Optimizing a reconfigurable robotic microphone array

Relative positioning of microphones in an array has a significant impact on how well the array can localize sound sources. Two- or three- dimensional localization accuracy of a randomly distributed array will vary widely with respect to the relative position of the sound source. Where a statically located array would be forced to work with its initial configuration, however, a reconfigurable robotic array does not have to remain in its starting position. Given a known region of interest, robots can autonomously optimize their relative configuration to improve localization accuracy where it matters the most. In this work, we propose 2 separate strategies for optimizing such a robotic array. Evaluations are completed first in simulation, and then deployed to a team of real robots.