Robust Wave Origin Detection from Sensor Array Data via Randomized Hough Transform and Model Fitting

Abstract

The robustness of methods for characterizing the origin of wave-like propagating signals is often challenged by the heterogeneity of transmitting media and sensor network. Detecting an individual wave under such noisy conditions remains particularly difficult. In this paper, we propose a robust framework to estimate wave origins from spatiotemporal data collected by a sensor array. First, a Butterworth filter is designed to extract relevant signals from each sensor channel. Next, a 3D randomized Hough transform is introduced to identify candidate signals originating from the same wave front. Finally, a wave propagation model is fitted to the identified signals using the least-squares method. By combining the iterative voting mechanism of the randomized Hough transform with least-squares optimization, our proposed method demonstrates superior robustness and computational efficiency in both simulation studies and real-world data analyses.