Talk Through Noise and Dosimetry System for Carrier Deck Crews

Face-to-face communication between crew members launching and recovering aircraft on a carrier deck is impaired by the high-noise environment. High-noise levels also mask the various audio cues that provide situational awareness. Yet effective communication and good situational awareness are key to safe and efficient operations. Current attempts to communicate involve shouting, gesturing, and often lead crewmembers to compromise their hearing protection. Creare proposes a Talk Through Noise (TTN) system that will improve face-to-face communications between crew members wearing hearing protection in high-noise environments, while maintaining the audio cues necessary for situational awareness without degrading their hearing protection. The system also includes a module for speech enhancement that enables communication in very high noise (greater than 110 dB), and a dosimetry module that will allow crew chiefs to effectively manage the exposure of their crews. In Phase I, we will prove the feasibility of our approach through evaluations of potential system components, integration of selected components into a benchtop demonstration, and testing of this system with human subjects in a representative noise field. Prototype systems will then be fabricated and tested in Phase II of the project.