoustic signal, and to receive a second acoustic signal substantially from a second, different direction, the second acoustic signal comprising at least a reflected portion of the at least one acoustic signal.
6. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the calibration information is at least partially indicative of a distance from the acoustic transducer arrangement to an object from which the at least one acoustic signal is reflected, and a distance from the object to the acoustic transducer arrangement.
7. Device according to any of the previous claims, wherein said calibration information is at least partly indicative of a reference time-of-flight measurement of an acoustic signal emitted by said acoustic transducer arrangement and a reflection of said acoustic signal received by said acoustic transducer arrangement, referred to as calibration acoustic signal, and a reference temperature at a position within a predetermined distance of a path followed by said calibration acoustic signal and acquired within a predetermined time of said reference time-of-flight measurement.
8. The apparatus of claim 2 and any of claims 3 to 8 dependent on claim 2, wherein the apparatus comprises a temperature sensor arranged differently from the acoustic transducer, and the controller is configured to operate in a calibration mode and a measurement mode, wherein in the calibration mode the controller is configured to:
determining a temperature from the temperature sensor;
determining a first estimated distance traveled by the at least one acoustic signal transmitted in or received from the first direction based on the time-of-flight measurements and the temperature determined by the temperature sensor; and
determining a second estimated distance traveled by the at least one acoustic signal transmitted in or received from the second direction based on the time-of-flight measurements and the same temperature determined by the temperature sensor; and
wherein the first estimated distance and the second estimated distance form at least part of the calibration information, and wherein the at least two values indicative of temperature in the measurement mode are determined using the time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal and the calibration information determined in the calibration mode.
9. A method for a device comprising an acoustic transducer arrangement and a controller, characterized in that the method comprises:
transmitting at least one acoustic signal by the acoustic transducer arrangement;
detecting a reflection of the at least one acoustic signal by the acoustic transducer arrangement;
determining, by the controller, a time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal;
determining, by the controller, at least a first value indicative of temperature based on the time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal and calibration information indicative of a relationship between time of flight and temperature in a space in which the device is located.
10. A heating and/or cooling system for a space, characterized in that the heating and/or cooling system comprises at least one heating and/or cooling device, respectively, and an apparatus according to any of claims 1-8, the apparatus being configured to enable control of the at least one heating and/or cooling device.
Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a device configured to determine a value indicative of temperature, and in particular to a device configured to determine the value based on a time of flight measurement of an acoustic signal. The invention also relates to an associated method and heating and/or cooling system.
Background
Efficient determination of temperature in a space, such as a room or warehouse, can be difficult, especially when the temperature distribution in the space is not uniform.
Disclosure of Invention
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus comprising: an acoustic transducer arrangement configured to emit at least one acoustic signal and configured to detect a reflection of the at least one acoustic signal; and a controller configured to determine a time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal, the controller being further configured to determine at least a first value indicative of the temperature based on the time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal and calibration information indicative of a relationship between the time of flight and the temperature in the space in which the device is located.
In one or more examples, an acoustic transducer arrangement includes: a first acoustic transducer configured to emit at least one acoustic signal; and a second acoustic transducer configured to detect a reflection of the at least one acoustic signal, wherein the first acoustic transducer and the second acoustic transducer are co-located in a common housing.
In one or more embodiments, the acoustic transducer arrangement is configured to one or both of:
transmitting the at least one acoustic signal in different directions, an
Receiving the at least one acoustic signal from different directions such that a path followed by the at least one acoustic signal extends through a first portion of the space and a second, different portion of the space; and
wherein the controller is configured to determine at least two values indicative of the temperature, the at least two values comprising: based on at least one acoustic signal following a path through the first portion and thereby indicative of a first value of a temperature of the first portion; and a second value based on at least one acoustic signal following the path through the second portion and thereby indicative of the temperature of the second portion.
Thus, in one or more examples, the device thus obtains values indicative of average temperatures from different portions of the space or room in which the device is located.
In one or more embodiments, a transducer arrangement comprises:
a first acoustic transducer configured to emit a first acoustic signal in a first direction; and a second acoustic transducer configured to detect a reflection of the first acoustic signal; and
a third acoustic transducer configured to emit a second acoustic signal in a second direction different from the first direction; and a fourth acoustic transducer configured to detect a reflection of the second acoustic signal.
