• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.1781-1786
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• 2005

In sensor network systems, all the nodes are interconnected and the positional information of each sensor is essential. To measure the temperature, position detection and communication functions are required. Many sensor nodes are distributed to a measurement field, and these sensors have three main functions: they measure the distance to the other nodes, the data of which are used to determine the position of each node; they communicate with other nodes; and they measure the temperature of each node. A novel range measurement method using the difference between light and sound propagation speed is proposed. The experimental results show the temperature distribution as measured with the aid of the determined positions. The positions of every node were calculated with a PC program. Eight nodes were manufactured and their fundamental functions were tested. The results of the range measurement method, which takes relatively accurate measurements, contribute significantly to the accuracy of the position determination. Future studies will focus on 3-D position determination and on the architecture of appropriate sensors and actuators.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 2007

Under the situation of a fire, it is difficult for a rescue robot to use sensors such as vision sensor, ultrasonic sensor or laser distance sensor because of diffusion, refraction or block of light and sound by dense smoke. But, braille blocks that are installed for the visaully impaired at public places such as subway stations can be used as a map for autonomous mobile robot's localization and navigation. In this paper, we developed a laser sensor stan device which can detect braille blcoks in spite of dense smoke and integrated the device to the robot developed to carry out rescue mission in various hazardous disaster areas at KIST. We implemented MCL algorithm for robot's attitude estimation according to the scanned data and transformed a braille block map to a topological map and designed a nonlinear path tracking controller for autonomous navigation. From various simulations and experiments, we could verify that the developed laser sensor device and the proposed localization method are effective to autonomous tracking of braille blocks and the autonomous navigation robot system can be used for rescue under fire.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.41-45
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• 2006

This paper deals with human spatial cognition using visual and auditory stimulation. More specially, this investigation is to observe the relationship between the head and the eye motor system for the localization of visual target direction in space and to try to describe what is the role of right-side versus left-side pinna. In the experiment of visual stimulation, nineteen red LEDs (Luminescent Diodes, Brightness: $210\;cd/^2$) arrayed in the horizontal plane of the surrounding panel are used. Here the LEDs are located 10 degrees apart from each other. Physiological parameters such as EOG (Electro-Oculography), head movement, and their synergic control are measured by BIOPAC system and 3SPACE FASTRAK. In the experiment of auditory stimulation, one side of the pinna function was distorted intentionally by inserting a short tube in the ear canal. The localization error caused by right and left side pinna distortion was investigated as well. Since a laser pointer showed much less error (0.5%) in localizing target position than FASTRAK (30%) that has been generally used, a laser pointer was used for the pointing task. It was found that harmonic components were not essential for auditory target localization. However, non-harmonic nearby frequency components was found to be more important in localizing the target direction of sound. We have found that the right pinna carries out one of the most important functions in localizing target direction and pure tone with only one frequency component is confusing to be localized. It was also found that the latency time is shorter in self moved tracking (SMT) than eye alone tracking (EAT) and eye hand tracking (EHT). These results can be used in further study on the characterization of human spatial cognition.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.71-79
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• 2016

This study is intended to compare the performances of sound source localization methods used for stable automobile control by improving voice recognition rate in automobile environment and suggest how to improve their performances. Generally, sound source location estimation methods employ the TDOA algorithm, and there are two ways for it; one is to use a cross correlation function in the time domain, and the other is GCC-PHAT calculated in the frequency domain. Among these ways, GCC-PHAT is known to have stronger characteristics against echo and noise than the cross correlation function. This study compared the performances of the two methods above in automobile environment full of echo and vibration noise and suggested the use of a median filter additionally. We found that median filter helps both estimation methods have good performances and variance values to be decreased. According to the experimental results, there is almost no difference in the two methods' performances in the experiment using voice; however, using the signal of a song, GCC-PHAT is 10% more excellent than the cross correlation function in terms of the recognition rate. Also, when the median filter was added, the cross correlation function's recognition rate could be improved up to 11%. And in regarding to variance values, both methods showed stable performances.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.317-325
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• 2003

