MIE Research Seminar

Content

Abstract

Compact mobile platforms such as UAVs demand acoustic sensing that conventional microphone arrays cannot deliver. Acoustic localisation has traditionally filled the gaps where vision fails, operating with cluttered workspaces and poor illumination. Multi-drone teaming exemplifies this challenge, as each unit must reject self-interference whilst tracking nearby vehicles with near-identical noise spectra outside their imaging system’s field-of-view.

Uniform linear arrays of trade aperture for accuracy to resolve directional ambiguity. Acoustic vector sensors circumvent this by measuring sound pressure and particle velocity at a co-located point. However, AVS implementation using mass-producible components, and characterization of its localization performance, remains largely absent from the literature.

This work develops a compact MEMS-based AVS and benchmarks it against a ULA sized to a DJI Mavic 3 Pro Cine payload bay. Array architectures were simulated in a self-noise rejection teaming scenario and validated in an anechoic chamber. A single AVS element resolves bearing and near-field range, the latter encoded in the pressure-velocity phase rotation rather than in spatial separation. A second, spatially separated element extends operation beyond the near-field range discrimination limit. This addresses a key barrier to adopting vector sensing on aperture-constrained platforms.

Bio

 Lorian is a recently graduated Masters of mechanical engineering student at the University of Western Australia, with a background in mechanical engineering and synthetic chemistry. Her thesis focused on acoustic vector sensing and signal processing for compact UAV platforms. Her experience includes a brief research stint at UML developing a hybrid AR-VR interface for live error replay on a Fetch robot, designing a context imaging system and prototyping a deployable arm for Australia’s first lunar rover, Roo-ver, as well as engineering avionics payloads for three CubeSats that were deployed from the ISS in 2024.