For reasons we don’t need to delve into here, I’ve recently been writing about phased array systems in the context of cellular communications and super-spiffy radar systems.
The reason I mention this here is that it can be tricky to explain the phased array concept to beginners. However, my chum Matt Pulzer, who is the editor and publisher of Practical Electronics magazine in the UK, just shared this video with me.
All I can say is that this is one of the best explanations of how phased arrays work I’ve seen this far. Plus, now I want to build my own super-duper DIY sonar scanner. How about you? Do you have any thought you’d care to share about phased arrays in general and this video in particular?
That video is the best explanation of phased arrays that I have seen. Thanks for sharing it!
One thing that needs clarification is that phased array technology works not only for transmitting a wave, but also in passive systems that receive only. I have a friend who uses beamforming technology to design hearing aids that can pick out one voice in a noisy room.
-Rick
Wow — that’s really interesting — I’m assuming your friend’s technology can also determine the direction from whence the voice originates — I could use this on my robot head to make it track someone why was speaking.
Yes- I think you could use beamforming to track who is talking.
This jogged my memory about something a bit off-topic.
Picturetel used to make a videoconferencing system that provided each person at a conference table with a little wireless device that had two buttons on them: a mute button and a “look at me” button. The “look at me” button would cause the camera to focus on the person who is speaking. These became very popular and were known by their abbreviation “LAMB”. So- What did they call the mute button?
Wait for it……
…….The silence of the LAMBS!
I’m not kidding.
I love it — it reminds me of a register in a computer design. It was called the “Banana Register”. The designers told me it was so-named because “the data arrived at the register in bunches” (arrgghhh).