QUESTION
What is the noise level monitoring process for electric helicopters in urban environments like New York City?
2:00:16
·
156 sec
Lydon Sleeper from Joby Aviation explains the company's approach to monitoring noise levels of their electric helicopters in an urban setting like New York City.
- Joby Aviation partnered with NASA to measure aircraft noise at their facilities in California from 100 meters away during takeoff and overhead at 1,500 feet.
- In November, Joby conducted test flights in New York City and had team members with microphones in Brooklyn Bridge Park to measure sound levels, which were imperceptible from the park during hover and transition.
- For the NASA study, the agency set up microphone arrays on the ground, and Joby had to mow grass near the test site to ensure accurate readings since their aircraft is so quiet.
- Council Member Amanda Farías acknowledges Joby's noise monitoring efforts and the potential use of decibel meters for regulating helicopter noise complaints in NYC.
Lincoln Restler
2:00:16
Just one question for Mister Sleeper.
2:00:19
I think that the environmental benefits of electronic helicopters are kind of obvious and straightforward.
2:00:25
The noise benefits I just would like some greater clarification on.
2:00:30
We've heard from some neighbors that there are still significant noise issues.
2:00:34
We've heard from others that they're almost silent.
2:00:37
Could you give us some clarity based on the testing that you all have been doing?
Lydon Sleeper
2:00:40
Yeah.
2:00:41
I appreciate that.
2:00:42
And we actually have partnership with NASA, where NASA came out to our facilities in California and measured our aircraft from a 100 meters away at takeoff.
2:00:50
We flew overhead at about 1500 feet.
2:00:53
And they actually released that study, and that was the the sound that I mentioned before.
2:01:00
But in the context of New York, what we're really excited about when we were here in November, we took off.
2:01:05
We had a Chase helicopters.
2:01:07
You could only hear the helicopter.
2:01:08
But the day before, we flew, we didn't have the chase, and we actually had teammates across in Brooklyn Bridge Park doing measurements of of the sound, and it was imperceptible from Broken Bridge Park, and that was what we were at Hover And Transition.
2:01:21
So the fundamentally different sound profile of our aircraft, we really do think will change the way people in New York experience aerial mobility, both as passengers, but also as people playing in the park and people over the city listening overhead.
Amanda Farías
2:01:39
And just a quick follow-up to that, Mister Sleeper.
UNKNOWN
2:01:41
Uh-huh.
Amanda Farías
2:01:44
How did you folks monitor that?
Lydon Sleeper
2:01:47
Yeah.
2:01:47
So we just set up microphones around because we wanted to make sure that It was the first time we'd flown in an urban setting like New York.
2:01:56
So we wanted to know exactly how we would hear what it would what it would sound like.
2:02:00
So we just had our our folk with microphone.
2:02:03
For the study that we did with NASA, they actually came out and set up a whole set of arrays on the ground.
2:02:08
The the anecdote that we like to tell is when they came out.
2:02:11
They did a bunch of measurements when we were flying overhead, and they were picking up the grass from the field next to us.
2:02:17
So we had to mow the grass.
2:02:19
In order for them to get a more accurate reading of how of our aircraft because it's so quiet.
Amanda Farías
2:02:25
Yeah.
2:02:25
So within your testimony, and I thank you for being brief because it was many pages Mhmm.
2:02:30
That you did accessible ratings comparatively.
2:02:34
And so it is we are able to use decibel meter or at least like noise meters to regulate some of this and and the noise complaint issues that we have.
2:02:46
Thank you.
2:02:49
Seeing no other questions, this panel is dismissed.