Corticostriatal connections of auditory areas within the rostral and caudal portions of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and in the supratemporal plane(STP) of pigtail macaque (Macacca nemestrina) were studied with particular emphasis on specific projections to the ventral striatum. Retrograde tracers were Injected into five different regions of the ventral striatum such as the ventromedial caudate nucleus, ventral shell, central shell, dorsal core of the nucleus accumbens (NA), and ventrolateral putamen to Identify the cells of origin. There were only few projections from the auditory areas in the STP to the ventral striatum. However, the association (or belt) areas of the STG collectively had widespread corticostriatal projections characterized by differential topographic distributions. The rostral parts of the STG strongly projected to the ventromedial caudate nucleus. The midportion of the STG also projected to the same ventral striatal regions, but the connections were relatively less extensive. Interestingly, the caudal portion of the STG had no connection to all subregions of the ventral striatum. These differential patterns of corticostriatal connectivity suggest that the ventromedial caudate nucleus would be a major auditory convergence area and mainly involved in sound recognition rather than spatial localization of sound sources.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.209-214
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• 2016

Binaural hearing aids with a voice transmitter have been widely used to enhance sound quality in noisy environment. However, this system has a limitation on sound-source localization. In this study, we investigated automatic directional-gain control method using geomagnetic sensors to provide directional information to binaural hearing aid user. The loudness gains of two hearing aids were differently controlled based on the directional information between a speaker position and a viewing direction of hearing aids user. This relative directional information was measured by two geomagnetic sensors on hearing aids user and a speaker. The results showed that the loudness gains were accurately controlled and could provide directional information based on the cue of interaural level differences.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.823-831
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• 2008

Since it needs the light computational load and small database, sound source localization method using time delay of arrival(TDOA method) is applied at many research fields such as a robot auditory system, teleconferencing and so on. Researches for time delay estimation, which is the most important thing of TDOA method, had been studied broadly. However studies about factors for time delay estimation are insufficient, especially in case of real environment application. In 1997, Brandstein and Silverman announced that performance of time delay estimation deteriorates as reverberant time of room increases. Even though reverberant time of room is same, performance of estimation is different as the specific part of signals. In order to know that reason, we studied and analyzed the factors for time delay estimation using speech signal and room impulse response. In result, we can know that performance of time delay estimation is changed by different R/D ratio and signal characteristics in spite of same reverberant time. Also, we define the performance index(PI) to show a similar tendency to R/D ratio, and propose the method to improve the performance of time delay estimation with PI.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.36 no.5C
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• pp.309-316
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• 2011

In this paper, equalization zone of two crosstalk cancellation (CC) schemes, which are the one based on only head related transfer function (HRTF) and the other one based on interaural intensity/time difference (ITD/IID) as well as HRTF is studied. To do this, the condition numbers and ITD/IID levels of two schemes are shown.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.161-167
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• 2021

This paper proposes a new personalized HRTF estimation method which is based on a deep neural network (DNN) model and improved elevation reproduction using a notch filter. In the previous study, a DNN model was proposed that estimates the magnitude of HRTF by using anthropometric measurements [1]. However, since this method uses zero-phase without estimating the phase, it causes the internalization (i.e., the inside-the-head localization) of sound when listening the spatial sound. We devise a method to estimate both the magnitude and phase of HRTF based on the DNN model. Personalized HRIR was estimated using the anthropometric measurements including detailed data of the head, torso, shoulders and ears as inputs for the DNN model. After that, the estimated HRIR was filtered with an appropriate notch filter to improve elevation reproduction. In order to evaluate the performance, both of the objective and subjective evaluations are conducted. For the objective evaluation, the root mean square error (RMSE) and the log spectral distance (LSD) between the reference HRTF and the estimated HRTF are measured. For subjective evaluation, the MUSHRA test and preference test are conducted. As a result, the proposed method can make listeners experience more immersive audio than the previous methods.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2020

Auditory scene analysis is defined as a listener's ability to segregate a meaningful message from meaningless background noise in a listening environment. To gain better understanding of auditory perception in terms of message integration and segregation ability among concurrent signals, we aimed to systematically review the size of auditory scenes among individuals. A total of seven electronic databases were searched from 2000 to the present with related key terms. Using our inclusion criteria, 4,507 articles were classified according to four sequential steps-identification, screening, eligibility, included. Following study selection, the quality of four included articles was evaluated using the CAMARADES checklist. In general, studies concluded that the size of auditory scene increased as the number of sound sources increased; however, when the number of sources was five or higher, the listener's auditory scene analysis reached its maximum capability. Unfortunately, the score of study quality was not determined to be very high, and the number of articles used to calculate mean effect size and statistical significance was insufficient to draw significant conclusions. We suggest that study design and materials that consider realistic listening environments should be used in further studies to deep understand the nature of auditory scene analysis within various groups.