Mobile Robot Spatial Acoustic Filtering for Moving Sound Sources
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile robots face challenges in effectively computing spatial filters due to rapid movements, which render precomputed filters ineffective as the location of sound emitters changes significantly before the robot can process and adjust them.
Innovation Solution
A mobile robot system that includes a body with moveable components, microphones, and processors to determine the predicted direction of a sound emitter, calculate and update spatial filters in real-time, and adjust microphone positions based on sensor inputs and movement changes, using additional sensors like vision and auxiliary sensors to enhance audio signal processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a mobile robot computes spatial filters in real-time, then the audio signal quality can be maintained, but the robot's rapid movements cause the filter to become ineffective by the time computation is complete
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-computes spatial filters at multiple possible robot positions and orientations before the robot actually reaches those positions. This allows the filter computation to be completed in advance, eliminating the time delay between computation and application. When the robot moves to a predetermined position, the corresponding pre-computed filter is already ready for immediate application, maintaining audio signal quality without lag.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts the spatial filter based on the robot's actual position and orientation by selecting from multiple pre-computed filters. Instead of computing a single static filter, the system creates a dynamic filtering solution that adjusts to the robot's movement state, matching the filter characteristics to the actual acoustic environment at each position.
2Measurement precision
If the robot uses additional sensor subsystems like vision and auxiliary sensors to determine emitter direction, then the accuracy of spatial filter calculation improves, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges data from multiple sensor subsystems (microphones, vision sensors, auxiliary sensors) to determine the direction of sound emitters. By combining information from these different sensor types, the system achieves more accurate emitter localization than any single sensor could provide alone, while the integrated approach manages the complexity through unified processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor subsystems serve multiple functions: microphones detect sound direction, vision sensors provide visual confirmation of emitter location, and auxiliary sensors contribute additional environmental data. This multi-functionality allows the same sensor infrastructure to support both audio processing and spatial awareness tasks, reducing overall system complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively recovers original audio signals from sound emitters by dynamically updating spatial filters and microphone positions, improving audio signal quality and reducing noise interference even during rapid movements.
Implementation Method 1
Each microphone in the array receives a version of the emitted signal that is different from that received by its neighbors, due to each microphone's unique position relative to the emitter
Implementation Method 2
This allows the device to strengthen signals received in the direction of the emitter, e.g., by using constructive interference
Implementation Method 3
Similarly, the system can also reduce the effects of noise, e.g., by using destructive interference
Data Source
AI summary
This specification relates to robots and audio processing in robots. In general, one innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in a robot that includes: a body and one or more physically moveable components; a plurality of accessory input subsystems and one or more other sensor subsystems; one or more processors; and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to cause the robot to perform operations. The operations can include: receiving one or more sensor inputs from the one or more other sensor subsystems; determining a predicted direction of a detected sound emitter based on the one or more sensor inputs of the one or more other sensor subsystems; calculating a spatial filter based on the predicted direction; obtaining, by the plurality of accessory input subsystems, respective audio inputs; and processing the respective audio inputs according to the calculated spatial filter.