Acoustics in production

Profile

People think of Industry 4.0 mainly in terms of autonomous machines, collaborative robots and the internet of things. But there is more to it! From the angle of acoustics, Industry 4.0 is nothing but a whole new dimension of communication in terms of both scope and medium. Industry 4.0 means an increase in intercultural and virtual teams, mobile digital workplaces and thus, also in smartphone and video call communication; and it means human-machine interaction and speech communication in noise.

New types of teams and new means of digital communication place new demands on leadership, presentation and negotiation skills and offer new perspectives for boosting the innovative power of companies. The close collaboration of humans and machines poses new challenges for speech synthesis, speech recognition and sound design, as well as for smart approaches to noise and related health issues.

To find innovative solutions to the acoustic challenges of tomorrow, the Mads Clausen Institute (MCI) has created the dynamic interdisciplinary working group Acoustics in Production. Embedded in the new Centre for Industrial Electronics (CIE), the Acoustics in Production team works closely with industrial partners on both sides of the German-Danish border. This results in problem-driven cutting-edge contributions to acoustic research in general as well as in tailor-made applications and services for our stakeholders in the region.

Our R&D approach is inspired by biotechnology. That is, our take on noise, sound design, digital communication and digital leadership training is shaped by the unique signal for which the link between acoustics and feeling is hardwired in our brains: human speech or, more specifically, its rich repertoire of sounds and melodies. We believe that the answers to the communication questions raised by Industry 4.0 lie at the interface between the biological foundations of human speech on the one hand and coordinated software and engineering solutions on the other.

Services

• Machine noise measurement and certification
• Assessment of machine sounds and sound design
• Speech enhancement measures and vocal-health consulting
• Customised acoustic filters in digital (tele-)communications
• Development and customisation of speech synthesis and speech recognition systems (e.g., to company-specific noise conditions)
• Digital leadership and public-speaker training.

Equipment

• Acoustic lab
• Sound-proof booth for high-end and multi-channel 3D acoustic signal recordings
• 3D acoustic ambiance simulation that puts humans in realistic noise/sound conditions to test their behavioural or physiological reactions
• Mobile Head-And-Torso-Simulator (HATS) for human-like sound/noise recordings
• 4 PC workstations equipped with state-of-the-art software for digital signal processing, speech synthesis/recognition and psychoacoustic experiments.