Inspired by the hearing of a fly, the researchers were inspired to develop a new low-power microphone component that promises to pave the way for a new generation of intelligent battery-free hearing aids.
Researchers at the Cockerell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) have developed a new hearing aid using the special auditory structure of a yellow parasitic flies (Ormia ochracea). It can only emphasize the sound that the wearer wants to hear.
This parasitic fly has a unique sound processing mechanism that determines the direction of the sound within 2 degrees, thus accurately locating the position of the slap in a tweet.
Due to the speed limitations of sound and the distance between human ears, humans and other mammals are generally able to locate the source of sound, said Neal Hall, associate professor of electronics and computer engineering at the Cockerell School of Engineering, who led the research.
“When people look for an event based on sound, they use the limited speed of the sound,†he explained. “The sound is just a pressure wave that moves in the air at a finite speed. When you walk on the street, if the nearby car passes With a horn, you know which direction to turn over, because the sound reaches one of your ears faster than it reaches the other. In the subconscious, your brain uses the data to identify the sound. The direction of the source."
The figure shows that researchers have developed a low-power microphone component inspired by the sound processing mechanism of this parasitic fly.
Researchers at the Cockerell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin have developed the tiny components that can be used to develop battery-free hearing aids. This new type of hearing aid allows the wearer to lock in the sound of the existing interest and block the ambient noise.
The research team observed that this particular type of parasitic flies had different sound experiences, and Hall said that due to the special auditory structure of the flies, the sound was phase shifted in a seesaw manner. This magnifies the time delay and allows the parasitic flies to locate the sound source more accurately than other insects or animals.
“Using this seesaw principle, parasitic flies can mechanically handle some small differences,†he said. “The difference in sound pressure across the seesaw makes it into a rocking motion, as if the children of different weights are sitting on the ends of the seesaw. same."
Using this structure as a model, the research team at the University of Texas at Austin used silicon crystal to create a 2mm wide microphone assembly that was almost like the hearing organ of a parasitic fly. The assembly consists of a flexible beam and a piezoelectric material that allows the research team to simultaneously measure the deflection and rotation of the beam. These actions make it possible to replicate the hearing of parasitic flies.
Neal pointed out that although similar components have been created in the past, the use of piezoelectric materials is a unique approach that allows the component to operate at very low power consumption by converting mechanical pressure into electrical signals.
This low-power feature allows it to be used to develop a new generation of hearing aids that do not require batteries. At present, wearer wearers must frequently replace the battery for the device, which not only causes more cost, but also affects the stability of the hearing aid.
The way the device allows the user to hear the sound may also give the hearing aid another advantage. Hall stressed that because it can block some noise that people don't necessarily want to hear.
“In addition to locating the sound, the parasitic flies teach us some tricks to make the directionality of the small microphone built,†he said. “This is very useful in some situations. For example, hearing aid wearers often feel that they have a higher noise background. The environment (such as the restaurant) is difficult to hear clearly. In order to hear the sound of interest and increase the volume, all the sounds in the room will be amplified. Only one direction of the sound of interest can be heard through this. The microphone component, which filters out background noise, enhances the ability to understand user interest."
The kit is also suitable for military and defense applications, creating a device that allows soldiers to accurately locate the source of sound in the dark, especially in the absence of vision assistance. In fact, the US Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has sponsored Hall's research.
In order to develop such a microphone assembly, Hall and his research team plan to conduct years of research, focusing on increasing the frequency range to cover the full audio bandwidth. Of course, this component needs further design to be suitable for packaging and processing of consumer products.
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