Sound source localisation in a robot

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the possibilites of implementing a beam-former using an 8 microphone array into a robotic head. Visual interaction between humans and robots is relatively common nowadays, but the topic of interaction via sound is a bit more rare. Also, small microphone arrays that fit inside a robot head are relatively uncommon. For this reason it was decided to investigate the implementation of the technology in this context. This thesis first explains the theory behind beamforming and the influence of scattering on the pressure field. In the next stage the implementation of the technology is considered. A PCB is designed and data acquisition hardware is chosen and put together. Finally the beamforming algorithm is constructed in MATLAB and evaluated. It is concluded that beamforming with an 8 microphone array is possible and can be further scaled down.