Acoustic UAV Detection using Spherical Array Beamforming

We present an application for the acoustic detection and tracking of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using a spherical harmonic multiple signal classification technique implemented for a commercially available spherical array. Preliminary results obtained during field testing demonstrate the ability of the array system to simultaneously and accurately track up to two UAVs in flight, and provide insight on detectable target range, and robustness against wind and environmental noise. Additionally, the effectiveness of this technique is investigated in the presence of simulated UAV self-noise to understand the feasibility of such a spherical array as an acoustic sensing payload on an auditory UAV.