Hi! Has anyone heard about using Ping360 sonar for continuous operation? The idea is to have it mounted along the bank of a river (or elsewhere) to monitor underwater life behavior.
The concern is about the duty cycle, as we are dealing with mechanical parts.
Haven’t personally tried it, but since the ping360 uses a stepper motor for rotation there’s no friction involved (electromagnets getting switched on and off attract permanent magnets on the rotating core and cause it to turn). I’m not sure about the details of the particular components, but I’d imagine the transducer and receiver are piezo-crystals in which case they should also not have any particular wear.
I’d be more concerned about powering it consistently, keeping it sufficiently cool, and storing/transmitting the data - the mechanical parts will quite likely outlast the electronic components, especially if there are any issues with overheating.
Also be aware that mounting on a river bank might collect sediment or marine growth that blocks the signal, so it may need to be cleaned somewhat regularly.