Active Noise Control with Constraint

Opportunity  

Awareness of health risks associated with urban noise exposure has increased, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Excessive noise levels can cause induced hearing loss, particularly for operators of noisy equipment. While noise control is more effective at the source, operational requirements often hinder control measures. Passive noise mitigation methods are inefficient at reducing low‐frequency noise, which are common in man-made sources. This invention offers an advanced ANC system for controlling unwanted noise near its source, particularly low-frequency noise from heavy machinery and industrial environments. 

Technology  

This invention introduces a method and system for ANC applications. The technology involves real‐time computation of a penalty factor to constrain the output of the ANC system, preventing saturation. The system is agnostic to the noise source, adaptable to various ANC hardware specifications and resilient to disturbance volatility. For instance, it can attenuate noise from machinery, including blade‐pass frequencies, exhaust noise and combustion noise—even in noisy environments. The system features a constrained adaptive algorithm that reacts robustly to changes in disturbance, providing adjustable control while maintaining optimal constraints for real‐time, generic ANC applications. 

Applications & Advantages  

Main application areas include attenuating low-frequency periodic noise in manufacturing environments, construction sites and industrial settings. 

• Computationally and resource‐efficient for real‐time implementation.
• Agnostic to the source of noise.
• Maintains optimal constraint continuously.