Multibeam sonar with hexagonal array

The paper presents a multi-beam digital sonar that was designed for monitoring and fish stock assessment in in/and waters. The sonar can also be used as a bottom profiler in lakes, rivers and shallow sea areas. The hexagonal piezoelectric transducer array co-operates with a commutator set. The 32 -channel digital beamformer creates 30 narrow receiving beams in every 60o sector of simultaneous observation. The six sectors cover the whole 360o angle range of the sonar. The beamformer digital signal processing is based on second order sampling of echo signals and the phase-shifting principle of beam deflection. The sonar block diagram, beamformer algorithms, as well as transducers designs are discussed.