Applied Acoustics Course - Calendar 2014-2015

Applied Acoustics Course - A.Y. 2014/2015

Calendar with link to PPT presentations, AVI audio-video recordings, notes and in-class tests

This page is the course calendar, the link to didactic material (Powerpoint slides, audio-video recording of the lessons, notes taken by student of previous year), and contains links to in-class tests, to their results and, at the bottom of the page, to the final results of in-class activity.
It must be remembered that this is a "flipped classroom" course, and the main goal of the in-class tests is NOT to pass the exam directly!
The goal is to learn the technical topics of Applied Acoustics: the possibility that these in-class tests provide the partial or total exemption from the final written and oral exam tests is just a possibility which will be reached by a small number of excellent students.
For all the others (the majority), the in-class test will NOT provide exemption from the exam tests, but it is expected that students who follow the course in its entirety and take part to the in-class tests will reach enough confidence in the matter, so that they will pass the final exam easily.

N.	Date	Time	Topic	Presentation	Recording	Registrazione	Note
0	03/10/2014	14.30-15.40	Course introduction, program, web page
1		15.50-16.50	Nature of sound, fundamental physical quantities
2		17.00-18.00	Energy & Sound, scale of decibels Preliminary Questionnaire
3	10/10/2014	14.30-15.40	Human auditory system, loudness evaluation, weighting curves
4		15.50-16.50	The Sound Level Meter, equivalent level, calibration, time history with different time constants (slow, fast, etc.)
5		17.00-18.00	Sum and subtraction of values in dB, examples of dB summation, Spectral Analysis, FFT, octave bands, Bark bands TEST - Results
6	17/10/2014	14.30-15.40	Free Field sound propagation, point sources, spherical divergence, directivity
7		15.50-16.50	Linear sources, cylindrical divergence, excess attenuation
8		17.00-18.00	Noise screens, Maekawa formulas, examples TEST - Results
9	24/10/2014	14.30-15.40	Indoor sound propagation, semi-reverberant field, critical distance
10		15.50-16.50	Reverberation time, definition and Sabine's formula
11		17.00-18.00	Environmental correction factor K2, sound propagation inside not-Sabinian rooms. TEST - Results
12	31/10/2014	14.30-15.40	Digital sampling of sound, digital filters, FFT, convolution in time and frequency domain
13		15.50-16.50	Measurement of impulse response: impulsive sources, microphones - Warning: this activity requires very loud sound signals, so it is recommended to carry protective devices (earplugs, etc.) - it is also recommended to bring a recording device (laptop, smartphone, tablet) equipped with software capable of recording uncompressed WAV files.
14		17.00-18.00	Measurement of impulse response: loudspeakers, MLS and ESS methods TEST - Results (updated)
15	07/11/2014	14.30-15.40	ISO3382 standard, acoustical parameters: T20, T30, EDT, Clarity, Definition, Center Time, IACC, Jlf, G
16		15.50-16.50	Speech Transmission Index: measurement and calculation
17		17.00-18.00	Sound absorbing materials, typical products. Example of measurement of Alpha Sabine according to ISO 354 (reverberant room) TEST - Results (updated)
18	14/11/2014	14.30-15.40	Sound insulating materials, typical products. Frequency dependence of the Sound Reduction Index R, the Mass law, resonances and coincidence.
19		15.50-16.50	Italian law about building acoustics (DPCM 5/12/1997), experimental assessment of compliance
20		17.00-18.00	Italian law about environmental noise (L. 447/1995), acoustical zoning, the new EC standards based on Lden - Results TEST - Results (updated)
21	21/11/2014	14.30-15.40	The Single Event Level (SEL) and its usage for evaluation of transportation noise
22		15.50-16.50	Examples and exercises regarding environmental noise
23		17.00-18.00	Examples and exercises regarding noise at the workplace TEST - Results (updated)
I risultati preliminari dei test in classe degli allievi di Tecniche della Prevenzione sono visibili clickando qui. Eventuali errori possono essere segnalati per E-mail entro il 01/01/2015, dopodichè i risultati saranno definitivi.
24	28/11/2014	14.30-15.40	Digital Sound Processing, FIR and IIR filters, FFT, aliasing, windows, spectrogram
25		15.50-16.50	Fast convolution by FFT, partitioned convolution, computation of FIR coefficients for inverse filters, the Kirkeby inversion
