Microacoustic Sensors Laboratory
Mission:
The Microacoustic Sensors Laboratory houses a team of researchers whose focus is on the analysis, modeling, design, and testing of acoustic biomimetic sensors, inspired by the fly Ormia ochracea. The laboratory serves as the focal point for a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Cornell, Georgia Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Vanderbilt University as well as private partners at Knowles Electronics, LLC and Phonak. State-of-the-art measurement, testing, and computational facilities provide the tools for the advancement of our understanding of vibration, acoustic and stress related problems in engineering science.
Facility:
The Microacoustic Sensors Laboratory shares a 1400 square foot space with the Vibrations Research Laboratory in the Engineering Building in an efficient floor plan. The Lab infrastructure includes electrical hookups from 120V to 440V, compressed air, water, and forced-air ventilation. The Microacoustic Sensors Laboratory contains a variety of instruments for measuring and predicting the vibration of structures and systems. In addition to computational capabilities the laboratory contains state of the art instrumentation for measuring vibration and sound. This includes accelerometers, a photonic sensor, three laser vibrometers and a sound isolation chamber, which is housed in a separate, adjacent room to the Lab. The Lab also contains an assortment of computers ranging from personal computers to workstations that permit the development of sophisticated analytical models of vibrating systems along with the acquisition and analysis of measured vibration data. A separate room (500 sq.ft.) attached to the Microacoustic Sensors and Vibrations Laboratories houses a 1250 lb LDS shaker/slip table, amplifier and controller, a Cincinnati Sub-Zero Environmental Chamber with shaker interface. A well-equipped machine shop (2576 sq.ft.) and numerous other research laboratories are also located in the Engineering Building.
Faculty and staff:
Ron N. Miles, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Acoustics, Bio-mechanics/Acoustics, Vibration Analysis/Measurement
Phone: (607) 777-4038
miles@binghamton.edu
Dorel Homentcovschi, Ph.D.
Research Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Applied mathematics
Phone: (607) 777-5008
Weili Cui, Ph.D.
Research Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Acoustics, Bio-mechanics, Vibration Analysis/Measurement, MEMS fabrication
Phone: (607) 765-1889
Quang Su, Ph.D.
Research Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Acoustics, Vibration Analysis/Measurement
Phone: (607) 777-5286
Stephen A. Jones, MSEE
Process Enginee, Department of Mechanical Engineering
MEMS, Nanotechnologies, Photolithography, RIE
Phone: (607) 351-6060
Lisa L. Gallagher, MBA
Project Manager
Phone: (607) 777-4821
Current Projects:
- Sensing and processing for directional hearing aids – NIH Bioengineering Research Partnership
- Low-noise directional hearing aid microphone using sensing with electronic feedback – NIH
Measurement/Testing Capabilities:
The Microacoustic Sensors Laboratory's test/measurement capabilities are aimed at vibration and acoustic measurement of mechanical and bio-mechanical systems. In particular the very small eardrum of the fly, Ormia ochracea is the biological inspiration for this work. The Lab's measurement capabilities are enhanced by our state-of-the-art non-contacting laser measurement systems. The Lab's three laser vibrometers can be used for precise, focused (10 micron measurement point) vibration measurements. In addition, traditional transducers (accelerometers, LVDTs, strain gages) are also available.
Major Measurement/Test Equipment:
- One Polytec scanning laser vibrometer including OVD-20 displacement decorder board and choice of OVF 80 or OVF 150 lens.
- Two Polytec single point laser vibrometers with velocity output, one system includes displacement output.
- Four Channel Siglab DSP data acquisition system
- Three Newport ILS250PP Translational stages
- 6’X3’X8” Newport RS-4000 Optical Table
- 8’X4’X1’ Newport Optical Table
- Eckel sound isolation chamber
- Three Bruel & Kjaer probe microphones (type 4182 and 1/8” pressure field with dual channel power supplies.)
- PAX-cam ARC (Adjustable Resolution Camera) Digital Camera with PAX-it software
- Zeiss Axioskop 40 Transmitted & Reflected Light Microscope
- Micromanipulator probe holders with probes (100 TPI) for electrical testing of microscopic electrical devices
- 1 Oriel Micro-positioning Stage
- 1 LDS DVC 4000 Sine, Random, and Transient Controller
- Assorted instrumentation
Additional Measurement/Test Equipment:
- B&K Probe Microphone Type 4182
- B&K 2304 dual channel signal analyzers
- PC Based Data Acquisition Computers
- DSP SigLab 50-21 Data Acquisition Systems
- B&K 2230 Sound Level meter
- GenRad Sound Level meter
- Leica Wild Stereo Microscopes with Coaxial Illuminator/Ring Light
- Edmund Stereo Microscope with B&W Video Interface
- Various Accelerometers, Microphones, and Transducers
- Various Amplifiers, Filters, and Support electronics
Software:
Various Data Reduction, Report Writing, and Graphics Software Packages
- ANSYS Finite Element Code
- SolidWorks Computer Aided Design Software
- Matlab Computational Software
- Mathematica Computational Software
- L-Edit software
- Solid Edge Computer Aided Design Software
- PCTeX 6 Computational Software
- Comsol Multiphysics with MEMS Module
- Various High-Level Programming Languages
