HYDROCON ACOUSTIC IMAGING SYSTEM.

This report describes the results of an investigation to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of a new underwater acoustic imaging system using the HYDROCON principle. This new system would substantially extend the underwater detection capability wherever the conventional sonar and optical techniques are not applicable. The more important applications of this system would be in seeing under water over longer distances than are possible with ordinary light, especially where the degree of resolution achieved with optical vision is not needed but where it should be better than that achievable by sonar techniques. Such a system could be important for searching for lost objects under water, underwater rescue missions, piloting of submarines in mined or hazardous waters, oceanography, and classification. A breadboard system was completed and the over-all characteristics were observed experimentally. This was accomplished by using an ultrasonic transmitter, a focusing system to form the acoustic image, and a mosaic array of piezoelectric transducers connected to a specially designed image converter tube for transforming this acoustic image into a visual display. Author