A Personal Active Communication System For Use in Extreme Noise Environments

"The extreme noise fields encountered by U.S. Navy flight deck and cockpit crewmen interfere with speech intelligibility and cause hearing loss to warfighter personnel, even with the currently-fielded communication systems. This Phase I program willdevelop new active noise reduction (ANR) technologies and improve existing passive technologies for incorporation into a prototype double hearing protection, helmet-integrated communication system. The advanced system will target up to 50 dB of noisereduction on the flight deck and 40 dB of noise reduction in the cockpit. Feasibility studies will first investigate: enhanced performance of earcup materials and seals in extreme noise, improvements to the noise reducing microphone, ANR designs that arecompatible with prototype communication earplugs, and novel component configurations that optimize simultaneous noise suppression and speech intelligibility. Attenuation and intelligibility data for a Phase I prototype system will be measured during thePhase I option project. A unique team of small businesses has been assembled to ensure a successful Phase I solution to this extremely challenging and multidisciplinary design problem. The corporate team members will extend their cooperative effortsafter Phase I to address any further development issues, leading to a manufacturable prototype at the conclusion of Phase II. The benefits of the extreme-noise, personal active communication syste