Determining the location of small unmanned aerial vehicles by acoustic radiation

Abstract

The features of the acoustic method for determining the location of the UAV using microphone arrays are considered: classical methods, super-resolution methods and the method of the difference in the arrival time of acoustic oscillations. A description of a sodar with a minimum number of microphones is given. The factors influencing the magnitude of the error in determining the coordinates of the UAV are analyzed. Estimates of the instrumental location error and errors caused by the Doppler effect were obtained by simulation modeling for a given configuration of the sodar microphone array. Using the considered sodar, the coordinates of a moving UAV were measured in open areas. Processing of field measurement results shows that the absolute values of errors in determining the coordinates of the UAV obtained using sodar at a distance of up to 100 m in 95% of cases do not exceed 3 m and in determining the height of no more than 1 m. Measurements of the azimuth and elevation angle are quite accurate at the same time high resolution.