DETROIT – SenSound, a Wayne State University spin off, has won $100,000 in a National Science Foundation Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant to develop an innovative technology for conducting diagnosis and prognosis of vibro-acoustic characteristics of complex machines.
“The proposed new technology will enable users to get a clear and better understanding of the root causes of vibration-induced noise,” said Sergio Mazza, president and CEO of SenSound. “This technology will give precise information currently not available on what to do and how far to go to address noise and vibration issues by making clear and explicit the relationship between noise and vibration.”
This new technology will allow users to collect data more easily with non-invasive measurement equipment, and will offer the most advanced technology and services to companies for pinpointing unwanted noise sources and how they are transmitted.
According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, approximately 30 million Americans are exposed to daily noise levels that eventually impair their hearing; more than 10 million Americans suffer permanent noise-induced hearing loss. Through SenSound�??s proposed technology, manufacturing industries will be able to identify and abate undesirable sound and vibrations in a more cost-effective manner than currently available technology, thus increasing the competitiveness of manufacturing and ultimately lowering hearing loss caused by these currently noisy products.
Mazza said that the first step in tackling noise pollution is to obtain an accurate diagnosis of the noise. Currently, this is done by sweeping an intensity probe over a suspected source surface or by measuring the transfer functions between sources and receiver points. These methods are ineffective and information obtained is only valid at the direct measurement location.
“What SenSound is proposing will fundamentally change the approach to detection and abatement of noise and vibrations in engineering applications,” Mazza said. “By utilizing technology called HELS, or the Helmholtz Equation Least Squares, developed Dr. Sean Wu, distinguished professor of Mechanical Engineering at WSU, we will reveal the vibro-acoustic modes by measuring acoustic pressure using an array of microphones placed at close distances to a structure.”
“SenSound believes this non-contact, non-invasive procedure will make it easier for engineers to precisely analyze the root causes of undesirable sounds and vibrations of any type of machine running at a normal operating condition and that this cannot be offered by any conventional methods,” said Fred Reinhart, associate vice president of Technology Commercialization at Wayne State University. “SenSound’s technology has the promise of offering a more efficient process of identifying unwanted noises in any manufactured product, ultimately creating quieter environments that will improve the health and lives of many people.”
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