In one or more examples, the first and second acoustic transducers are the same transducer, and/or the third and fourth acoustic transducers are the same transducer.
In one or more examples, one or more of the first, second, third, and fourth acoustic transducers are audible audio speakers. In one or more examples, one or more of the first and third acoustic transducers are audio speakers adapted to produce audible audio as well as ultrasonic waves. In one or more examples, one or more of the second and fourth acoustic transducers are acoustic audio microphones adapted to receive acoustic audio as well as ultrasonic waves.
In one or more embodiments, the transducer arrangement comprises a phased array acoustic transducer transmitter configured to transmit a first acoustic signal substantially in a first direction and a second acoustic signal substantially in a second different direction, the transducer arrangement further comprising at least one acoustic transducer configured to receive reflections of the first acoustic signal and the second acoustic signal.
Thus, in one or more examples, the phased array acoustic transducer transmitter is configured to transmit the first acoustic signal and the second acoustic signal using beamforming techniques.
In one or more embodiments, the transducer arrangement comprises at least one acoustic transducer configured to emit at least one acoustic signal, the transducer arrangement further comprising a phased array acoustic transducer receiver configured to receive a first acoustic signal substantially from a first direction, the first acoustic signal comprising at least a reflected portion of the at least one acoustic signal, and to receive a second acoustic signal substantially from a second, different direction, the second acoustic signal comprising at least a reflected portion of the at least one acoustic signal.
In one or more examples, a transducer arrangement includes the phased array acoustic transducer transmitter and the phased array acoustic transducer receiver for transmitting and receiving acoustic signals that follow paths through different portions of space.
In one or more embodiments, the calibration information is at least partially indicative of a distance from the acoustic transducer arrangement to an object from which the at least one acoustic signal is reflected, and a distance from the object to the acoustic transducer arrangement.
In one or more embodiments, the device comprises a distance determining sensor configured to determine a distance to the object, and wherein the device is configured to determine the calibration information based on the determined distance.
In one or more embodiments, the distance-determining sensor comprises a laser-based distance-measuring device or a radar-based distance-measuring device. In other examples, the distance may be measured manually, and the device may include an input member configured to receive the measurement value for determination of the calibration information.
In one or more embodiments, the calibration information is at least partly indicative of a reference time-of-flight measurement of an acoustic signal emitted by the acoustic transducer arrangement and a reflection of the acoustic signal received by the acoustic transducer arrangement, referred to as a calibration acoustic signal, and a reference temperature at a location within a predetermined distance of a path followed by the calibration acoustic signal and acquired within a predetermined time of the reference time-of-flight measurement.
In one or more embodiments, the device is configured to receive a reference temperature from a temperature probe configured to communicate the reference temperature to the device.
In one or more embodiments, the device is configured to enable presentation of one or more prompts to a user for obtaining a reference temperature from one or more portions of the space.
In one or more embodiments, the device comprises a temperature sensor arranged differently from the acoustic transducer, and the controller is configured to operate in a calibration mode and a measurement mode, wherein in the calibration mode the controller is configured to:
determining a temperature from a temperature sensor;
determining a first estimated distance traveled by at least one acoustic signal transmitted in or received from a first direction based on the time-of-flight measurement and the temperature determined by the temperature sensor; and
determining a second estimated distance traveled by at least one acoustic signal transmitted in or received from a second direction based on the time-of-flight measurement and the same temperature determined by the temperature sensor; and
wherein the first estimated distance and the second estimated distance form at least part of the calibration information, and wherein the at least two values indicative of the temperature in the measurement mode are determined using the time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal and the calibration information determined in the calibration mode.
In one or more embodiments, the controller is configured to operate in the calibration mode based on receipt of information indicating when one or both of the cooling device in the space and the heating device in the space are inactive.
In one or more embodiments, the apparatus includes a humidity sensor configured to provide a measure of humidity in the space, wherein the calibration information is additionally based on the measure of humidity.
In one or more examples, the value indicative of temperature is additionally based on a measure of humidity.
