Detecting drones by sound
Sample photo

Detecting drones by sound

published Oct 16, 2026

How a microphone array can locate a drone.

Drones produce a distinctive tonal hum from their propellers. With several microphones a few metres apart, the same sound arrives at each one at slightly different times.

Measuring those time differences of arrival (TDOA), usually with GCC-PHAT cross-correlation, lets you estimate the direction, or with enough microphones the position, of the source.