Technologies for Re-Active Noise-cancelling Quiet panels (TRANQuil)

We plan to develop and integrate three complementary novel technologies and demonstrate their application to noise and vibration cancellation. They are: a novel highly responsive, audio bandwidth combined sensor/actuator and associated "local echo canceller" for both sensing the noise and simultaneously cancelling it; novel moulded composite panels with tailorable characteristics for passive noise damping; advanced digital adaptive control algorithms. The resulting "smart panels" have potential for further added-value functionality upgrades. We will build on a previous TSB-funded project which developed the component technologies to proof-of-principle. We will reduce the size, weight and cost of our sensor/actuator and integrate it into panels; demonstrate operation of our local echo canceller; develop and demonstrate a novel real-time adaptive digital control loop; develop the panels to maximise both passive and active noise damping and to facilitate panel jointing; and demonstrate end-user applications.

The growing business opportunity for "smart panels" is driven by two factors: increased awareness of the adverse effects of noise on health (reflected by increasingly stringent legislation and government policy) and the growing desire for a quieter living, working and travelling environment. Applications include buildings, cars (especially the growing number of small luxury vehicles) buses, trains, trams, boats and aircraft. In addition to product sales, IP licensing, design consultancy and firmware / functionality upgrades offer ongoing high-value revenue potential.