Project Based Learning Report

on
WORKING OF SONAR
Submitted
In partial fulfillment
For the award of the degree of
B.Tech. (CSE)
in Department of COMPUTER SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING

Submitted by:
Divya Mittal, 180038
Mahima Goyal, 180062
Jahanvi Paliwal , 180051
Sakshi Kumar, 180058
Janhavi Baja, 180049

DECEMBER, 2018

Mody University of Science & Technology

College of Engineering & Technology
Lakshmangarh, Sikar – 332311 (Rajasthan)
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that work contained in this report titled WORKING OF SONAR is a bona-
fide work of Ms. Sakshi, Ms. Divya, Ms. Mahima, Ms. Jahanvi and Ms. Janhavi and has
been carried out under my supervision.

Dr. Manoj Mishra

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives us immense pleasure in presenting this report of the project titled “WORKING OF
SONAR”. We would like to express our gratitude towards our teacher and our guide
professor Dr. Manoj Mishra, who gave us valuable suggestions and encouragement. We
also thank our college for giving us this opportunity to work on this project and providing us
with all the resources we needed. We also thank Dr. V.K. Jain, Dean CET, Mody University
Of Science And Technology, Lakshmangarh. We are immensely grateful to all the people
involved in helping us to complete the project. Without their guidance and inspiration it
would not have been possible for us to complete it in the prescribed time.

With sincere thanks,

Ms. Divya Mittal (180038)
Ms. Jahanvi Paliwal (180051)
Ms. Mahima Goyal (180062)
Ms. Sakshi Kumar (180058)
Ms. Janhavi Bajaj (180049)
 CONTENTS
Abstract 1

Chapter-1: Introduction 2

Chapter-2: Working of Sonar 3

Chapter-3: History 5

Chapter-4: Applications 6

Chapter-5: Limitations 7

Chapter-6: Conclusion 9

REFERENCES 10
 ABSTRACT
In past previous years, the demand of underwater communication due to interest and
underwater activities of human being. Underwater communication done with the help of
sonar waves, electromagnetic waves and acoustic waves, these three waves are different in
nature. This paper present an overview of sonar waves underwater communication. It
describes a formal process of environmental impact assessment being developed in support of the
procurement of future sonars in the UK. In particular, Environmental Assessment for sonar systems
requires a process of cause and affect modelling to be undertaken. Sonars may produce both energy
and substance pollution (e.g. explosives may release toxic compounds). Sound energy on the other
hand is rather more difficult. Consideration of the hearing sensitivity of fish, for example, leads to the
notion of safe exposure level and probability of avoidance. There have been few coincident
measurements of sound intensity in the ocean at the ranges at which a particular species exhibits
avoidance behaviour and many studies make simplifying assumptions regarding acoustic propagation,
e.g. spherical spreading out to unrealistically long ranges.

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 CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

Sonar is an acronym for Sound Navigation And Ranging. It is a method of detecting,

locating, and determining the speed of objects through the use of reflected sound waves. The
acoustic frequencies used in sonar systems vary from very low (infrasonic) to extremely high
(ultrasonic). Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in
submarine navigation) to navigate, communicate with or detect objects on or under the
surface of the water, such as other vessels. Two types of technology share the name "sonar":
passive sonar is essentially listening for the sound made by vessels; active sonar is emitting
pulses of sounds and listening for echoes. Sonar may be used as a means of acoustic location
and of measurement of the echo characteristics of "targets" in the water. Acoustic location in
air was used before the introduction of radar. Sonar may also be used in air for robot
navigation, and SODAR upward looking in-air sonar) is used for atmospheric investigations.
The term sonar is also used for the equipment used to generate and receive the sound. The
acoustic frequencies used in sonar systems vary from very low (infrasonic) to extremely high
(ultrasonic). The study of underwater sound is known as underwater acoustics or hydro
acoustics. Sonar is a device that is used to detect underwater objects using sound waves. In
this system a sound pulse is generated and sent underwater through a transmitter. Sound
waves are reflected by the underwater object which are received at receiver. The time taken
by sound wave to come back is recorded. And by knowing the speed of sound wave in water
the distance can be easily calculated by formula (Distance = Speed x Time).

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 CHAPTER-2

WORKING OF SONAR

Sonar is simply making use of an echo. When an animal or machine makes a noise, it sends
sound waves into the environment around it. Those waves bounce off nearby objects, and
some of them reflect back to the object that made the noise. It's those reflected sound waves
that you hear when your voice echoes back to you from a canyon. Whales and specialized
machines can use reflected waves to locate distant objects and sense their shape and
movement.

The range of low-frequency sonar is remarkable. Dolphins and whales can tell the difference
between objects as small as a BB pellet from 50 feet (15 meters) away, and they use sonar
much more than sight to find their food, families, and direction. The LFA sonar being tested
by the military can travel thousands of miles, and could cover 80% of the earth's oceans by
broadcasting from only four points. The frequency that both whales and the military use falls
between 100 and 500 Hz. Whales send signals out between 160 and 190 Db, the Navy has
tested its sonar signals at levels up to 235 Db.

