Our tagline at PUI is When it needs to be heard. What happens, though, when it can’t be heard, but needs to work anyway?
Our engineers are immersing themselves in new products that tap into the capabilities of ultrasonic transmissions for the purpose of using audio in new and innovative ways. Ultrasonic makes for a challenging design because the output can’t be heard at normal frequencies, but the possibilities are limitless.
Think about bats. Bats use ultrasonic transmissions to feel the world around them with exact accuracy. The animals produce ultrasonic sound waves and those sound waves bounce off objects in their environment. Then, the sounds return to the bats’ ears, which are finely tuned to recognize their own unique calls and provide the data to map the environment around them.
Similarly, PUI engineers are helping our customers develop audio systems for real-world solutions to mapping the environment in useful and actionable ways.
One example is found in the auto industry, where ultrasonic sensors are used for moving vehicle backup alarms, letting drivers know what is behind them and when it is too close.
Ultrasonic audio components are also used in industrial settings, helping to provide actionable measurements. PUI Audio customers are using the technology in new ways and pushing the technology forward. For example, one customer is using ultrasonic to measure the fill levels in dumpsters, while another is using it to measure flow and speed of water through pipes.
The use of ultrasonic components helps provide not only the accurate measurements, but also the ability to measure through ongoing adaptable analytics that provide real-time changes and historical data.
The science isn’t new, but the technological applications are, and PUI Audio is still exploring all the ways the science can be applied in industrial, medical and consumer settings. It’s a new frontier, and as with most of the new frontiers PUI is working to break through, the best ideas come through collaboration and brainstorming with our customers. Often, we don’t know where the solutions will lead us until we start talking, so if you have an idea, question or rogue thought and are wondering if ultrasonic might provide the answer, let’s talk!
Have a conversation with an engineer, and let’s figure it out together.