“Music you like, you can crank up,” he says. Science,” says Andrew Barnard, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering andĬlean Snowmobile Challenge Acoustics Testing CrewĬhad Walber, R&D engineer at PCB Piezotronics explains that subjective noise is like “This is where hard science and soft science come together. Too-quiet carĭoors continually slammed because they lack that luxe “chink” that makes you sure Loud enough suspicious consumers don’t believe they’re doing the job. Psychoacoustics, which focuses on the perception of sound: Vacuum cleaners that aren’t The blind-test playback sparks a discussion on the many branches of sound study, including The regs and pleasing the customer.” The Aesthetics of Noise The sound quality and the level,” he says. “The quietest sled won’t necessarily score the best. The students rate how annoying it is…picture yourself sitting out relaxing in your “They’ll subjectively judge who sounds better,” Genow explains. The recordings Genow collects form the basis of one of the most interesting tests 'If a snowmobile goes by and there’s nobody to hear it, does it make a sound? ' Kent Genow Simulate acoustic components of the outer human ear. Kent Genow of HEAD acoustics is the recorder and keeper of the playback files, capturedīy the Aachen Head a head-and-shoulder torso-less mannequin with poufy headphone-eseque ear cones that To game the tests and ensure consistent handling and speed-35 mph in the internal Research Center driver, Geoff Gwaltney, performs all the pass-bys to eliminate attempts Is compared to the control sled (this year a Polaris Switchback 800). Surface is the biggest variable in noise tests, but temperature, humidity and windĬlean Snowmobile Challenge Acoustics TestingĬompeting snowmobiles warm up on the track’s eastern loop. The back-and-forth continues as snow showers and wind give way to calm, clear skies. The experts in acoustics, vibration and noise control call out the With teeny orange traffic cones on a sparsely forested piece of land at the Keweenaw

Man the central point of the 150-foot noise trap, a thickly crusted track marked off The 21 teams in this year’s SAE International competition are rated on both objectiveĪnd subjective noise. Judging sound is as much about aestheticsĪt the annual Clean Snowmobile Challenge, student teams work to not just lower emissions, but to make sleds quieter, too. But it’s not necessarily how loudĪ snowmobile is that makes it irritating. Softer than a Harley, more melodious than a mower, today’s stock snowmobiles emitĪ whisper compared to their 1970s counterparts.

Vibration track high speed snowmobile