In one or more embodiments, the controller is configured to determine values indicative of the temperature at repeating intervals, and wherein the controller is configured to ignore at least one or more of these values based on determining that the object has intersected the path followed by the at least one acoustic signal, and thereby affect the time of flight determined by the controller. In one or more examples, determining that the object has intersected the path is performed by a machine learning algorithm that has been provided with appropriate training data. In one or more examples, determining that the object has intersected the path is performed based on a change in time of flight exceeding a predetermined threshold.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for an apparatus comprising an acoustic transducer arrangement and a controller, the method comprising:
transmitting at least one acoustic signal by an acoustic transducer arrangement;
detecting a reflection of the at least one acoustic signal by an acoustic transducer arrangement;
determining, by a controller, a time of flight of at least one acoustic signal;
determining, by the controller, at least a first value indicative of the temperature based on the time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal and calibration information indicative of a relationship between the time of flight and the temperature in the space in which the device is located.
According to a third aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a heating and/or cooling system for a space, the heating and/or cooling system respectively comprising at least one heating and/or cooling device and the apparatus of the first aspect configured to enable control of the at least one heating and/or cooling device.
While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. However, it is to be understood that other embodiments beyond the specific embodiments described are possible. The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
The above discussion is not intended to represent each exemplary embodiment or every implementation within the scope of the present or future claim sets. The figures and the detailed description that follow further illustrate various exemplary embodiments. The various exemplary embodiments may be more completely understood in consideration of the following detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Drawings
One or more embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a device;
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary graph showing the relationship between the speed of sound in air and the temperature of the air;
FIG. 3 shows an exemplary graph showing the relative change in sound speed in air versus air temperature for values taken at 0 ℃;
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary graph showing the speed of sound in air versus air temperature at different relative humidity values;
FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary graph of measurement error due to uncertainty in relative humidity as a function of ambient air temperature;
FIG. 6 shows a first example arrangement of devices in space;
FIG. 7 shows a top view of a second example arrangement of devices in space;
FIG. 8 shows a side view of a second example arrangement of devices in space; and
fig. 9 shows a flow chart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method.
Detailed Description
In one or more examples, the temperature of a space, such as a room, may be determined by a thermostat, which may form part of a space heating or space cooling system, such as a central heating system or an air conditioning system. Thermostats typically use a physical temperature sensor to measure the temperature of a space. The space may include any of a room, office, warehouse, or any other residential or commercial building in a house. The temperature sensors used are typically of the resistance-based temperature detector (RTD) type, the thermally coupled type or the diode type. The temperature sensor is typically mounted inside the housing of the thermostat. In some instances, a drawback of such temperature sensors is that they are expected to provide a temperature representation of the temperature in the entire space but may sometimes show erroneous temperature readings. The cause of such false temperature readings may be sun shine on the thermostat; localized heat sources, such as bulbs, that provide significant localized thermal effects but little overall effect on temperature throughout the space; and where the temperature sensor is mounted, e.g., on an outer wall or an inner wall, etc. In those cases, the temperature sensor may show up to several degrees of error. As will be appreciated, thermostats are typically used to control heating or cooling systems, and thus erroneous readings can cause improper temperature-based control and waste of energy for those systems. In fact, it can be considered that the temperature sensor measures the temperature of the thermostat (i.e. the temperature in the housing of the thermostat), and not the temperature of the ambient air in the space or room in which the thermostat is located.
In one or more examples, a room may have multiple radiators or air conditioners that may be simultaneously controlled by a thermostat and this may be inefficient because some portions of the room may temporarily have a different temperature than at the thermostat location (e.g., portions of the space near a window or door typically have a lower temperature during winter time).
In one or more examples, a user may want to have different temperature settings in different areas of the same room, e.g., warmer sofa corners and cooler open kitchens. The traditional way to achieve this is to use multiple sensors at different sites, which adds complexity to the system.
Example fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a
Thus, the calibration information may be specific to the
In one or more examples, the
In this example and one or more examples, an acoustic transducer arrangement includes: a first
The speed of sound in an ideal gas can be represented by equation (1).
