Project Objective
The project aims to implement an automatic sound recording system that would allow continuous sound recordings for any length of time (several weeks) without user intervention. The long-term investigation of sound data is used for the observation of noise emission from machines in continuous operation and for the documentation of noise situations. The hardware and system complexity are to be restricted to standard measurement microphones and standard PCs or for continuously running, suitable laptops with external disk storage units.
Method
The recorder contained in the standard S_TOOLS-STx software package is controlled by the macro programming so that the sound files (about the length of one hour) are generated consecutively with date-and-time specification and then written on the hard disk. The intelligent segmentation algorithms insert automatic "tags" and annotations in real-time or in post-processing. The segmentation data are administrated dynamically and enable the direct inclusion of the recorded sound events in the sound data files, signal analytical processes, and statistical processes. Using the currently available storage units, e.g. disk storage on the scale of 1.28 TByte, continuous measuring (2-canal stereo, 44.1. kHz, 16bit) over a period of 2.5 months is possible.
Application
For the investigation of noise emissions, e.g. traffic and environmental noise, permanent control stations that measure all sound sources in their time context are needed. Only with a broad analysis of the whole situation can noise pollution and health risks be collected.
Ref.
PACS: 43.50.Rq; Project: NOIDESc: Deskriptoren zur Bewertung von Lärmsignalen (FFG-809085, bmvit-isb2).