Generating cognitive maps using echo features from a biomimetic audible sonar

A sonar cognitive map displays target components that are specified by signal features extracted from a single binaural echo pair. A biomimetic audible sonar probes targets configured using posts connected by tangential planes. Echo envelopes are processed to extract values of eight parameters that govern the mapping process. Being tuned to recognize posts and planes, a cognitive map is composed of these two components using the posts' centers and radii as landmarks. A platform with translational and rotational degrees of freedom implements a landmark-centric scanning trajectory whose step size adaptively changes with echo information. The sonar tracks the target surface by maintaining a constant first-echo arrival time and by equalizing binaural echo times to form singular echoes that identify landmarks. The mapping process employs five states from detection to termination that pass through the singular echo state. Separate states process echo interference caused by two posts and echoes from planar surfaces. Sonar scanning stops when the current landmark parameters match those of the first landmark. Two targets configured with three posts and an added plane illustrate the procedure. Cognitive maps exhibit landmark locations that are accurate to ±5% with post radius estimates accurate to ±20%.