Acoustic localization estimation of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle using microphone array

Acoustic source localization is an active research topic in array processing due to its multiple applications. Microphone array can be e ciently used for detecting, locating and tracking acoustic sources in their environment. In recent years, the current technological improvements of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have made drones more di cult to locate using optical or radio-based systems. However, the sound emitted by UAV motorization and their aerodynamic whistling can be exploited using a microphone array and an adequate real time signal processing algorithm. The purpose of this study is to characterize the acoustic signature of a drone and to estimate its 3D position using a microphone array with few sensors. Simple trajectories of the moving source are first simulated. Two methods, beamforming and goniometry, are tested to localize the source. Measurements were carried out in anechoïc conditions to characterize the acoustic signature of the drone. Additional measurements in real outdoor flight were finally made. Results obtained by the experiments are shown and the di erent approaches are compared to localize the drone and to track it. The performance in localization ability of the methods is studied.