Hearing is be-leafing: Students invent quieter leaf blower

Comments

• A_A@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  what they did :

  “Our product takes in a full blow of air and separates it,” said team member Leen Alfaoury. “Some of that air comes out as it is, and part of it comes out shifted. The combination of these two sections of the air makes the blower less noisy.”

  Adds Chacon: “It ultimately dampens the sound as it leaves, but it keeps all that force, which is the beauty of it.”

  Their design cuts the most shrill and annoying frequencies by about 12 decibels, which all but removes them, making them 94% quieter.

  source

  • cactusupyourbutt@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    wtf is shifting?

    source

    • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The wording is comically awkward and imprecise. But if I had to guess, they figured out a way to fiddle with how the air is routed through the secondary portion such that the emitted noise is phase-shifted to cancel out the frequencies they’re targeting.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • curiousPJ@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I wonder if that shares the same physics as silvent’s compressed air guns.

    source

    • A_A@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      No, not the same … in your paragraph you describe an increase of the frequency at a level human hearing do not perceive while the other made cancellation of a given frequency using phase shifting and recombination.

      source
• partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Dyson gets shit on frequently for being overpriced, but the audible analysis they do one some of their products is crazy complex. Some years ago I watched 30 minute video on the design they did for the hair dryer where they were designing minute angles in the fins of the air impeller, and using a PWM algorithm to measure backpressure in a feed back loop to spin up the fan where it wouldn’t create loud noise while also increasing the volume of air moved. They tuned the mechanisms specifically to shave off tiny peaks in oscilloscope readings.

  One thing I remember is that they said they couldn’t entirely eliminate the specific annoying sound frequencies because it had to ramp, but what they did is ramp to right below the annoying sound frequency level, then hold, then burst above the annoying frequency band very quickly. So the operator of the unit doesn’t hear the annoying sound because the device shoots past it so fast.

  I’ve never heard of any company be that picky and put so much effort into avoiding one negative experience of a product.

  source

  • callouscomic@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    And then they go and make an idiotic bathroom hand air dryer that is vertical and unnatural to dip hands into and too small of an opening so as to be difficult to not touch it with your clean hands.

    source

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      They released that original Airblade hand drying 18 years ago in 2006 way before the hair dryer.

      11 years ago In 2013 they released the Airblade V which doesn’t do the vertical dip thing.

      Image

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • Flipper@feddit.de ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Maybe I’ve got small hands, but I’ve never had problems with them. I slightly cup my hands. At least it feels like they get dryer faster that way.

      source
    • whereisk@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Haven’t these been shown to be literally the proverbial shit hitting the fan in terms of spreading bacterial matter everywhere?

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • purplemonkeymad@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Maybe it was just me but I never had issues with the u shaped dryers. Although I normally put my hands in by the side, wrists above, kept them flat, and drew out slowly. Dry hands every time.

      Other dryers just end up pushing water to the dry side of your hand.

      source
    • UntitledQuitting@reddthat.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      That came way before the hair dryer, no?

      source
  • zik@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    All this tells me is that they have a great PR department.

    source
  • PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Wait until you find out the analysis they do on car door closing sounds and the clickiness of specific buttons! Industrial Design is COOOL.

    source

    • Cypher@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Buying industrial buttons and modding old controllers isn’t really mainstream but damn it should be.

      A NES controller with switches and joysticks normally used in a combine harvester is really satisfying.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • Blaster_M@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Meanwhile, Subaru phoned it in with their wjndow switches…

      source
  • ammonium@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I have to run out of the bathroom when my wife uses her Dyson air dryer because it hurts my ears, and you’re telling me this is by design?!

    source
  • CptEnder@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    They also really really work well, theyre over engineered like crazy but last forever.

    source

    • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Newer ones don’t. They’re usually dead in 2-4 years.

      source
    • BritishJ@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Maybe the old Dysons. The new ones are rubbish. Shark all the way.

      source
  • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    this is pretty cool but it’d be cooler if the started supporting right to repair. As far as i can care they’re cunts until they stop producing manufactured e-waste products.

