SBIR-STTR Award

A novel driver and horn concepts are proposed which are able to meet the requirements of producing 123 dB or greater SPL output levels and will weigh less than 3 lbs. An array of 8 driver and horn pairs is proposed to be integrated into an acoustic array which will incorporate adaptive beamforming and atmospheric compensation. Phase I effort is outlined to prove the feasibility of an innovative approach the combines an efficient 125 mm neodymium cone driver that is optimized for max SPL and low mass with an innovative horn design that provides 8 sound reinforcing paths to provide 123 dB SPL at 1m with frequency range from 100 Hz 2500 Hz. The phase I technical effort includes significant modeling and simulation efforts to understand and optimize system performance. Also included are several bench tests to understand and reduce risk for critical hardware components prior to prototype build in Phase II. Additionally, software and hardware architectures will be designed and prototype code generated to prove the feasibility of increasing gain through beamforming, improving clarity/intelligibility and sound penetration at range through use of lower frequencies, and compensating for frequency dependent atmospheric losses through distance-based equalization.

Benefit:
Investigation of commercialization opportunities for portable AHD indicates several commercially produced AHD market researches reports available for purchase. This alone indicates a strong commercial market for portable AHD products. The reports indicate that portable acoustic hailing devices are widely used by the fire brigade, police force, and rescue workers. These devices are used in civil defense, bird control operations, campus security and law enforcement. A growth driving force in the AHD market will be increased use for crowd control. The global acoustic hailing devices market can be separated into long range acoustic hailing devices and short-range acoustic hailing devices, or by government sector, commercial sector, and others. The application of acoustic hailing devices in the government sector accounted for prominent share in the global market in 2018 and is expected to maintain its leading position. The government sector has increased spending on public safely, defense, and law enforcement. This is considered to be a key factor driving the growth in demand for acoustic hailing devices in this end-user sector.

Keywords:
Acoustic Atmospheric Compensator Tool, Acoustic Atmospheric Compensator Tool, AHD, Acoustic Adaptive Beamforming, Compression Drivers, Voice Intelligibility, Acoustic Drivers, Acoustic Hailing Device

Commercial off-the-shelf acoustic hailing devices use high sensitivity horn and driver combinations that are capable of producing sound in the range of 109 dB in an anechoic environment. These devices are not as loud as desired, and are significantly heavier (>350 lbs.), and more expensive (>$100k) than the proposed solution. An array of 8 custom driver and horn pairs is proposed to be integrated into an acoustic array which will incorporate adaptive beamforming and atmospheric compensation. The phase II effort is outlined to move through driver and horn design and prototype phases to full rate production. The first year’s objective is to develop prototype units and put them through extensive testing to verify they meet the topic requirements as well as anticipated environmental requirements. Year two efforts will be focused on developing the manufacturability of the design and maturing the manufacturing process to be able to produce the desired quantities. The phase II technical effort includes detailed design of the hardware, characterization testing, durability testing and manufacturing process development. The main design tasks will be to develop the beamforming and amplifier electronic subsystem and a technical data package which describes the hardware in detail. Developmental efforts will also include updates to the design per the results of characterization, durability and environmental testing. Manufacturing process development will include the design and fabrication of tooling and fixtures to support production of the final design. Market surveys will be performed to gain an understanding of the customer base and guide the production quantity and cost targets. The ramp up to production will include the development of the supply chain, manufacturing bill of materials and work instructions for fabrication and assembly of production units. The option period will be used for development of additional variants of the production unit based on the results of the market survey conducted in year two. Potential tasks for the option would be to reduce the overall size of the unit at the expense of frequency range and/or sound level performance or to deliver a more robust unit at the expense of material selection and weight.