Cadillac, a division of GM, has designed cars with electro-rheological dampers – shock absorbers that contain iron particles that align themselves in the presence of a magnetic field. Their system is called ‘magnetic ride control’, and they claimed is the world’s fastest reacting suspension system.
Read more on the Cadillac web site.
Bruel and Kjaer USA are selling used and demo equipment at discounted prices. Check out their products listed on their web site.
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) are selling a CD that contains more than 1,200 papers, many of which are in full color, this comprehensive collection includes documents from SAE Noise and Vibration conferences from 1985 through 2001; and selected papers from 1998 through 2002 SAE World Congresses.
Read more on the SAE web site.
National Semiconductor have released two new products, the LMV1012 and LMV1014 are the first “amps in a mic,” integrated directly inside 2- and 3-wire electret condenser microphones. The built-in gain of 17dBV has been optimized for handset microphones.
Read more on the National Semiconductor web site.
Brüel & Kjær the pioneering company in the field of measurement of sound and vibration are celebrating their 60th anniversary and are offering trade-ins for their old sound level meters, sound intensity probes, old analyzers and first generation Pulse equipment.
Read more on the B&K web site.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has developed a range of vibration isolation product for isolation of buildings from earthquakes. Their products include tuned liquid mass dampers (sloshing), tuned mass damper for vertical vibration, and base isolation systems for buildings.
Read more on the MHI web site.
1 Ltd has developed a new type of actuator called Helimorph, that uses PZT piezoelectric materials that have been layered into a helix, separated with conducting electrodes. When voltage is applied the free end moves parallel to the axis of the major helix, resulting in large (several millimeters) of displacement, whereas conventional piezoelectric materials move on the order of microns.
Read more on the 1 Ltd web site.
Pioneer has developed a speaker system called the PDSP-1, the world’s first digital sound projector, that uses 254 2.5 inch speakers to create 5.1 virtual channels. The speaker unit is only 5 inches thick and delivers 500W of power. The system was developed in conjunction with 1 Ltd, a technology development and licensing company.
Read the news article on the Pioneer Electronic web site.
Read about the technology on the 1 Ltd web site.
Bone loss is a serious problem for astronauts and they do rigourous daily exercise to reduce the hazard. The International Space Station is equipped with a treadmill that astronauts have to use for about an hour a day. When the TVIS (treadmill vibration with isolation system – there is an acronym for everything) is used, vibration is generated that transmits through the space station and can affect vibration sensitive equipment and experiments.
Read more on the NASA research web site.
Researchers at Purdue University are using a neural network to identify noise and vibration problems on automobiles. A large part of the program involves characterizing the noise and vibration signals from various sub-systems, such as exhaust system, power train, suspension etc, with their associated faults such as floor vibration, cavity boom etc. The work is being funded by ArvinMeritor, a large automotive systems and parts supplier.
Read more on the Purdue University web site.