I wonder if the efficiency is indeed unchanged, or as quoted in the article "keeps all that force". If so, and if the added weight is really minimal, I wonder if this could be applied to EDF aerial vehicles such as hobbyist RC planes.
Students invent quieter leaf blower
11–20 of 440 posts
Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower
#12I was hoping the video would show it actually blowing leaves.
Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower
#13HN commenter with this exact idea 2019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20379490 haha. Good stuff
Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower
#14Now if we could solve this for the rest of the lawn equipment, especially mowers and string trimmers.
The switch to electric will help a lot in this situation. Unfortunately I don't think the equipment is good enough contractors yet.
Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower
#15Won't help much until these are mandated by law, or.. we just wait for a couple generations to die out. There's a section of folks who enjoy loud engines. It's their jam, they love being 'outdoors' with loud gas powered engines, big trucks, riding lawn mowers. It's a fantasy escape world for them. Over time, the next couple generations may hopefully adopt more battery powered outdoor stuff (mowers, blowers, etc) because of environmental concerns, or... goodness - maybe actual sound concerns. But it's going to be another couple decades, I think. Yes, I live in a rural area in the US. Things ain't changing here any time soon.
Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower
#16"Their design cuts the most shrill and annoying frequencies by about 12 decibels, which all but removes them, making them 94% quieter. The team reduced the overall leaf blower noise by about two decibels, making the machine sound 37% quieter." [1]
Somewhat upsetting here... I don't have a problem with people doing things like this and students need encouragement, but we are talking about shifting from the sound of a leaf blower to the sound of a vacuum cleaner [2]... in the best case.
One particular annoyance here: the sound emission must be from the end of the blower but also from its casing. I feel many products like these are cheaply designed, and the OEM could solve many of the nuisance issues with simple housing changes... or spending a few more pennies on the bearings or blades in assemblies. These are not OEM primary goals, as they are looking to save pennies in a lot of the parts in these designs.
JHU should make these comments!, and also offer their designs for free given these are public orgs using mostly public dollars... if the result is such a big deal, getting manufacturers to commit to sound reduction in licensing deals would be a true result!
https://audiology-web.s3.amazonaws.com/migrated/NoiseChart_P... [2]
Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower
#17HN commenter with this exact idea 2019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20379490 haha. Good stuff
It looks like the same structure.
Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower
#18Now if we could solve this for the rest of the lawn equipment, especially mowers and string trimmers.
The switch to electric will help a lot in this situation. Unfortunately I don't think the equipment is good enough contractors yet.
Maybe it's just a UK thing but I can't think of the last time I even saw a non-electric lawn mower. Even going as far back as the 80s they were the standard, just don't mow over the cable!
Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower
#19I also have one, it's called a rake.
Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower
#20If these truly sound that much better I'd personally buy every gardener in a 3 block radius one of these myself just to get rid of the bloody gas ones.
Would love to know what neighbourhood you live in so that I dont have to get it for my gardener