I'm currently working on an exciting project where I aim to map the internal structure of trees using ultrasound tomography. The concept is similar to ultrasonography used in medical applications, but in this case, it's applied to trees to assess their health and structural integrity by detecting any internal decay or cavities.
Project Overview:
The idea is to send ultrasonic waves through the tree and capture the reflected signals to map the internal structure. Based on the time it takes for the sound waves to travel through the tree and return, I hope to determine the density variations and detect any internal anomalies.
But this is a community help forum. Are you asking for help?
I'm not sure anyone on the forum will have any advice about what model of sensor may be suitable. Many will probably say that such a sensor will require powerful processing to visualise the data in a useful way and Arduino may not be the best choice for that.
You're right—this is quite an ambitious project, and I understand that it might require more powerful processing than what Arduino can handle on its own. My main goal at this stage is to explore whether I can prototype parts of the system using Arduino, such as acquiring the raw data from ultrasonic sensors and doing basic signal processing. I plan to offload the more complex image reconstruction and data visualization tasks to an external system, like a PC with MATLAB or Python.
I’m mainly looking for advice on the sensors themselves. If anyone has experience working with ultrasonic transducers or similar sensors for material testing or object detection, I’d love to hear your recommendations on specific models that are Arduino-compatible or easy to integrate into a custom system.
Thanks again, and I appreciate any insights the community might have!
Have you had any experience with using lower frequencies in non-destructive testing, or would you recommend any specific transducers that work well at those ranges?
Just use a spring mechanic that knocks on the trunk. This generates way enough overtones. BTW, this is used in oil exploration, too ... and by mechanics and handymen and dendrologists. Well, they usaly use a small hammer and a stetoscope for this.
Do you think this approach would be sensitive enough to detect more subtle internal defects in trees, like small cavities or decay? Also, would it be easy to analyze the response, given the complexity of overtones, especially with something like Arduino?
Thanks again for the suggestion—definitely something I'll look into!
