OPTIMIZATION OF THE DRIVING SIGNAL OF AN ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER USING A GENETIC ALGORITHM

A method of reducing the response time of an ultrasonic trans-ducer by optimizing the driving signal is presented. The optimization is performed with all hardware in the optimiza-tion loop. The driving signal is divided into two parts, a part used to excite the transducer and a part for damping the vibra-tion of the transducer. The latter part is optimized by using the Genetic Algorithm Toolbox of Matlab in combination with an arbitrary waveform generator and an oscilloscope, which are controlled by the Instrument Control Toolbox of Matlab. The results of the optimization show that this is an effective way of reducing the response time of the transducers. The results show an average response time reduction of approximately 25%