    source
  • CoriolisSTORM88@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Not necessarily for sound, on industrial fans and drives, we can program in skip frequencies to avoid any resonance issues in the system. I’ve never done it for noise reduction. But I do some tweaks for efficiency and power consumption reduction. There’s some wild industrial design stuff out there, and in the end, it’s because it provides something the customer wants. I won’t go into specifics, but you can design the same components the same for multiple manufacturers and do some slightly different things in its construction to give the vibe the OEM wants, or to fix some inherent characteristics in the manufacturers platform. It’s REALLY cool when you think about it. Sorry to be so vague, but I have to be.

    source
• Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Cue right wingers protesting the new “woke” leaf blowers.

  source

  • BruceTwarzen@kbin.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I'll let my gas powered leaf blower running all day now to make your woke blower useless. Get owned, sucker

    source

    • Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      There certainly are plenty of people who use those things because they enjoy being obnoxious twats.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • errer@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Blowing coal lel

      source
  • MrVilliam@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    No, they’ve moved on to “DEI” as their racist dogwhistle now. Keep up.

    source

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      “I’d never even heard of this 2 weeks ago, but after watching a single 90-second segment on Fox News, it’s all I can talk about and clearly the reason why the country is failing!”

      source
  • Isoprenoid@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Cue the left-wingers being rage-baited about the right wingers protesting the new “woke” leaf blowers.

    All the while the leaf blower manufacturer is getting free publicity.

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=06yy88tLWlg

    source
  • Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Coming soon: The all new, all American, COAL powered leaf blower.

    Now with a slide whistle and megaphone attachments for extra annoying noises.

    source

    • ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Whistle goes, “Woo, woo,” but that’s only in the mo’ning.

      youtu.be/zUXow3d3-b0?si=gr_4SDhNm3yUH0A6

      source
    • pewgar_seemsimandroid@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Image pasta powered leaf blower

      source
• TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s almost like it’s a requirement for every landscaping company to use the most noisy, ear destroying, gas-powered leaf blower that they can buy that can be heard from 2 city blocks over.

  source

  • mbirth@lemmy.mbirth.uk ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Especially gas-powered as they can then rev them all the time, raising the annoyance to completely new levels.

    source
  • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Gas powered is still vastly superior for things like leafblowers. A good gas one can last 15 years and take a total of $40 in maintenance parts for that entire time, all while blowing harder. High end battery powered ones will last 45 minutes and need a couple hundred dollars worth of replacement batteries every few years. My stihl from 1997 still works like it’s new.

    source

    • littlewonder@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Just one nitpick – usually one can swap out batteries and continue to use the tool.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      For 99% of applications, a corded electric blower with an extension cord is far superior than every other option.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • thejml@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    It’s advertising!

    source
• Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  For the people not reading the article. This is not about gas leaf blowers.

  The challenge was to take an electric leaf blower and make it even quieter.

  source
• Aopen@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I forgot that this device is still being used lol. Masovian Voivodeship in Poland banned leaf blowers in 2021 as part of air quality regulation and… air actually got cleaner and no one complains about leaves on sidewalks

  …infor.pl/…/6408199,zakaz-uzywania-dmuchawy-do-li…

  source

  • ikidd@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I don’t mind the electric ones, but I had a neighbour that would fire up a two-stroke backpack monster at 6 AM any morning there was the barest skiff of snow. And he’d try for hours blowing heavier snow that he could have had shovelled in 15 minutes. He was generally just an asshole neighbour all around.

    source

    • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      we had a thread a while ago, and some dude was in there insisting that blowers can be “used for snow” because apparently snow blowers don’t fucking exist.

      People are fucking weird dude.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • Maggoty@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    People forget brooms exist. Just like using a shovel during the winter.

    source
  • EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    You didn’t just start using electric ones?

    source

    • espentan@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      They probably weren’t too concerned with the emissions from the leaf blowers themselves, but the dust and whatnot they whip up into the air.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • Liz@midwest.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The fucking DREAM.

    source
• Spaceballstheusername@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The sad thing is the students who actually did the work will probably see no financial gain from this. Students pay to take a class and then a company pays the university for access to the students and the students ideas and work is used by a company with no financial benefit to the students. Everyone makes out except the students.

  source

  • fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Actually unless they made it working for the university its normal for students to retain their IP rights.

    source

    • Spaceballstheusername@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I worked at a UC and companies retained all IP across all UCs and my undergrad school from the east coast was the same way. I’ve never heard of a university that let students keep their IP. I would imagine it would be hard to attract outside companies since the companies pay to be a part of the program. Can you point to a university program that allows students to retain their IP for senior design projects? I know if a student is doing a project through the school for a different class like a lab and they invent something or are volunteering the university has no claim to it but senior design is different.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    How come there are no student unions?

