This paper deals with the theoretical and practical aspects of acoustic sources localization by using microphone array technique. A review of existing procedures is presented. They can be divided into three general categories: methods based on maximizing the output power of a steered-beamformer; techniques adopting high-resolution spectral estimation concepts and approaches employing only time-difference of arrival (TDOA) information. A dedicated code, based on an iterative procedure, was developed under MATLAB environment. Starting from the acquisition of the signals coming from the arrays, and using the analysis procedures based on TDOA technique, the spatial location of a moving noise source can be identified and tracked. Experimental application was carried out for a single static sound source in a semi-anechoic chamber; a six microphones array has been designed and tested. The algorithm proved to be able to catch the source location with a maximum elapsed time of 0.2 sec. The error on sound source position can be minimized with an accurate design of the array size and shape. A faster, less accurate solution, based on closed-form approach, was applied for comparison purposes.
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