A Quiet Shop Vac

Fernando Arabia, Rock Magnotta, Maxwell Mentonis, Christopher Rinaldi
School of Engineering

Fairfield University

Our project’s overall objective is to reduce the noise created by air turbulence, the motor and vibrations in a ‘Shop Vac’ through mechanical and electronic modifications to the vacuum. Mechanically modifying the vacuum is possible through insulation and other hardware changes that will passively reduce noise by vibration absorption and noise dampening. Electronic noise modification is achieved by usage of the LMS algorithm to produce an active noise-cancelling (ANC) signal. Noise is captured via microphone, software designed to recognize frequencies present, and an algorithm developed to identify and generate the appropriate destructive interference frequencies needed. Those frequencies are then amplified electronically and drive an audio speaker to produce the anti-noise. The result is an active cancellation in real-time of any inherent noise as generated by the system, and a quieter user experience.        

Corresponding Author: Christopher Rinaldi, christopher.rinaldi@student.fairfield.edu