Ultrasonic sensing is one of the best ways to sense how close something is and to detect levels with a lot of reliability. Our technical support team gets tons of emails asking about how our ultrasonic sensors work and what kinds of environments they can (or can’t) handle. So, we put together this guide to introduce you to ultrasonic sensing, its principles, and how these sensors operate in your applications. At the very least, you need to know what an ultrasonic sensor is.

What is an Ultrasonic Sensor?
An ultrasonic sensor is a device that measures the distance to an object by using ultrasonic sound waves. So, what exactly is it? It’s a gadget that has a transducer which sends out and receives ultrasonic pulses, giving us info about how close an object is. High-frequency sound waves bounce off surfaces to create unique echo patterns.

How Ultrasonic Sensors Work
These sensors work by sending out a sound wave at a frequency that’s higher than what humans can hear. The transducer in the sensor acts like a microphone, sending and receiving the ultrasonic sound. Our sensors, just like many others out there, use a single transducer to both send out a pulse and to catch the echo that comes back. The sensor figures out the distance to a target by measuring the time it takes for the ultrasonic pulse to go out and come back. This timing is super important for how ultrasonic sensors do their job.