recalm develops an Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) product for Off-Highway machinery.
Noise causes stress. Noise makes sick. In short: noise harms us. Considering the statements of the WHO and professional associations, it becomes clear that not only one in eight people suffers from hearing impairment, but it also represents the second most frequent occupational disease. This affects above all people who are permanently exposed to noise and have few opportunities to escape from it. These are for example car and truck drivers or air and bus travellers. This also includes drivers of construction and agricultural machinery. Finding qualified drivers is a problem. Therefore, many employers are keen to make the workplace (driver's cab) as ergonomic as possible. They are showing a growing willingness to spend money on innovative extras in the construction and agricultural machinery. Health and comfort play a key role in this. Construction and agricultural machinery manufacturers operate in a highly innovative market, which is increasingly opening to the new impulses from other sectors. This is due to cost savings and sales growth potential as well as better productivity and an additional benefit when looking for employees.
SME Instrument Phase I provided the opportunity to organise a beta phase as well as the bauma fair in Munich where we could talk to both, potential clients (OEM) and end-users (driver). Due to the bauma exhibition we generated additional leads that helped us verifying the assumptions made. Most of the customers confirmed they are having immense issues with noise in general. What we found interesting was the fact that more and more customers identified higher frequencies, mostly coming from the hydraulic, are annoying, too. This additional pain point challenges our technology as our product is most efficient for low frequencies. In conclusion, the feasibility study demonstrated that the ANC system by recalm can become a solution to noise problems inside the machinery's cabs.
