3D Localization of a Sound Source Using Mobile Microphone Arrays Referenced by SLAM

TL;DR

This paper presents a cooperative 3D sound source localization method using two mobile robots with microphone arrays, integrating acoustic and visual data through SLAM for improved spatial accuracy.

Contribution

It introduces a novel cooperative approach combining SLAM and microphone arrays for 3D sound localization in real-world scenarios.

Findings

Errors under 0.3 meters for static sources at angles above 30 degrees.

Errors under 0.3 meters for moving sources at angles between 40 and 140 degrees.

Effective localization achieved with relative robot angles above 30 degrees.

Abstract

A microphone array can provide a mobile robot with the capability of localizing, tracking and separating distant sound sources in 2D, i.e., estimating their relative elevation and azimuth. To combine acoustic data with visual information in real world settings, spatial correlation must be established. The approach explored in this paper consists of having two robots, each equipped with a microphone array, localizing themselves in a shared reference map using SLAM. Based on their locations, data from the microphone arrays are used to triangulate in 3D the location of a sound source in relation to the same map. This strategy results in a novel cooperative sound mapping approach using mobile microphone arrays. Trials are conducted using two mobile robots localizing a static or a moving sound source to examine in which conditions this is possible. Results suggest that errors under 0.3 m are observed when the relative angle between the two robots are above 30 degrees for a static sound source, while errors under 0.3 m for angles between 40 degrees and 140 degrees are observed with a moving sound source.