26		17.00-18.00	Measurement of the absorption coefficient: reverberant room, standing wave tube, sound intensity method, impulsive method TEST - Results (updated)
27	05/12/2014	14.30-15.40	Techniques employed for sound recording and reproduction, mono, stereo, multichannel, 3D, the Soundfield microphone, Ambisonics
28		15.50-16.50	Wave Field Synthesis (WFS), loudspeaker arrays, the Casa del Suono lab in Parma
29		17.00-18.00	Microphone arrays, virtual microphones, the RAI project TEST - Results
30	12/12/2014	14.30-15.40	The Hour of Code - writing small programs (plugins) for audio
31		15.50-16.50	The Hour of Code - using visual programming for audio processing
32		17.00-18.00	The Hour of Code - examples of coding Complete the following Javascript tutorial on Codeacademy prior of the in-class test: CODEACADEMY HOUR OF CODE TEST - Results
33	19/12/2014	14.30-15.40	Simulation of sound propagation outdoors employing the DISIA/CITYMAP software package
34		15.50-16.50	Simulation of sound propagation indoors employing the RAMSETE/AURORA software package
35		17.00-18.00	Final TEST on the whole program - Results
The final version of the in-class results is visible clicking here. These are the result of the last correction, and cannot be modified anymore, so please accept your score without further debate. A special "registration only" exam session is scheduled for Friday 16/01/2015, aula 5, reserved for the "green" students who are exempted by oral examination, and decide that they don't want to increase their score (27 or above) with an oral question. These students can now subscribe for this special session, but of course only if their position on ESSE3 is regular. This is the only possibility for registering the exam without any additional test. "Green" students who do not manage to register the exam in this special session will need to take part to normal exams, like all other "not green" students, and will need to make at least the oral exam, exactly as the "yellow" students. Apart the small number of students who did already reach the maximum score (30), it is highly recommended to all students in "green" area to make the oral exam, for improving their score. The chance of seeing the exemption score being reduced is practically zero, as these are the "top" students, and the oral exam should easily an quickly allow them to reach the maximum score, and perhaps the "cum laude" score. If they want, these students can also make the written exam, although, with a score of 27 or above, this is definitely not necessary. Similarly, it is highly recommended to all students in "yellow" area to make the written exam, for improving their base score, and go to the oral exam in a better position. Remember that, even if the written exam goes bad, the score obtained during in-class tests is always available, so it appears stupid and coward not attempting to improve it, as there is no risk. Furthermore, "yellow" students who do not attempt to improve their base score with the written exam have great chances to suffer at the oral examination, as for the examiner this is admission of poor preparation, typical of students who did not make a good work during in-class activity: so it will be necessary to use the oral examination for ascertain the real degree of preparation, by means of a long and thorough questioning. Instead, the oral exam is typically very fast and easy for students who proof their preparation with a new, good written exam. Apart the above-mentioned special initial exam session reserved for green students, there are 3 normal exam sessions open to everyone in January, February and April, and of course all the other normal exam sessions along the year, which dates are to be fixed yet. Only students which are correctly enrolled on ESSE3 will be able to subscribe for these exam sessions and perform the exam. So all students are strongly encouraged to complete now their enrolment on ESSE3 by presenting their study's plan and the questionnaire on course assessment. For any problem with ESSE3 enrolment, please contact directly the secretary, and NOT the teacher, who has no control on the ESSE3 system.

Legenda:

0-23	Lessons followed both by students of Engineering (6 CFU) and by students of Techniques of Prevention (3 CFU)
24-35	Lessons followed by students of Engineering (6 CFU) only

Copyright (C) Angelo Farina – all the material posted here cannot be reproduced or broadcasted without authorization.
Last revision: 12 January 2015