Roboear

The Roboear (Robot Ear) was designed to find the direction to nearby sound sources. In audiology this is called 'localization'. Humans can usually localize a sound to +- 10 degrees. The Roboear's three microphone array can usually localize a sound to a 30 degree sector. It uses amplitude comparison and acoustic cross-correlation to localize sounds. The Roboear's internal processing is done on a PIC 8-bit microcontroller. The Roboear can also function as an audio acquisition front-end for more powerful computers. Communication with the host computer is jumper selectable as either UART, or SPI. Complete documentation can be found in the user's manual on the Data & Documentation page.

Interface:

Data exchange is via UART or SPI. UART format = 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (8N1). Baud rates from 9600 to 76800. SPI modes 0,1,2,3 are available.

Microphone Array:

Three electret microphones arranged in an equilateral triangle, 10 cm per side

Power:

Can operate from +5 or +9 volt DC supplies. Current consumption < 100 mA at 5 volts.

The Roboear kit or bare printed circuit board were available from SERVO Magazine (T&L Publications) web store. Contact Lucid Technologies for the Roboear User's Manual if you purchase a kit from SERVO.

The current firmware version is 1.10.