Airborne collection of acoustic data using an unmanned aerial vehicle

• US 20050271221A1
• Filed: 05/05/2005
• Published: 12/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Southwest Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Southwest Research Institute
• Inventors: Cerwin, Stephen A.
• Application Number:
  US11/122,821
• Publication Number:
  US 20050271221A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/92
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/406 microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/401 2D or 3D arrays of transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

An acoustic data collection system that uses an antenna array aboard a powered unmanned and remotely controlled parafoil. The antenna array has multiple microphone elements, whose outputs are combined to provide directionality to the data acquisition.

Claims

1. A system for collecting acoustic data from an acoustic target using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

a microphone array installed on the UAV, the array having a plurality of microphones; and

a data processing device for combining outputs of the microphones to form at least one direction vector representing a direction from the target to the UAV.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the microphone array has more than one axis.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the microphone array has two orthogonally placed axes.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the array is an X-Y rectilinear matrix array.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the array is a circular array.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is operable to steer the beam by adjusting delay times from microphone elements of the array.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further operable to provide wind noise averaging of data provided by microphone elements of the array.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the target has a frequency range of interest, and wherein the aperture of the array is greater than one wavelength of the lowest frequency of interest.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the target has a frequency range of interest, and wherein the spacing of microphone elements of the array is less than one-half wavelength of the highest frequency of interest.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising an analog beam steering circuitry.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the direction vector is formed by beam-forming from the array output.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the direction vector is formed by null-steering.

13. A method for collecting acoustic data from an acoustic target using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

collecting acoustic data from a microphone array on the UAV during flight of the UAV, the array having a plurality of microphones; and

combining outputs of the microphones to form at least one direction vector representing a direction from the target to the UAV.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the microphone array has more than one axis.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising steering the beam by adjusting delay times from microphone elements of the array.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising averaging wind noise from the data provided by microphone elements of the array.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising steering the beam using analog beam steering circuitry.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the direction vector is formed by beam-forming from the array output.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the direction vector is formed by null-steering.

20. The method of claim 13, comprising collecting acoustic data during engine-off operation of the UAV.