Ha. Canistraro et Eh. Jordan, PROJECTILE-IMPACT-LOCATION DETERMINATION - AN ACOUSTIC TRIANGULATION METHOD, Measurement science & technology, 7(12), 1996, pp. 1755-1760
A unique method of determining the impact position of a projectile has
been developed which is based on the measurement of acoustic waves ge
nerated by the impact of the projectile on a target screen and incorpo
rates three microphones positioned at the screen corners. By detecting
and measuring the differences in arrival times of the airborne sound
wave at three points, the impact location can be found. A closed form
solution to the nonlinear equations expressing the impact location in
terms of the differences in arrival times of the sound waves has been
found. The technique has been applied to golf balls striking a screen
of dimensions 2.5 m by 3.0 m, with an accuracy of position measurement
of +/-0.05 m. The system has been demonstrated over a wide range of p
rojectile velocities from as little as 3 m s(-1) up to speeds of over
50 m s(-1).