Location template matching-based study of acoustic emission localization using e-puck robots

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20194495

Acoustic source localization is investigated in this thesis using various methods. These methods as proposed in the literature are generally conducted in highly controlled environments and using state-of-art technologies. In this study, the focus is on a scenario where one does not have the best instrumentation tools but a low capacity mobile robot called e-Puck with relatively limited hardware capabilities. On this e-Puck robot system, acoustic emission localization techniques are studied using the built-in accelerometer and Bluetooth communication onboard the robot. For this, a working experimental setup is built with proper programming combinations and data conversions, and the efficacy of four different acoustic source localization techniques are evaluated through their implementation on the e-Puck platforms. These techniques are specifically based on the idea of template matching, in either time-domain or frequency-domain. Moreover, the software implementation is also validated with a Kistler accelerometer and the efficacy of the studied algorithms with respect to the conditions applied on the e-Puck robot is compared. In light of the experimental results, this thesis provides insights into acoustic emission localization with limited sensing capabilities of the e-Puck robots, evaluation of the efficacy of the studied techniques under less ideal conditions, and discussions on inherent technical limitations of hardware and software, as well as on the details of the experimental setup built and ideas for future work.