Experimental study on the auditory feedback navigation of mobile robot

This paper discloses the result of the experimental study which explores the feasibility and performance of manual auditory navigation system of a mobile robot. The navigation is based on the sensory capability of a human which is refered to as the sound source localization. The operator is instructed to navigate his mobile robot to the location where a sound source is located, based on the auditory cues given to the operator via three different sound playback devices for three different sound sources. The binaural sound which is fed to the operator is captured with a dummy head microphone mounted on the mobile robot. Experimental results indicate feasibility of the auditory navigation, provided that the interaural differences contained in the binaural signal are properly transmitted to the operator's ears.

Auditory navigation

Sound source localization

Head related transfer function

Binaural / Transaural audio playback system