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Johnson Controls Unveils The 'WAVE' of the Future in Acoustics

10 November 2000

Have you heard? Johnson Controls Unveils The 'WAVE' of the Future in Acoustics Testing

Company's new automotive acoustics laboratory
opens near its Holland, Michigan technical center

    HOLLAND, Mich., Nov. 10 Johnson Controls
recently opened an automotive acoustics laboratory -- called the WAVE Lab --
near the company's Holland, Michigan Technical Center, which further enhances
product development capabilities and efficiencies.
    This 10,500-square-foot facility gives the company new capabilities to
address the growing demand for quieter, more comfortable vehicle interiors. It
also helps Johnson Controls address the unique acoustic needs of interiors
that include telematic and infotainment systems.
    "The addition of the WAVE Lab will help speed development of acoustically
tuned interiors for any vehicle segment or consumer preference," said Jeff
Edwards, group vice president of product and business development for Johnson
Controls. "This is another way that Johnson Controls is applying technology to
develop products that exceed our customers' expectations, and delivers vehicle
interiors that people want to be in."
    The WAVE Lab houses specialized, "state-of-the-art" test chambers, as well
as measurement and analysis systems including:

    *  the unique capability of a below-ground reverberation chamber -- used
in conjunction with the hemi-anechoic chamber in order to measure full-vehicle
floor system sound insulation;
    *  a full-size reverberation chamber -- for making sound absorption and
sound insulation measurements with vehicle drive-in capability;
    *  a large, ultra-quiet, hemi-anechoic test chamber -- that simulates
open-road acoustic conditions in a precisely controlled laboratory
environment;
    *  a full anechoic chamber -- for making sound power output and acoustic
directivity measurements; and
    *  multiple sound transmission test windows -- for making sound insulation
measurements of materials, components and entire vehicle systems.

    Product development efficiency will be further enhanced through the use of
advanced computer-aided acoustic modeling of materials, components and full
vehicles using commercially-available software, as well as proprietary
software developed by Johnson Controls.