Method for robotic vehicle communication with an external environment via acoustic beam forming

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

• receiving, at an acoustic beam steering array including a plurality of speakers, a first signal indicative of one or more of an object type, an object position, an object trajectory, or a predicted intersection between an object trajectory and a vehicle trajectory, the first signal associated with a first object;
• determining a direction to emit a beam of acoustic energy via at least a portion of the plurality of speakers of the acoustic beam steering array;
• receiving a second signal indicative of a second object, the second object being different than the first object;
• determining, based at least in part on the first signal and the second signal, a first gain setting associated with a first portion of the beam of acoustic energy and a second gain setting associated with a second portion of the beam of acoustic energy, wherein the first gain setting is different than the second gain setting;
• and
• causing the at least the portion of the plurality of speakers to emit the beam of acoustic energy indicative of an alert in the direction and at the first gain setting and the second gain setting,
• wherein the first gain setting and the second gain setting are configured to cause a sound pressure of the beam of acoustic energy at the first object to be different from a sound pressure of the beam of acoustic energy at the second object.

A method comprising:

• receiving, by one or more processors, a first signal indicative of one or more of an object type, an object position, an object trajectory, or a predicted intersection between an object trajectory and a vehicle trajectory, the first signal associated with a first object;
• receiving, by the one or more processors, a direction to emit a beam of acoustic energy via at least a portion of a plurality of speakers of an acoustic beam steering array;
• receiving, by the one or more processors, a second signal indicative of a second object, the second object being different than the first object;
• determining, by the one or more processors and based at least in part on the first signal and the second signal, a first gain setting associated with a first portion of the beam of acoustic energy and a second gain setting associated with a second portion of the beam of acoustic energy, wherein the first gain setting is different than the second gain setting;
• and
• causing, by the one or more processors, the at least the portion of the plurality of speakers to emit the beam of acoustic energy indicative of an alert in the direction and at the first gain setting and the second gain setting,
• wherein the first gain setting and the second gain setting are configured to cause a sound pressure of the beam of acoustic energy at the first object to be different from a sound pressure of the beam of acoustic energy at the second object.