Speaker tracking module for indoor robot navigation

Abstract

The goal of this study is to equip a mobile service robot with an ability to navigate to the human who commands the robot by speech. This paper proposes a Bayesian approach to sound source localization for speaker tracking module. Based on time delay of arrival (TDOA) features, sound source direction is classified using a naïve Bayesian network. The method requires low computational complexity and is feasible for real-time robot navigation. Based on an experiment with various parameter settings in an indoor environment, different factors that affect the classification accuracy have been analyzed. Further validation on a human speaker with random sound volumes and positions illustrates that the proposed method can work efficiently in real-world environments.

On Indexicality, Direction of Arrival of Sound Sources, and Human-Robot Interaction

“…Source localization can be reactive as a modality of the interaction as presented in works that deal with following a conversation [18][19][20][21]; or it can be an essential part of the interaction, such as using sound localization to control the navigation of the robot. In particular, Teachasrisaksakul et al propose a system that follows a person through a room by her or his voice [22]. On the other hand, Li et al demonstrated a robot which plays hide and seek, using visual and audio modalities in the interaction [23].…”

Integration of the Multi-DOA Estimation Functionality to Human-Robot Interaction

“…Similarly, Trifa et al [34] have presented a system that integrates sound source localization with other functionalities for moving the robot's eyes and neck towards interesting events. Teachasrisaksakul et al [31] developed an indoor robot navigation system based on sound localization. Recently, Li et al [11] demonstrated a robot that can play the game hide and seek, in which it moves according to simple voice commands given by the players and localizes the player raising his/her hand after receiving the command "localization".…”