Customer-driven innovation GRAS

custoMEr-drivEn innovation

Danish GRAS, the leading high-end measurement microphone specialist, has raised the bar in its sector – the company has just launched a revolutionary new product that will not only fully meet the specifications required for sound applications, but also have a significantly longer service life. Product Manager Jan Hansen explains the benefits of the new product.

Since its establishment in 1994, GRAS has been dedicated to developing and manufacturing high-quality measurement microphones and related acoustic equipment. The company was founded by the Danish acoustics pioneer Gunnar Rasmussen who, for more than 60 years, has contributed to the world of sound and vibration with his unique ideas and designs.

Today the company has evolved into a supplier of the world’s best measurement microphones and accessories – all production is based in Denmark. The measurement microphones are used in many sectors, including aerospace, automotive, audiology, consumer electronics, noise monitoring, building acoustics and telecomm. All GRAS microphones are produced solely in stainless steel and have a five-year warranty. GRAS is represented worldwide in more than 40 countries by subsidiaries and distributors.

Jan Hansen explains that the company has always positioned itself as a very skilled producer of high-end measurement microphones in terms of specifications and technologies: “For several years, we have fine-tuned and customised our solutions for specific customer needs when it comes to different measuring parameters such as temperature, frequency range and similar. Another result of our close collaboration with our customers is our extensive range of form factors, which covers all possible measurement needs.

Simulating real life

The focus on product innovation has been one of the factors that has hoisted the company to its current market position. Within the product development stage, each microphone must undergo the most demanding tests, including a series of ‘Highly Accelerated Life Tests’ that actively accelerate the lifetime of the product, by simulating the handling and use it will be exposed to in real life situations.

A few years ago the company started to look more closely on the testing needs of the automotive sector. In most countries, all modern vehicles must comply with strict noise directives so thorough automotive testing is vital. Noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) are essential parameters in the automotive industry when engineers and manufacturers are working on optimising the driver experience and reducing the noise from the vehicle. Both sound quality and comfort have had an increased focus in recent years and have become a competitive differentiator for car makers.

“We could see the need for a microphone with high specifications and that would be able, on top of that, to operate reliably in the harsh environments and conditions that you encounter in real life – such as strong vibrations, shock, drop, extreme temperatures and wet or dusty conditions; in other words, in precisely that environment to which normally measuring microphones are said not to be exposed to,” says Jan Hansen. “So in the course of a year and a half, our R&D specialists tested new materials and designs to come up with something that would meet these requirements without compromising the high quality of measurement.”

Tough and reliable

The result is the new 146AE – a measurement microphone especially designed to perform under extreme test conditions, setting a new standard for automotive measurement microphones. It is the world’s only measurement microphone set to be shock resistant, waterproof, dust and oil mist resistant and able to withstand high temperatures – all without compromising measured data quality.

The rugged design of the 146AE makes it possible to perform many different types of measurement in the same test set up using only a single type of microphone. Not only does this improve the NVH test performance and data quality in rugged conditions, it also extends the lifetime of the measurement set-up. All this makes the 146AE the most cost-efficient measurement microphone in the market.

Morten Wille, R&D Project Manager, confirms that the product has undergone some hard testing. The 146AE was vibrated for 60 hours, kept in temperatures varying from -40 °C to +125 °C, dropped horizontally from 150cm onto a hard surface and finally put through a tumbling test by randomly falling 100cm on a floor more than 500 times. “In-house testing is extremely important, to make sure that you have the right materials in the right quality in order to get a product that is tough and reliable in the long term. We call these tests GRAS HALT Highly Accelerated Life Tests.”

Best on the market

“We have been talking to the world’s biggest car manufacturers and they are all very interested. NVH is a key aspect and testing is very expensive, so naturally, a product that is very resistant and reliable – and thus increases the test efficiency as well as cost-effectiveness – is very welcome,” Mr Hansen points out, adding that the new microphone will have a global reach. “We are not concentrating on a particular geographical market but target the major players in the automotive sector worldwide.”

As the first microphone in the industry to meet such high durability and data quality requirements, the 146AE will appeal to other segments too. “Although we now focus on the automotive sector, I anticipate our distributors will come back to us and say that other types of customers are interested in this product. High quality measurement and robustness are two attributes that are important to any industry.”

He also confirms that the new microphone will have a positive impact on the whole portfolio. “We have learned a lot from this product development and the knowledge will enable us to make a lot of improvements to our existing product range. Generally speaking, it will enable us to make microphones that are more robust. This is in line with of our plans for the future – to continue to develop and manufacture the world’s best measurement microphones to suit individual customers’ needs.” n