    source

    • Jaeger86@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Then they’d have to start paying student ath-a-leets. 😉

      source
    • Spaceballstheusername@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      There are graduate students unions or research assistant unions. Undergraduates (not ones working in a lab) don’t work for the university they are customers. It would be like members of a gym unionizing. I guess it could happen maybe.

      source
• boaratio@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I invented a leaf blower that is 100% silent and is shaped like a rake.

  source

  • Takumidesh@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Let me just rake up all this sand and grass clippings.

    source

    • amongstthetrees@lemmy.ml ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Too bad there isn’t one shaped like a broom.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Interesting, my rake makes some sounds when I use it. It’s pretty loud on hard surfaces.

    source
  • explodicle@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That’s way too expensive. I just use my fingers.

    source

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Can I borrow them to clean my yard? I promise I’ll get them right back to you.

      source
• astrsk@kbin.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Too bad these innovations wont make it down to the workers that stores hire from 11pm to 3am to clean the store parking lot across from me.

  source

  • crazyminner@lemmy.ml ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Good thing is you could 3d print some and give them to them. If they use a compatible blower that is. Or if you’re handy with modeling you could probably modify the attachment part.

    source

    • explodicle@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      (10 hours of work later)

      “Ok how much money will this save me for the risk of your plastic thing melting all over my blower.”

      source
• craigers@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Can I get those STL files? I’m gonna print one for each of my neighbors

  source

  • Tikiporch@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    No, the university gets to license it and squeeze all the cash out first. Try again in 15 years.

    source

    • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      🏴‍☠️

      source
  • prayer@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Here’s the email of one of the students that were involved in the project. Try directly reaching out to them:

    Madison Morrison: mmorr114@jh.edu

    source
• twig@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Fuck leaf blowers. I don’t care if they’re quieter. They son’t really solve any problems. They’re not good at removing debris, but just blowing it to a place where someone else will deal with it.

  Also… removing debris on its own is a dubious pursuit, since “debris” could also be termed “stuff that holds moisture longer and slows the effect of drying soil during drought conditions.”

  source

  • Kcs8v6@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The majority of use my leaf blower gets I blowing grass clippings from the street back into my lawn. It keeps cyclists safe and doesn’t make a mess on public travel ways. I think for that purpose they are a great solution.

    source

    • Carrot@lemmy.today ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yeah, I use it to blow leaves off my walking path and into my flower/mulch beds. Prevents me from slipping and helps my plants

      source
    • Noodle07@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yeah the rakes don’t like it too much when you use them on the road too

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The gasoline powered blowers are also one of the worst polluting motors in common use.

    source
• Pacmanlives@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Image

  source
• Sorgan71@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Whoever made that title should be launched into a volcano on the moon

  source
• HBK@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  …is this not just a muffler/silencer for leaf blowers? Good on these kids! This definitely falls under the ‘why didn’t I think of that!’ category for me.

  source
• 0x0@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Too bad no one invented rakes yet.

  source
• centipede_powder@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Cool, do they offer whistle tips?

  source
• MxM111@kbin.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Now do the trimmers and the lawnmowers

  source
• Dendr0@fedia.io ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  "Patent pending" and already picked up by a major manufacturer. So what this means is basically while it could be a good thing... the article is basically an advertisement for an upcoming product.

  Not nearly as good a thing until it gets copied/the patent gets worked around. Also, zero explanation of what was actually done to accomplish this, so again, leaning more towards "this is just advertisement with extra steps".

  source
• KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  how they did it:

  they used an electric motor.

  source
• Nacktmull@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Give then a Nobel Prize!

  source
• topinambour_rex@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It been brought by Black & Decker, no ?

  source
• Black_Gulaman@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Why not use a rake? It exercises you and doesn’t pollute. Plus it can make you laugh if you see someone walk into it and gets slapped cartoon style in the face.

  source
• Legendsofanus@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Can’t wait to use this in Leaf Blower Revolution

  source
• aniki@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  This does nothing to address the lovely whirl of a 2 stroke.

  source
• LodeMike@lemmy.today ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Yes its called not gas powered.

  source