Technology Overview Physics And Mathematics Avishai Bartov, VP R&D

APM Annual International Partners Conference Agenda Introduction video – 3DLevelScanner Acoustic mapping technology Inherent tradeoffs in Acoustics Level measurement – Narrow beam solutions Surface mapping with a wide angle beam Gathering multiple echoes from the surface Calculate distance and direction of arrival 3D Surface reconstruction Advance Radar Signal Processing Multi beams, multi frequency, Challenges Volume accuracy Self Cleaning Product Line Technology summary R&D Roadmap May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Inherent Tradeoffs in Acoustics Beam angle vs. Frequency θ - Beam opening angle λ - Wavelength D - Antenna size D Low frequency => Wide Beam May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Beam Angle vs. Frequency F = 2.5KHz λ = 13cm θ = 108⁰ D = 7.5cm May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Beam Angle vs. Frequency F = 4.5KHz λ = 7.5cm θ = 60⁰ D = 7.5cm May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Beam Angle vs. Frequency F = 10KHz λ = 3.4cm θ = 27⁰ D = 7.5cm May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Beam Angle vs. Frequency F = 20KHz λ = 1.7cm θ = 13⁰ D = 7.5cm Narrow beam requires Ultrasonic Frequency May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Inherent Tradeoffs in Acoustics Sound is a pressure wave Dust particles and humidity in the air attenuate the wave energy Attenuation grows sharply over 5KHz Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell, Kettering University Low freq. => Effective dust penetration May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Acoustic Wave Attenuation Very high attenuation at ultrasonic frequencies May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference 9 9

Acoustic Wave Attenuation Effective penetration at lower frequencies May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference 10 10

Level Measurement With Narrow Beam Goal: Measure the distance to a single, well defined point on the top surface Point measurement requires narrow beam Narrow =>Ultrasonic => poor dust penetration Distance measurement Traveling twice the distance C~340 Meter per Second Measuring the time of flight May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Surface Mapping - Wide Angle Beam Goal: Multipoint (X,Y,Z) measurement of the surface Large coverage => Transmit a wide angle pulse Wide beam=>Low freq.=> Effective dust penetration Multiple reflected echo coming from Large surfaces and Extremum points Material / Silo Wall interface Silo Walls – False echo to be filtered Separated by Time of Arrival May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Direction Of Arrival (DOA) - Array Processing Example: 1D Array processing Plan wave from angle - θ Speed of sound - C Array spacing - d Time Of Arrival (TOA) is different Wave Path difference between Mic’s is ΔP=d*Cos θ Therefore, time of arrival difference: ΔT =ΔP/C= d*Cosθ/C Path difference => TOA difference => θ May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Multiple Antennas Enables Mapping R1,θ1 Multiple antennas device R2,θ2 Distance and direction R3,θ3 Single antenna device R1 R3 R2 Distance measurement May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

3 Dimensional Surface Reconstruction 2 Dimensional Array of 3 Antenna Distance (R) Azimuth (Ф) and elevation (Θ) angles Convert R, Ф, Θ to Silo X,Y,Z coordinates Optimal 3D surface reconstruction Extremum and boundary points Assume maximal material slope Surface integral is Volume May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Advance Radar Signal Processing Range resolution: Key figure - The minimal distance between two echo sources that are still separable Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR): Required for the detection of small echo. Long pulse => higher energy => better SNR It is a challenge to create pulses that excel in both range resolution and SNR. A very active research topic for military radars May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Advance Radar Signal Processing (2) Long pulse (7M ) - modulated sine wave, rectangular envelope After match filter -Very poor range resolution - limited to 7M! May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Advance Radar Signal Processing (3) State of the art - Chen and Cantrell 2002 After match filter - 50cm resolution, 1/13 side lobes May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Advance Radar Signal Processing (4) APM Propriety – Patent pending After detection: Significantly improved resolution, virtually no side lobes! May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Advance Radar Signal Processing (5) State of the art APM 3 targets: The importance of resolution and low side lobs More points => Better mapping May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Advance Radar Signal Processing (6) APM proprietary scheme combines The resolution in detection of a short pulse The energy of a long pulse Using relatively small bandwidth, optimized for the application Virtually no side lobes Applicable for the entire scanning range Maintain constant resolution across the scanning range The longer the distance – the higher the pulse energy Very efficient numerical implementation May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Beam Steering Technology Beam direction can be tilted by modifying the signal phase in the antennas Significantly improve false echo separation and the investigation of complex surfaces by Looking at the same point through several beam tilts to solve symmetry problems (i.e. dual echo at +10 and -10 degrees) Pointing null to suspicious point to verify null reception Allowing high SNR at much larger sphere May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Multi Frequency Technology Gather information from different perspectives Beam angle - Interaction with silos wall Interaction with material, specular vs. scattering reflections Different multipath trajectories Different dust penetration capabilities Improved robustness to acoustic noise sources May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Directional False Echo Filtering Automatic mapping of false echo from silo structure Multipath between the walls and ceiling of the silo and the topography of the material Filtering analysis based on Distance and Direction measurement Information from other frequencies Information from other beams Silo geometry May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

APM Annual International Partners Conference Self Cleaning Self Cleaning due to acoustic energy vibration May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

APM Annual International Partners Conference Volume Accuracy Accuracy is < 3% Accuracy estimation considerations Surface topography scenarios - typically, a complex surface yields more points! Direction of arrival accuracy Distance measurement accuracy Silo geometry Beams coverage – MVL for very large silos May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

