Total Focusing Method with Arduino

Hi, as a thesis project abut 3D Total Focusing Method I'd like to replicate a very approximate experiment with Arduino. My idea is to create an array of ultrasound sensor and trigger each sensor one by one and collect the echo with all the receiver. Also I need to use analog sensors to collect voltages output.

I'm not very into Arduino so I don't know if this is possible to realize, what do you think?
Thanks

Hard to tell what you want to do, to what degree of precision.

At first I'd like to know if I put two ultrasound sensors close to each other, sensor #1 can receive #2 signal

Yes, of course.

Total Focusing Method

Assuming the above is what interests you, most Arduinos have only one ADC, so only one measurement can be made at a time.

The difficult part of your project will be to measure the reflection time course at N sensors. And, of course, processing the data to form a 3D image.

First of all thanks for the answer, do you think there's a solution for this?

Maybe if I have N sensors I can make N measures switching ADC connection every time.
Can this work?

What sort of sampling rate do you think you're going to need?

Scan Nearby Objects to Make 3d Model Using ARDUINO : 5 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables

A mental experiment can envision multiple sonar sensors. Implementation in realtime will require external circuitry as the sensor data capture must be made simultaneously. External sample-hold could simplify design.

For forum quick-reference:

TFM == Total Focusing Method
What is Total Focusing Method (TFM)? | Eddyfi

At the moment idk, for now I need to figure it put if is possible to do something close to TFM

See post #2

Rules out the common HC-SR04 (cheap) sensor:

Before destroying more brain cells, write down some requirements for sensors working in your physical environment (constraint.) I assume you are not creating some whale-killing super sonar device for military use.

People use this and related techniques routinely, with sophisticated, custom designed equipment.

You don't have to read out the echos simultaneously if you have limited equipment, like an Arduino with only one ADC. Read out one echo at time and assemble the results later. This falls under "synthetic aperture" methods.

I think to start from a 40KHz sensor for prototyping, my doubt is if need a digital or analog output from the sensor, because I think that wit a digital output I can calculate only the distance of the nearest object hit by the ultrasounds. Is it right?

Can you please answer the implicit question in post #2?
Some numbers:
a 40kHz signal, in air has a wavelength of around 8.5mm.
A Uno can manage typically about 9-10 thousand 10-bit samples a second, or roughly one sample per four cycles of 40kHz signal.

Do these sound like useful figures for what you're trying to do?

As shown in post #13, the output is just a low-high, high-low transition the width representing time. Library code does the sound distance calculation.

@anon56112670 brings up the math behing the uC clock frequency... limitations that need to be addressed. 16MHz clocks are really "slow" compared to microcontrollers such as Arduino Due which runs at 84MHz. Other devices such as the Portenta H7 run at 480MHz.

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