SANC-S (Ship Active Noise Cancelling System)

SANC-S, a device to reduce marine noise pollution through an active noise cancellation system.

Our solution is SANC-S, a device that, through destructive interference, allows to reduce the intensity of marine noise pollution generated by ships.

It consists of an omnidirectional system composed of hydrophones, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, underwater loudspeaker, central processing unit (FPGA) and an active noise control algorithm (FxLMS). 

This device will be located near the ship's propeller to control the noise from the emission source.

SANC-S address the lack of technology capable of reducing noise pollution in the oceans. 

In the ocean, sound is essential for survival, it propagates five times faster than air and it reaches greater distances. This makes anthropogenic noise a threat to the marine balance.

Shipping, sonar and seismic testing, all contribute to the three main causes of anthropogenic noise pollution in the oceans. In the case of shipping, it has generated a 15 dB increase in ocean noise during the last 50 years and much of the noise generated on board is the result from their propellers cavitation. More than 90% of the world's trade is transported by sea, making the ocean the basis of international trade and the world economy, with almost 94,500 ships registered on a global scale.

Many marine species have evolved to communicate, feed and even reproduce based on sound. For this reason, the introduction of anthropogenic noise has a direct impact on marine fauna, reducing their essential biological functions and behavior, sometimes even causing death. Among these functions are CO2 uptake and the production of nutrients and a large part of the oxygen we breathe. For example, each whale absorbs 33 tons of carbon dioxide during its lifetime and phytoplankton is capable of producing between 50 and 80% of the oxygen generated on the planet.

Our solution serve to: 

• Marine ecosystems, decreasing the loss of biodiversity and allowing the balance between the species that inhabit it.

• Companies with marine fleets engaged in maritime transport and trade, offering active noise reduction. Currently there are no companies that are sustainable with noise pollution at sea, so our solution offers a competitive value in the new global market that appeals to the new demands of consumers.

• People and entities that depend on marine biodiversity for their livelihoods, such as tourism, extractive, research, conservation and protection areas.

The team has people trained in different disciplines, where initially each one contributed and researched their specialty. Interviews were then conducted with professionals from the different areas:

• Sciences

  • Marine biology

  • Environmental Sciences

• Engineering

  • electrical

  • Acoustics

  • Computing

  • environment

• Specialized Research Institutions.

• Research, Development and Innovation Companies (R+D+I)

We also are in touch with a company interested in supporting the development of the product.

We are currently waiting for a response from shipping companies to conduct interviews and when we have the prototype, develop testing together with these companies.

The unmet need we are solving is the acoustic pollution in the ocean. This is so important because there is little awareness, concern and attention to this problem. It is a very big problem, which affects a planetary scale but cannot be understood on a human scale, a problem that is not visible and that is destroying marine life, thereby also harming fishing communities and promoting climate change.

We are in the prototype stage however we continue to improve the concept. Since regarding the concept we have achieved an informative growth necessary for the study of the device. We have software and clarity on the physical phenomenon to be used, however, we are adding the requirements and improvements to the concept that are developed as the prototype progresses. Regarding the prototype, we have resources to purchase technological implements for the first prototype and we have a place to carry out laboratory tests. The prototype will consist of a system made up of hydrophones, an AD/DA converter, an underwater loudspeaker, a central processing unit (FPGA) and a predictive filter algorithm.

Our proposal is based on Active Noise Control (ANC), with a configuration of processing units, sensors and sound emitters, it is capable of generating destructive interference to the noise signal that is being produced in the presence of a source. This technology is applied to noise receivers, such as Noise-Cancellation Headphones or car cabins, to be isolated from external noise. It is also possible to control noise from the emitting source, with applications in electrical power generators and construction machine engines. Our solution will have this technology in marine vessels, an area where it has not been applied.

The solution has not been launched yet but during this year it is intended to equip five local vessels with SANC-S, which will cover an area of interest for researchers from centers and universities in our country.

There are two researchers who support ocean soundscape projects and with whom we will work documenting the effects of noise on marine fauna once the improved devices have been implemented.

Equip vessels with SANC-S: Complete the prototyping process and start production of five SANC-S devices

Reduce anthropogenic noise: Equipping vessels with SANC-S and measuring anthropogenic noise in certain parts of the country.

Making noise pollution in the marine environment visible: Generating interactions through social networks. Publishing content about the impact of marine noise and related topics.

Publish scientific papers: We want to document the progress of both the canceller and the impact on marine fauna. At least one publication is expected to be a WOS (Web of Science) journal.

Our progress is divided into the following topics:

• research
• documentation
• prototypes
• Strategic Alliances

For the research process, we define topics related to specific knowledge that are related to SANC-S at some level. These are deepened and shared among team members to discuss and generate useful learning. From this point, relevant information can be extracted to make noise pollution visible to people.

About the documentation, competitive funds, professionals from certain areas and interviews with certain professionals are compiled. In addition, the possible software to be used by the device is documented.

During the prototype creation stage, progress is made with the development of software on different platforms and programming languages, simulations, the purchase of tools for the construction of the device, laboratory tests and the scope and effectiveness of the system. This stage will be completed by testing the prototype on real vessels.

Regarding strategic alliances, contacts are made with professionals and institutions in the areas of interest to obtain benefits such as; knowledge; instruments; access to laboratories; funding.

The most important barrier is funding: we currently have a small fund of USD $2000, however this is only enough for the partial construction of the prototype, so funding is necessary to be able to build a more robust device. Another important barrier is access to a fleet of vessels where we can test the prototypes that we intend to build, to date we only have access to laboratory tests.

Within the team we have experience in the development of projects and we have the multidisciplinary support of all the people from Cverde, a non-profit organization. The SANC-S team is made up of: Camila Garcés - Bachelor of Engineering Sciences with a major in Environmental Sciences, Tomás Haro - Superior Sound Technician and Sound Engineering student, Diego Layana - Electronic Engineering student and Felipe Cornejo - Mathematical Engineering student.

The idea came up in February 2019, at that time we started working on it and applied to Unite Ideas' Reboot The Ocean contest, winning in the “Set Sail for Zero” category. We continued until the beginning of 2020, but then we gave it a pause looking to expand the project team. Finally, in 2021 we resumed the project and applied for Committed to the “Committed to the Oceans and the Environment” contest, where we obtained the support of mentors and won first place in the contest, obtaining funding of $2,000.

Within the SANC-S project we are part of Cverde (“Corporación Verde”), a Chilean non-profit organization dedicated to the development of projects with objectives of environmental protection, conservation and regeneration. In addition, as SANC-S we have strategic alliances with the Acústica Marina company and professionals in marine and physical sciences, as well as contact with a key partner company dedicated to maritime transport machinery.

we dont apply

we dont apply