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A beam of ultrasonic sound is produced and transmitted by the transducer (it is a device that
produces ultrasonic sound) of the SONAR, which travels through sea water. The echo
produced by the reflection of this ultrasonic sound is detected and recorded by the detector,
which is converted into electrical signals. The distance (d) of the under-water object is
calculated from the time (t) taken by the echo to return with speed (v) is given by 2d = v × t.
This method of measuring distance is also known as ‘echo-ranging’.

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 CHAPTER-3

HISTORY

It was nature itself that invented "sonic radar," or sonar, well before humans did. For
example, bats fly in the dark with poor sight without hitting obstacles and locate prey by
means of sound pulses humans cannot hear.

In 1906, American naval architect Lewis Nixon invented the first sonar-like listening device
to detect icebergs. During World War I (1914-18), a need to detect submarines increased
interest in sonar. French physicist Paul Langévin constructed the first sonar set to detect
submarines in 1915. At first, these sonar sets could only "listen" to returning signals. By
1918, Britain and the United States had built sonar sets that could send out, as well as receive,
sound signals. The U.S. military began using the term "sonar" during World War II. As with
radar, new military applications for sonar are constantly being developed. For example, in the
early 2000's, the U.S. Navy introduced a sonar system to help clear military mines.

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 CHAPTER-4

APPLICATIONS

1. It is used to find the actual depth of the sea.

2. Sonar systems are used to find lost ships and submarines.
3. These are used in ocean surveillance systems.
4. They are used by navy detect the locations of enemy submarines.
5. They are used for under water security.
6. Military:
a. To detect, track and destroy enemy ships and submarines.
b. To detect and destroy enemy underwater mines.
c. To communicate using underwater sound as a medium.
d. To navigate under ice.
e. Safe navigation in shallow water.
f. Determining navigational location.
g. Measuring sound velocity.
h. Emergency location beacon.
i. Machinery repair.
7. Civilian:
a. Maritime:
i. Navigation.
ii. Diver communication.
iii. Fish finding.
iv. Wreck location and salvage.
b. Research:
i. Animal location and tracking.
ii. Animal communications.
iii. Seismic measurements.
iv. Bottom topography.
v. Volcanic measurements.
vi. Resource location.
c. Industrial:
i. Machinery maintenance and repair.
ii. Metallurgic measurement.
d. Medical:
i. Sonography.
ii. Auditory research.

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 CHAPTER-5
LIMITATIONS
Sonar can get disrupted really easily from any sound wave hanging out in the environment.
Those disruptions, also known as "party poopers" by sonar engineers (probably), are

 Surface noises.
 Other ships.
 Sea life.
 Self-noise.

All these types of noises make it really hard for sonar to do its job, but they're pretty much
unavoidable. At least as long as we're ruling out the idea of nuclear weapons in solving the
sounds caused by humanity and sea life issue. (Even then, though, the self-noise is still going
to show up and nuclear waste/the destruction of humanity just isn't worth it.)

Ambient noise is another name for background noise in the environment, typically uniform
throughout the space. That means no matter where you go in the local area, the ambient noise
is going to be the same.

Surface noise
The things that happen at the surface of the ocean, like ocean waves, can add a lot of
background noise to your system. The bigger the waves, the more ambient noise you're going
to get. Typically, you'll get noise with a frequency above 300 Hz.

Other Ships
Any ships in the area are going to create some ambient noise that you'll have to hope isn't
going to mess with your sonar. In fact, when ships move across your space, you're going to
have to deal with the fact that the noise is going to increase a lot—at a low frequency (< 300
Hz). It's also going to be pretty random, so you'll have to expect it even when you least
expect it.

Sea Life
Animals like dolphins, whales, and even ones you wouldn't expect (hello snapping shrimp)
can create some unpredictable and loud ambient noise. You can't do anything about that noise
and you'll only figure out its effects after it's all over.

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Self-Made Noise
Sometimes your own ship's electronics can prove to be the Brutus to your system's Caesar.
This noise, usually called platform noise, comes from the flow of water across the receiving
array of the sonar itself. This self-noise, abbrieved to SN, depends on the frequency and
speed of the ship.

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 CHAPTER-6

CONCLUSION
The fact that Earth is an aquatic planet with more than 80% of the surface covered with
water, has attracted many earth observers to understand what is lying below using sonar
techniques. SONAR (SOnar NAvigation and Ranging), initially used in submarines during
World War II, is increasingly being used in Earth observations along with various civilian
applications like sea-bed imaging, depth sounding and fish-echolocation. Sonar information
collected while searching for, or identifying, underwater surfaces is often presented to the
operator in the form of two dimensional images. Sonar images are created using a fan-shaped
sonar beam that scans a given area by moving through the water to generate points, which
forms a high resolution sonar image of the given area.

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 REFERENCES

Websites refered to:

 https://blog.sonarsource.com/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonar
 https://www.quora.com/
 https://www.shmoop.com/computer-science/sonar/how-it-works.html

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