Hyundai Motor has announced the development of the world’s first Road Noise Active Noise Control (RANC) system. This is the first-ever system that dramatically reduces noise within the cabin of a vehicle.

This is the new breakthrough for the limitations of the current noise control technology. The RANC builds on the Hyundai Group’s current Active Noise Control (ANC) technology which actively reduces noise. It achieves the dramatic ‘nearly silent’ cabin environment in engine-free fuel cell electric and electric models by emitting sound waves inverted to incoming noise. The ANC is a software-driven technology that analyses the in-cabin sound to decrease engine and road noise, and will first be applied to an upcoming Genesis model.

This tech is quite different from the existing passive methods of blocking noise through sound insulation. These included dynamic dampers, which not only increased weight but also failed to block the buzzing infrasound completely. In contrast, ANC utilizes much lighter parts like microphones and controllers to control the noise and reduces infrasound more efficiently. The technology is already available in some Hyundai Motor Group vehicles.

The new RANC system can analyse various types of noise in real-time and produce inverted sound waves and reduce noise by 3dB. That 3dB level is roughly half the noise level as compared without RANC. Its computation and signal transfer speeds are optimised and takes only 0.002sec using the DSP (Digital Signal Processor). The microphone constantly monitors the road noise cancellation status and sends the information to the DSP. RANC is able to conduct accurate noise analysis and rapid computation to combat road noise for the driver’s seat, the passenger seat and rear seats separately.

Hyundai went through six years of research and development for the mass production of RANC. The pre-production phase involved an open innovation between industry and academia, with participation by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, WeAcom, ARE, BurnYoung and more. Additionally, the mass production phase was carried out with global car audio company, Harman.

Gangdeok Lee, a Research Fellow of NVH Research Lab said, “RANC is a remarkable technology which takes existing NVH technology to the next level. We will continue to take the leading position of NVH technology and deliver the highest level of quietness to customers.”