Detection and Localization with an Acoustic Array on a Small Robotic Platform in Urban Environments

Abstract : Sophisticated robotic platforms with diverse sensor suites are quickly replacing the eyes and ears of soldiers on the complex battlefield. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Adelphi, Maryland, has developed a robot-based acoustic detection system that will detect an impulsive noise event, such as a sniper's weapon firing or a door slamming, and will activate a pan tilt to orient a visible and infrared camera toward the detected sound. Once the cameras are cued to the target, on-board image processing can then track the target and/or transmit the imagery to a remote operator for navigation, situational awareness, and target detection. Such a vehicle can provide reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition for soldiers, law enforcement, and rescue personnel and can remove these people from hazardous environments ARL's primary robotic platforms contain 16-inch diameter, eight-element acoustic arrays. Additionally, a 9-inch array is being developed in support of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency tactical mobile robot program. The robots have been tested in both urban and open terrain. The current acoustic processing algorithm has been optimized to detect the muzzle blast from a sniper's weapon and to reject many interfering noise sources such as wind gusts, generators, and self-noise.