Onboard Acoustic Tracking System.

Apparatus located aboard a platform situated in an acoustic environment for tracking a moving body when the body is proximate to the platform. The apparatus includes a selected number of acoustic sensor elements at selected locations around the platform, each of the elements for detecting acoustic information arriving at its selected location. The apparatus further includes signal conditioners coupled to the sensor elements, a given one of the signal conditioners providing a conditioned signal representing acoustic information which is emitted by the moving body when the body is proximate to the platform, and which arrives at the location of the acoustic sensor element to which the given signal conditioner is coupled. A processor receives conditioned signals from respective signal conditioners and enables comparisons of selected characteristics of the received signals to the made in order to determine a selected parameter which is related to the movement of the body when the moving body is proximate to the platform. (Author)
Supersedes PAT-APPL-153 820-80.