Communications of the ACM
Uc Research Promises Quiet Cars--Even When Hitting Unexpected Bumps in the Road
University of Cincinnati professor Guohua Sun
Credit: University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati researchers have developed an adaptive, active algorithm that enables the deployment of a rapid-response sound wave that could counter and significantly reduce the perceived road noise heard within a car's cabin when the vehicle unexpectedly hits a roadway obstacle.
"It’s expected that the numerical simulation, when tested in the real world, will reduce road-impact noise perceived by the car driver by three to five decibels," says Cincinnati's Guohua Sun.
The new technology is based on active noise control (ANC), which is the active minimization of one sound wave by an opposite-phased mirror wave. The two waves overlap, and while one wave is peaking, the corresponding out-of-phase wave dips, resulting in sound that is significantly diminished.
"There is a real challenge in creating an ANC system that can treat random road noise, the impact sound of a pothole or a bump and other transient responses, such that the sound is minimized within the car's cabin," Sun says. "The challenge comes because the sound is unexpected and cannot be easily predicted. So, you need a stable, robust algorithm that can efficiently and quickly track such noise and respond to it."
From University of Cincinnati
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