Sound it out
By Erica Hill
CNN Headline News
(CNN) -- Imagine knowing exactly where that rattle in your car is coming from, and being able to stop it without slamming the dashboard. New technology may be able to help.
Developed by Dr. Sean F. Wu, a professor of engineering at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, SenSound's technology uses three-dimensional sound to identify sounds, and pinpoint their location.
"Sometimes noise is a good way to identify mechanical faults -- where noise isn't a problem but can lead you to problems," SenSound president Sergio Mazza said. "We analyze over several frequencies, to tell the manufacturer where and at which frequency noise is leaking."
Mazza described it as a 64-pixel sound camera, where every pixel is a microphone. Each microphone -- or pixel -- takes a "picture" of the sound. The microphones are connected to an analog-to-digital converter, and the digital signals are fed into a computer. This is when the real magic happens, with the software. "The innovation is in the way we use math," Mazza explained. "The algorithms that are able to turn digital signals from microphones into images."
Mazza says results are available in a matter of minutes -- less time than it takes to set up the microphones.
SenSound was created in January by Wu, Mazza, attorney Gary Kendra and Wayne State University, and officially debuted this week at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit. The technology has been in research and development trials for a couple of years; Mazza wouldn't reveal names, but told me every major American company has had an experience with the software, as well as several of their major suppliers.
SenSound is already targeting other sectors, including aeronautics and boating. "Anything that makes unwanted sound that you need to identify as part of engineering or quality control, that's what we can do, " Mazza said, noting the technology could result in quieter work environments, and, ultimately, quieter consumer appliances, like dishwashers.
As for a portable device that could pinpoint the rattle in your car? That may take a little longer. Mazza says SenSound is focused on other industries right now, but never say never. "The reality is computers are getting smaller and faster, all technology is, and someday maybe we could have a very small device that could do all this at a lower cost than right now."
Until then, good luck with the rattling dashboard.
