A

PROJECT SYNOPSIS
ON
A sound microphone that detects and moves in the
direction of sound source
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATION

SUBMITTED BY:- UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Anima singh

Bhawana kumari

Praveen patil

Aditya gajhbiye
A sound microphone that detects and moves in
the directionof sound source.

Abstract:
In this paper, we propose a system for reliable detection of the direction of the
audio source that is to be installed in an embedded robot. Compared with
previous researches, this system comprises simpler, faster and more accurate
algorithm and a threshold level setting mode to make the system immune to
external noise. This system consists of a microphone assembly of three
microphones, band pass filter, Arduino as processing unit, motor controller unit
and mechanical assembly. The robot senses the audio signal lying near the area
and detects the direction of sound source using delay of arrival (DOA) in three
microphones. This system is to be installed in an experimental autonomous
robot named ‘SODDRO’ (SOund Direction Detection RObot). With this
system, ‘SODDRO’ will move towards sound source after detecting the
direction of sound. Keywords: reliable detection, delay of arrival (DOA).

Introduction
The sound detection is an interesting field that has drawn the attention of many
researchers in the recent years In the sound detection mechanism has been
developed for human robot interaction. Sound detecting humanoid robot that
can recognize speech can work in very harsh inhuman conditions like nuclear
reactors where extremely high temperatures and harmful radiations prevail. The
aim of this paper is to design an autonomous robot using microcontroller which
will follow its operator whenever an audio signal is received from operator.
The microphone works as a transducer which converts the audio signal to
electrical signal. This arrangement uses minimum number of microphones for
reliable detection.
Sound source detection :

We use a simple sensor for detection of sound signal, in our case a simple
diaphragm based microphone. Though a grid of sensors like multiple
microphones can be used but to begin with we focus on solving the problem in
an efficient way so we choose to use two microphones. In fact, this is the way
our ears solve this problem. Later, it will be seen that the best solution is
obtained by using a single microphone.

Acoustic Localization:-The first task is to determine the

  

direction of sound source, in our case the speaker in a conference. Since the
microphone’s movement is around a fixed axis, it is sufficient to determine the
angle of the sound wave’s propagation from a fixed axis in a plane
perpendicular to the axis of rotation. This simplifies the case in which we have
to determine the direction in a 3-D space.

Moving the microphone:-Once the location of sound generated

is determined, we start to move the main microphone in its direction. This is not
a one step process. The mic is moved in stages at a certain angle (say 10º). After
this, the whole process is repeated from finding the source and moving the mic
by 10º. Thus the mic is moved in stages. This methodology reduces the
probability of error and we can be sure of the speaker’s position
Microphone sound and cone
Basic Block Diagram (For digital
implementation)

COMOPNENTS
Gathering Sound Signals:
·         For this we are using a high sensitivity directional microphone (such as a
collar mic).

·         Since the microphone has a normal 3.5mm jack (male connector)
interfacing with it was not an issue, we just connect it using the female
connector present in our PU (Processing Unit) which is the laptop. (your normal
audio jack)
·         This microphone has no ADC units in it, and thus it only functions to
give analog (here sound) signals.

Servo Motor

Microphone Used

Moving the Servo to the speaker

Based on the location of the sector with maximum energy of the speech
·        
sample, appropriate angle is calculated for the servo motor

·         For example:

o   The sector value will lie between 1 to 9

o   Suppose the desired sector  is 7

o   Angle =  (7 * 20)

= 140º

·         Thus the motor has to move by 140 degrees to reach the speaker

Block Diagram:

Methodology:
· The sound signal through the microphone is given to a de-noising filter to
remove the noise frequencies of the signal. This removes the ambient noise of
the environment.
· The above output is supplied to an amplification stage where an inverting
amplifier amplifies the sound signal by a factor of 50.

·  The amplified signal is compared with an adjustable voltage threshold which

is determined by experimental observations. This threshold should be increased
if there is more noise in the environment to accurately determine the direction
of the sound signal.

· The above output is NAND-ed with HIGH to give inverted output.

· The output from the previous stage has a very less time period not sufficient to
drive the motor. Therefore, we come around this problem by using the signal as
a trigger to a monostable multivibrator which gives a pulse of sufficient time
period (adjustable).This is sent as a control signal for the motor.

Observation
CRO screen :-The original signal, after the de-noise filter is in the order of 10-
15mV. The amplification stage (inverting) brings it to the order of 0.4-0.5V.
This level of amplitude can be safely used for the processing ahead.

The next image shows the output of the signal after the comparator stage. It
remains at the level LOW, when the sound is not directly into the cone of the
mic. But, as soon as it is aligned with the source, that is, the sound has exceeded
the threshold, the output becomes HIGH.

Trigger Signal:-The Time period of the pulse is very low, (~10ns). This
cannot be used to drive the motor. Hence, we use a monostable multivibrator to
generate a pulse of suitable time period using the previous signal as a trigger.

Results:
The pulse from the multivibrator is sent to a pin in the microcontroller. When
this pulse is high, it means that the source has been localised. Thus the motor is
stopped for a fixed period. (can be modified according to our need)

Applications:
•  In video conference systems it is often useful to find who is speaking and
direct the microphone to that person. This project aims to design such a system.

• The system constructed if improved can follow a sound source for its effective
recording.
References
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Sound’s Direction for Human Robot Interaction”, IEEE/RSJ International
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2004.

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