Directional Speaker Positioning for Multi-Target Drone Audio

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing unmanned moving bodies face difficulties in performing sound emission or sound collection for multiple targets in an integrated manner, as they typically only control sound direction, making it challenging to effectively reach or collect sound from multiple individuals simultaneously.

Innovation Solution

An unmanned moving body equipped with a directional speaker or microphone and a processor that determines the positional relationship between targets using sensing data, allowing it to move to a position where both the speaker's sound or the microphone's sound can reach or collect sound from multiple targets at a predetermined quality, ensuring integrated sound emission or collection.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If sound direction is controlled only, then sound emission or collection for a single target is achieved, but sound emission or collection for multiple targets cannot be performed in an integrated manner

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesound emission/collection capabilityVSAvoidcontrol system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent transitions from controlling only the directional angle (1D rotation) to controlling both directional angle and distance (2D positioning). By adding the distance dimension to the traditional directional control, the system can simultaneously serve multiple targets at different positions by moving to optimal distances while maintaining appropriate sound direction, thereby achieving integrated sound emission/collection for multiple targets without complicating the control system architecture

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Reliability

If the unmanned moving body moves to reach multiple targets, then sound quality for multiple targets is improved, but time and position calculation complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesound qualityVSAvoidposition calculation time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary detection of multiple targets and pre-calculates optimal positions before executing sound emission. By detecting targets and determining their positions in advance, the system prepares the movement plan beforehand, allowing the unmanned moving body to move directly to pre-calculated optimal positions without real-time calculation delays during sound emission, thus ensuring sound quality while minimizing time loss

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3950498B1Unmanned moving body and information processing method
Publication Date: 2024.05.15 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO LTD
  • EP3950498B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3950498B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP3950498B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

An unmanned moving body (100) includes a directional speaker (107) that outputs sound in an orientation direction and a processor (150) that obtains one or more instances of sensing data. The processor (150): determines whether or not a second target is present in a vicinity of a first target in accordance with at least one of the one or more instances of sensing data; calculates a positional relationship between the first target and the second target from at least one of the one or more instances of sensing data when it is determined that the second target is present; and determines a first position of the unmanned moving body (100) in accordance with the positional relationship and causes the unmanned moving body (100) to move to the first position, the first position being a position that places the first target and the second target within a range over which the sound from the directional speaker (107) reaches at at least a predetermined quality.