Where γ is the adiabatic index, k is the boltzmann constant, T is the absolute temperature in kelvin, and m is the mass of a single gas molecule in kilograms. For dry air, the formula can be simplified to the form of
Example fig. 2 shows a relationship 200, as formulated in
Thus, for dry air, a measurement of the speed of sound may reveal the air temperature. Speed of sound (c)Air (a)) It can be calculated from the distance (d) traveled by the acoustic signal or sound wave and the time (t) required for the acoustic signal or sound wave to travel these distances: c. CAir (a)D/t. In the measurement, if d is known, c can be derived if the time delay between the transmission of the sound wave and the reception of the sound wave, i.e. the time of flight, can be measuredAir (a)。
Thus, in one or more examples, the time of flight of an acoustic signal over a predetermined distance is determined (to determine c)Air (a)Or cDrying air) May relate to temperature. Even if the distance traveled by the acoustic signal is not known, it is possible to assume that the distance is constant and use equation (2) to determine the temperature. The use of time of flight of the acoustic signal may be advantageous because the average temperature over the path taken by the acoustic signal may be inherently determined.
For humid air, the relationship is slightly different and some correction may be needed. Example fig. 4 shows a calculated sound velocity versus air temperature relationship 400 for five different air humidity levels-0% relative humidity, 25% relative humidity, 50% relative humidity, 75% relative humidity, and 100% relative humidity.
In air, the speed of sound is a function of the Relative Humidity (RH). However, this dependence is not significant at low temperatures, and may be considered non-negligible at higher temperatures (e.g., above 0 ℃ or above 10 ℃ or any other selected temperature) in one or more instances. At a constant temperature, the speed of sound increases with increasing relative humidity. For the purpose of temperature measurement, if the RH is not known, the acquired temperature will have some uncertainty or error.
Fig. 5 shows the temperature error 500 (in ± c) when
Since the dependence of the speed of sound on humidity is relatively small, in one or more examples, it may be acceptable to obtain only a rough estimate of relative humidity to reduce the error at the aforementioned "higher temperatures". For example, assuming a room temperature of 40 ℃, if the relative humidity can be determined to have three levels of fineness, e.g., a low level of 0% ≦ RH ≦ 40%, an intermediate level of 40% < RH ≦ 70%, and a high level of 70% < RH ≦ 100%, then the
In one or more examples, the
Thus, in one or more examples, the
We now consider a first exemplary embodiment of the
The
Thus, in one or more examples, in a general sense, the
transmitting the at least one acoustic signal 608, 609, 610, 611 in different directions (direction of the portions 604, 605, 606, 607); and
receiving reflections of the at least one acoustic signal from different directions
Such that the path followed by at least one acoustic signal extends through a first portion of the space (any of the portions 604, 605, 606, 607) and a second, different portion of the space (any other portion of the portions 604, 605, 606, 607).
In addition, the
In one or more examples, the plurality of reflected acoustic signals may be generated as transmitted acoustic signals reflected from objects in the
In the example of fig. 6, the first acoustic signal 608 is shown as having a shortest round trip time of T1 seconds from a reflection from the
These values indicative of temperature may be an average ambient air temperature along the path of the acoustic signal. In one or more instances, the advantage of using ultrasound to measure temperature is that direct air temperature is measured and thus there is no effect from the temperature of a physical object such as a wall, equipment or "thermostat" housing, radiation such as sunlight, or local heat sources. Another possible advantage is that the temperature may be measured instantaneously without any delay or abrupt delay compared to physical sensors, which may require a finite period of time to react to and "sense" changes in air temperature.
Thus, in one or more examples, the
As mentioned above, the determination of the temperature from the different sections 604, 605, 606, 607 may be obtained from acoustic signals having different paths of travel through the
In one or more exemplary embodiments, the
a first acoustic transducer configured to emit a first acoustic signal in a first direction (to portion 604), and a second acoustic transducer configured to detect reflections of the first acoustic signal;
a third acoustic transducer configured to emit a second acoustic signal (to portion 605) in a second direction different from the first direction, and a fourth acoustic transducer configured to detect reflections of the second acoustic signal;
a fifth acoustic transducer configured to emit a third acoustic signal (to portion 606) in a third direction different from the first direction and the second direction, and a sixth acoustic transducer configured to detect a reflection of the third acoustic signal;
a seventh acoustic transducer configured to emit a fourth acoustic signal (to portion 607) in a fourth direction different from the first direction, the second direction, and the third direction, and an eighth acoustic transducer configured to detect a reflection of the fourth acoustic signal.
It will be appreciated that more or fewer acoustic transducers may be provided depending on the number of portions of desired temperature values.
