Gunshot-detection technology could alert troops to enemy fire

The microphone system will eventually be configured to in-ear hearing protection that also acts as a radio communication device.

The system uses between five and 10 1mm² microphones, an electronic compass and a microchip to calculate where the sound of gunfire is coming from, with a margin of error of three per cent for direction and 10 per cent for distance based on trials on a firing range.

‘We’re using MEMS [micro-electromechanical systems]-based microphone technology, which is allowing us to integrate the microphones within the fabric of the clothing because they’re very small and lightweight and very low power,’ research fellow Dr Dylan Banks told The Engineer.

‘It effectively becomes burdenless for the soldier because they’re not carrying an extra box. They don’t even notice the difference in weight between wearing 10 microphones in the cover of their helmet.

The researchers, who have spun out a company called Vorpal to commercialise the technology, are also developing headphones that will protect soldiers from around 25 decibels of low-frequency noise and provide a way to alert them of the gunfire direction.