Design and Development of an Ultrasonic Motion Detector

The ultrasonic motion detector devices emit ultrasonic sound energy into an area of interest (monitored area), and this further reacts to a change in the reflected energy pattern. The system uses a technique that is based on a frequency shift in reflected energy to detect a movement or change in position (motion). In this system, ultrasonic sound is transmitted from the transmitting device which is normally in the form of energy. The transmitted sound utilizes air as its medium and this travel in a wave type motion. The wave is reflected back from the surroundings in the room/hallway and the device hears a pitch characteristic of the protected environment. In this system, the wave pattern is disturbed and reflected back more quickly, thus increasing the pitch and signaling an alarm whenever motion is detected. The main contribution of this work is the design of a circuit that can sense motion through movement of anything, a low cost and portable motion detector, and the design of a circuit that can be used to trigger another circuit whether to ON or OFF depending on the circuit attached to it. Generally, the design is made to detect movement or moving object in a an enclosed area. In this work, a transmitter transducer generates a signal at a frequency of 40khz, and when the signal is blocked by any moving object, and this in turn, triggers a buzzer via a timing circuit. This system works on the principle of the signal interference by a moving body, and the system is dependent on the presence of an intruder or moving object within a monitored area. The system after design and construction was tested and found to work in accordance with specifications.