The Peace & Quiet of Noise

Big trucks may get a lot quieter, at least on the inside. Technology called active noise control can make its own kind of “noise” that actually cancels out other noise in a truck cab.

Golden, Colo.-based Coo-per Advanced Technologies, which developed its first active noise control system for aircraft in 1998, now wants to bring the technology to heavy-duty trucks.

The key is what engineers call “destructive interference,” says Daniel J. Maguire, general manager of the company’s active systems division. It would be like two people touching the water surface from each end of a pond with the same force, creating small waves in concentric circles. Where the spreading waves meet, the waves will cancel each other out and the water will be perfectly still, he says. The system would create the physical opposite of the noise being eliminated.

OEMs like the idea but no one is ready to add it to their options list just yet. The company is also thinking about the aftermarket, but not without exploring all possibilities with the OEMs.