James Woodcock - Drone Noise Annoyance (17/01/24)

"Development of an online listening experiment to investigate the perception of the sound of medical delivery drones"

James Woodcock - Arup

Abstract: Project CAELUS is aiming to operate a pilot-scale trial of the UK’s first drone network for medical distribution, operated by NHS Scotland. A primary goal of this project is to enhance healthcare equity by enabling efficient low-carbon transportation of medical supplies, with a particular focus on remote communities. Compared to other transportation noise sources, the human response to sound from emerging aviation technologies such as drones is not well characterised. This makes assessment of the potential noise impacts of drones challenging, which in turn poses risks to widespread adoption of the technology and the many beneficial applications it would enable. Gaining an understanding of the impact of drone sound on people, and the effect of contextual factors such as their use case (i.e. medical delivery), is essential if they are to provide a societal benefit.



This talk outlines the development of an online listening experiment designed to explore the human response to the sound of drones in the context of medical delivery. We will discuss the development of a flexible method to create auralisations of drone flyovers and take-offs, and how these auralisation have been used as the basis of the listening experiment. We will also discuss the challenges associated with delivering sound demonstrations online and present some preliminary results from the experiment.



Bio: Dr James Woodcock is a senior consultant at Arup specialising in aviation noise and the human response to sound and vibration. He holds a PhD from the University of Salford in the human response to railway noise and vibration and, prior to joining Arup, worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at Salford investigating the perception of spatial audio. His wide range of experience in acoustics includes the design / implementation / analysis of perceptual tests, developing auralisation methods for fixed wing and novel aircraft, and assessment of environmental noise and vibration for large infrastructure projects.