Scientists use acoustic voxels to manipulate the acoustic properties of 3D printed objects

Recently, researchers at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, in collaboration with scientists at the Disney Research Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have developed a new method for controlling sound waves that can be designed in a reverse fashion. The filter adapts to any 3D shape and is capable of achieving the desired sound filtering properties.

Under the leadership of the school's computer science professor Zheng Changxi, the team designed the acoustic voxel, a small, hollow, cubic-shaped cavity through which sound can enter and exit like a module. System. Moreover, such sound voxels can be connected to each other to form a complicated structure like Lego bricks. Due to their internal cavities, they can also modify the sound filtering properties of the structure - just change the number, size or connection of voxels to change the sound.

“In the past, people have also explored the design of specific acoustic products by calculation, such as a certain type of muffler or a specific shape of the trumpet.” Professor Zheng Changxi said, “The general practice of manipulating sound waves has always been through computational design of the cavity. Shape. And our algorithm can achieve a new design of noise muffler, hearing aids, wind instruments and other products - because we can achieve any shape we want, and even make a 3D printed toy hippo sound like a trumpet."

It is understood that his team will present a paper titled "Acoustic Voxels: Computational Optimization of Modular Acoustic Filters" at the SIGGRAPH 2016 conference on July 27.

Professor Zheng added: "We also proposed a very interesting new way to use sound filters - we can use sound voxels as acoustic labels, each of our 3D prints is unique, they have codes inside Information, which is equivalent to a QR code or RFID tag, opens the door to coding products and copyright information in 3D printing."

Last year, Professor Zheng’s team used a computational approach to design and 3D printed a Zoolophone, a xylophone-like instrument but whose keys were made into the shape of animals in the zoo. Zoolophone represents the research team's basic research in vibration sound control, which takes advantage of the complex relationship between the geometry of the object and the vibrational sound produced by its surface being hit.

In this latest research, Professor Zheng's team has proposed a calculation method to facilitate the manipulation of sound transmission by many products, such as car mufflers and musical instruments.

“In today's 3D printers , geometric complexity is no longer an obstacle. Complex shapes can be easily created.” Professor Zheng Changxi said: “So the problem becomes, we can use complex shapes to improve the product. Acoustic performance?"

So they proposed the use of acoustic voxels - a single, modular acoustic filter shape that can be used to pre-calculate its sound filtering behavior using digital simulation. On this basis, they developed a new algorithm that allows them to assemble sound voxels into complex results like the assembly of LEGO bricks to create targeted acoustic filtering properties.

The creation of acoustic voxels has also led Professor Zheng's team to discover a whole new field: making sound markers to uniquely identify a 3D printed object that can embed information (such as copyright) in the shape of an object. The unique combination of acoustic voxels produces a unique sonic signature. So although two objects may have the same appearance, they will produce completely different sounds if their internal sound voxel combinations are different. Researchers can record the sounds of different sound voxel combinations and use an iPhone app developed by themselves to accurately identify each object.

Researchers say that acoustic markers may be a useful complement to QR codes and RFID tags because the latter two technologies need to be completely independent of the manufacturing process. If the manufacturer can directly implant the ID information inside the object, they will save time, effort and expense in labeling the parts separately. In addition, acoustic labels can also encode original copyright information.

It is reported that Professor Zheng’s current sound voxel project is to create a measurable object for making sound. Today, his team has shown how to embed information and logos into the sound of objects without having to separate them after manufacturing. deal with. Next, they intend to use acoustic voxel technology to control ultrasound by calculation. Professor Zheng said: "We are studying some interesting possibilities of manipulating ultrasound, such as invisibility, we can make the distortion of the object's sound so that the ultrasound is not detected. This may lead to the design of a new sonar system or underwater communication system. It is an exciting new field."

The research was partially funded by the National Science Foundation and Adobe.

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