Thus, the first, third, fifth and seventh acoustic transducers acting as transmitters may face different directions to provide their transmitted acoustic signals primarily in different directions. The first, third, fifth and seventh acoustic transducers are preferably mounted in the same housing. In addition, the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth acoustic transducers acting as receivers may also face different directions or may be configured to be sensitive to reflections from a wider range of directions. The "receiver" acoustic transducer is preferably mounted in the same housing and is preferably co-located with the "transmitter" acoustic transducer. In one or more examples, the first and second acoustic transducers are the same transducer, and/or the third and fourth acoustic transducers are the same transducer, and/or the fifth and sixth acoustic transducers are the same transducer, and/or the seventh and eighth acoustic transducers are the same transducer. Thus, the signal transducer may act as a transmitter and a receiver for transmitting and receiving acoustic signals through its associated portion 604, 605, 606, 607.
In one or more other examples, the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth acoustic transducers, i.e., "receiver" transducers, may comprise a common transducer operating in conjunction with the aforementioned plurality of individual "transmitter" transducers.
In one or more examples, one or more of the acoustic transducers of
In one or more examples, the
In one or more examples, rather than transmitting acoustic signals in a particular direction, the temperature of different portions 604 to 607 may be determined by receiving reflections arriving at the acoustic transducer arrangement from the direction of those portions. Thus, the
Thus, in one or more examples, the
Specifically, in this example, the phased array acoustic transducer receiver may be configured to: receiving a first acoustic signal substantially from a first direction (e.g., in the direction of portion 604), the first acoustic signal comprising at least a reflected portion of at least one acoustic signal; and receiving a second acoustic signal substantially from a second, different direction (e.g., in the direction of portion 605), the second acoustic signal comprising at least a reflected portion of the at least one acoustic signal; and receiving a third acoustic signal substantially from a third, different direction (e.g., in the direction of portion 606), the third acoustic signal comprising at least a reflected portion of the at least one acoustic signal; and receiving a fourth acoustic signal substantially from a fourth, different direction (e.g., in the direction of portion 607), the fourth acoustic signal comprising at least a reflected portion of the at least one acoustic signal.
In one or more examples, the
Turning now to reference calibration information, the calibration information may be viewed as providing a function or information to translate time-of-flight measurements into temperature values. As described above with respect to fig. 6, the calibration information may include the distance over which the plurality of acoustic signals/reflected acoustic signals travel, i.e., d1、d2、d3、d4.
Thus, in one or more examples, the calibration information is at least partially indicative of the distance from the acoustic sensor arrangement to the
Distance d1、d2、d3、d4The determination of (a) may require the acquisition of distance information by either manually receiving input data or by an automated process in a calibration mode.
In one or more examples, the
The range-determining sensor is configured to provide a measure of range using a transmitted ranging signal having a transmission speed that is independent of temperature. Accordingly, the ranging signal is an electromagnetic signal. The beam directions of the distance-determining sensors may be preset at different angles corresponding to the direction of acoustic signal transmission/reception to provide an accurate measure of the length of the path followed by the acoustic signal. The laser-based distance measuring device may be configured to measure distance by calculating a round trip time of a laser pulse. Radar-based distance measuring devices may be configured to measure distance d by calculating the round trip time of a Radio Frequency (RF) pulse or other type of signaling1、d2、d3、d4. The radio waves used for radar may have millimeter wave wavelengths and, in one or more examples, a wide bandwidth (e.g., ultra-wideband). It will be appreciated that directional antennas or phased array antennas are available for radar-based range measurement devices, which may similarly transmit radio frequency waves in a direction corresponding to the acoustic signal beam. By measuring the round trip time of the transmitted radio frequency signal, the distance can be calculated. The bandwidth of the radio frequency signal may be carefully selected so that the ranging accuracy is at least equivalent to the required temperature resolution, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
The
In other examples, the distance may be measured manually, and the device may include an input member configured to receive the measurement value for determination of the calibration information. Thus, the measurements may be received via a user interface or an application.
