Data acquisition and the IoT (internet of things) movement: A use case for investigating post construction noise anomalies

This paper provides a practical understanding of network technologies available to acousticians to troubleshoot building-related noises where source and cause cannot readily be defined or quantified. The Internet of Things (IoT) movement has created opportunities for equipment manufacturers to embed web services into devices accessed by software application program interfaces (API's). By taking advantage of this newfound connectivity, devices from different manufacturers can be made to communicate and work in tandem. A practical use case has been established in response to unique project conditions. Transient noise anomalies characterized by impulsive sounds emanating from a composite building system, such as thermal expansion or wind loading noise events in glass façade structures, require a system of equipment to measure, filter, and analyze impulse noises under various field conditions. This system can be described as a network of one or more sound level meters or devices where one acts as a master web socket server using standard HTTP protocol. In this use case, devices include a sound level meter, a 40-microphone array acoustic camera and a PC. A web browser acts as the client application, establishing communications over a web socket connection to the master web socket server, and then coordinates communications with other connected devices. This connectivity allows the acoustician to measure triggered impulsive events and obtain synchronized data and imagery for identification and location of noise sources.