Convertible car drivers will soon benefit from crystal clear phone calls even when the roof is down.
Manchester Metropolitan University researchers have created a new hands-free system to operate as wind and noise rush past a convertible car that is open to the elements.
It was borne out of a partnership between MMU and luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) for use in its iconic convertible cars.
The microphones promise better voice quality for motorists and passengers as they drive along with a retracted roof and is now development for future use in JLR’s vehicles.
Researcher Dr Bamidele Adebisi, lecturer in electrical and electronic engineering, utilised a signal processing technique known as beam forming to detect the direction and analyse the reception of sound waves.
Dr Adebisi said: “You get noise interference when you’re travelling at high speed in a convertible and speaking in the car. Obviously, you want the person at the other end to be able to understand you and for the microphones to have good speech recognition.
“So to improve the microphone we developed a new algorithm. We get the microphones to work together cooperatively to detect the voice, which is better than individual components working on their own.
“Our system increases voice quality and reduces costs by using fewer microphone deployments and less circuitry.”
The British vehicle manufacturer funded the £80,000 research project and joined Dr Adebisi to work with local schools to inspire engineering in pupils.
Dr Andrew Wells, technical alliance engineer for JLR, said: “We’re very happy with the results and it’s been great to work with Dr Adebisi and the University.
“The new microphone system is now in development for future use in our cars.”