In one or more examples, the distance may be difficult to measure, or the device may be configured to use calibration information other than the determined distance. Alternatively, the calibration information may include one or more "reference" time-of-flight measurements made by the
The
In one or more embodiments, the calibration information may be automatically determined by the process followed in the calibration mode without input of distance from the distance-determining sensor or temperature from the portable temperature sensor. In one or more examples, the calibration mode may take several days to complete, but may be more convenient for a user of
Rooms (such as living rooms), for example,
The
The
Thus, to summarize in a general sense, the
determining a first estimated distance d traveled by at least one acoustic signal transmitted in or received from a first direction through the portion 604 based on the time-of-flight measurements and the temperature determined by the temperature sensor1(ii) a And
determining a second estimated distance traveled by the at least one acoustic signal transmitted in or received from the second direction through the portion 605 based on the time-of-flight measurements and the temperature determined by the temperature sensor; and
determining a third estimated distance traveled by the portion 606 by at least one acoustic signal transmitted in or received from a third direction based on the time-of-flight measurements and the temperature determined by the temperature sensor; and
determining a fourth estimated distance traveled by the at least one acoustic signal transmitted in or received from the fourth direction through the portion 607 based on the time-of-flight measurements and the temperature determined by the temperature sensor; and
wherein the first, second, third and fourth estimated distances form at least part of the calibration information, and wherein, in the measurement mode, the at least four values indicative of the temperature are determined using the time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal and the calibration information determined in the calibration mode.
It will be appreciated that in the calibration mode, the temperature determined by the temperature sensor may be included for determiningAt least one temperature reading for one, some, or all of the distances is estimated. In one or more examples, the temperature determined by the temperature sensor is used to determine all of the estimated distances d1To d4A common reading (assuming that the temperature reading was taken within a threshold time of the corresponding time-of-flight measurement).
It will be appreciated that the number of portions determining a value indicative of temperature may vary in any of the embodiments herein.
In one or more embodiments, the
Fig. 7 and 8 show a second exemplary embodiment. Fig. 7 shows a plan view of the
In this example, the
In any of the embodiments, it can be appreciated that the path that the acoustic signal travels in
As mentioned above, the
Fig. 9 shows a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method. The method comprises a method for a
emitting 901 at least one acoustic signal by an acoustic transducer arrangement;
detecting 902 a reflection of the at least one acoustic signal by an acoustic transducer arrangement;
determining 903, by the controller, a time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal;
at least a first value indicative of the temperature is determined 904 by the controller based on the time of flight of the at least one acoustic signal and calibration information indicative of a relationship between the time of flight and the temperature in the space in which the device is located.
The instructions in the above figures and/or the flowchart steps may be executed in any order, unless a specific order is explicitly stated. Also, those skilled in the art will recognize that while one exemplary instruction set/method has been discussed, the materials in this specification can be combined in a number of ways to produce yet other examples, and should be understood within the context provided by this detailed description.
In some exemplary embodiments, the instruction sets/method steps described above are implemented as functions and software instructions embodied as sets of executable instructions that are implemented on a computer or machine programmed and controlled with the executable instructions. Such instructions are loaded for execution on a processor (e.g., CPU or CPUs). The term processor includes microprocessors, microcontrollers, processor modules or subsystems (including one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers), or other control or computing devices. A processor may refer to a single component or a plurality of components.
In other examples, the sets of instructions/methods illustrated herein, as well as data and instructions associated therewith, are stored in respective storage devices implemented as one or more non-transitory machine or computer-readable or computer-usable storage media. Such computer-readable or computer-usable storage media are considered to be part of an article (or article of manufacture). An article or article may refer to any manufactured component or components. Non-transitory machine or computer usable media as defined herein do not include signals, but such media may be capable of receiving and processing information from signals and/or other transitory media.
Exemplary embodiments of the materials discussed in this specification can be implemented in whole or in part via networks, computers, or data-based devices and/or services. These may include clouds, the internet, intranets, mobile devices, desktops, processors, look-up tables, microcontrollers, consumer devices, infrastructure, or other enabled devices and services. As used herein and in the claims, the following non-exclusive definitions are provided.
In one example, one or more instructions or steps discussed herein are automated. The term automated or automatically (and similar variants thereof) means to control the operation of a device, system, and/or process using computers and/or mechanical/electrical means without the need for human intervention, observation, effort, and/or decision-making.
It is to be understood that any components that are said to be coupled may be directly or indirectly coupled or connected. In the case of indirect coupling, additional components may be disposed between the two components that are said to be coupled.
In this specification, exemplary embodiments have been presented in terms of selected sets of details. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that many other exemplary embodiments may be practiced that include different selected sets of these details. It is intended that the appended claims cover all possible example embodiments.
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