APM Annual International Partners Conference Product Line 3DLevelScanner M/MV 3DLevelScanner M Wide beam, Mapping capabilities Min, Max and average level values 3DLevelScanner MV Surface mapping visualization 3DLevelScanner MVL Series For large silos and open bins An integrated solutions of multiple scanner and a dedicated controller 3DMultiVision Software Multi-site inventory monitoring system 3DLinkPro Remote communication solution May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Device types M/MV 3DLevelScanner M 70º opening beam angle - covers wide surface area Real-time, accurate volume measurement Suitable for big silos that require high accuracy and inventory control Provides minimum/maximum and average distance Provides average volume at 4..20 mA output. 3D Mapping – detects mapping points of the surface area Visualization of 3D mapping - disabled May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Device types M/MV 3DLevelScanner MV 70º opening beam angle - covers wide surface area Real-time, accurate volume measurement Suitable for big silos that require high accuracy and inventory control Provides minimum/maximum and average distance Provides average volume at 4..20 mA output 3D Mapping – detects mapping points of the surface area Visualization of 3D mapping is enabled May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

3DLevelScanner MVL Series Multiple scanners Large Silos, Warehouses, and Open bins Number of scanners is application dependant Integrated solution Scanners synchronization Merges reading into a unified surface Min, Max and average level values Visualization of the Measured Surface Client server architecture May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

3D MultiVision software Inventory monitoring S/W Real time tracking of multiple silos Monitoring bulk solid inventories in the entire site Multiple sites via remote connection Client / Server architecture Server / scanners RS485 or TCP/IP to M/MV/MVL Products Multiple remote clients connection Provides Min / Max levels Volume and Mass 3D Visualization May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

APM Annual International Partners Conference Technology Summary Low operating frequencies provides both effective penetration and wide angle coverage 3D surface mapping based on digital array processing Measure angle and distance to multiple echoes from the surface Surface integral is volume Key technologies (Patent pending) Advance RADAR signal processing Excellent Range resolution compared to known state of the art technology High energy via long pulses for long range measurements Multi beam technology – phase array based beam tilting Multi frequency Directional False echo filtering Self Cleaning due to acoustic energy vibration Volume accuracy is better than 3% Multi Scanner product addresses a new market of very large silos, warehouses and open bins May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

APM Annual International Partners Conference R&D Roadmap May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

R&D Roadmap main drivers - Accuracy (1) Superior accuracy is APM’s key value proposition The new MVL product is targeting the lucrative high end market of huge inventory silos, domes and open beans In the inventory market, measurement accuracy is translated to return on investment There is a growing demand for differential measurement that requires more than the current 3% spec Special bins and domes, never served before, are challenging May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

APM Annual International Partners Conference R&D Roadmap main drivers: (2) Ease of use for traditional industry personnel APM’s products, especially supporting the high end MVL product is a challenge Today, most high end applications must go through customer support for approval, many of them must be approved by R&D. This is very inefficient cycle that delay the closing of lucrative sales. There is an urgent need for an expert system to support Analyse the expected measurement accuracy Recommend the required number of scanners Determine the optimal installation positions taking into account the application constrains Recommend the optimal parameters configuration Assist with connectivity to enterprise management S/W May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

R&D Roadmap main drivers: (3) Applications for new markets Example – foam over liquid thickness measurement Important problem in several industries such as Beer, Mining and Oil. Thick layer of foam on top of the liquid. The challenge is to measure both liquid level and the level of the foam above. This new application represents for APM a huge potential market that could not be served in the past May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Wideband And Multiband Signals Based DOA Algorithm Goals Significantly improve angular resolution – the ability to separate two echoes of the same range Achieve (~x2) range resolution improvement Resolve the fundamental problem of spatial aliasing, when wavelength is significantly smaller than the distance between the antennas Improve gain for single path reflections May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Multi Antenna Array Architecture(1) The current 3 antennas architecture is the minimal required for locating the DOA of a reflected echo in 3 dimensions. A new design of between 7 to 10 elements will provide the following benefit: An order of magnitude improvement in angular resolution Significant improvement of beam steering directivity Improved SNR The R&D effort will include: Brand new algorithm, able to take advantage of the multi-element array and provide a very significant improvement of angular resolution. Mechanical redesign of the antenna case Electronic board modifications to support a large transducers array   May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Multi Antenna Array Architecture(2) May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Virtual Sparse Antenna Array By Synchronized Scanners In Real-time Real-Time synchronization of several scanners H/W synchronization: echo in response to a pulse from one of the scanners will be received by others. Located at some optimal positions Create a virtual (sparse) antenna Advantages SNR improvement, significantly higher probability to receive a specular (mirror) echo Significantly improved direction estimation Improved SNR (Linear) Main tasks Project continuation from last year Waiting for the final Electronic board May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Protective Cover Against Very Sticky Materials (1) APM scanners self clean due to the vibration of the relatively low frequency acoustic signal. It is a competitive advantage of APM, especially in the market segment of the more sticky materials The thin Radum is always clean for all materials. Some very sticky materials accumulate inside the horn, eventually blocking the acoustic signal Currently there is no solution in the market for this problem Radars will be fully covered within few days APM is in the best position to solve this customer problem. May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Protective Cover Against Very Sticky Materials (2) The goal is to develop an add-on cover, to be installed at the very end of the horns The protective cover will be made of a Radum that will stay clean due to the acoustic vibrations The design should be done in a way that will not damage the acoustic path May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

APM Annual International Partners Conference Backup May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference

Remote Communication 3DLinkPro The 3DLinkPro is used for remote assistance and tracking the measurements. SIM card with SMS (Text) and GPRS enabled is required. Automatic power reset when losing cellular signal. Enable upgrading the 3DLevelScanner remotely to the various product types (M/MV). Enable performing firmware updates remotely. May 2011 APM Annual International Partners Conference