Thanks to artificial intelligence, Sixense has developed the Novia solution to answer one of the major questions on your worksites: “Is the excessive noise level caused by my on-site work or not?”. This solution, based on the machine learning technology, allows to identify whether or not a particular sound emanates from your construction noises or the surrounding urban activity.

Accessible via our Geoscope interface, Nora allows you to reduce the risks of complaints, site stoppages or even penalties. The Novia function can be activated at any time on all standard monitoring systems and automatically adapted at each phase of the construction.

This gives you a clear and transparent mean to justify a good noise management on your worksite to your clients and authorities.

If you are facing noise issues on your worksite in a sensitive urban environment, get in touch with our expert Karim Benaguid for more information.

Discover our solution in detail here.

 

 

Sissterra, a solution for worksites having an impacting on underground subsoils in restricted environment

Boreholes and other invasive geophysics investigation techniques are not very well adapted and difficult to deploy in restricted environment such as dense urban areas. Having a good visibility of the underground is however always necessary to carry out these works in such spaces.

It’s the reason why our experts developed an innovative geophysics solution, based on seismic without sources and particularly adapted to dense urban areas: Sissterra.
Based on a passive technology, our solution allows to reduce the number of boreholes and avoid active seismic sources. Sissterra passive technique relies on ambient noise recordings in the underground by autonomous geophones, an easy-to-use and easy-to-deploy system on site.

 

A turnkey and robust solution

An innovation from the academic field and the world of Oil&Gas, Sissterra is a turnkey solution allowing you to have a global visualisation of the underground subsoils. Our experts in geophysics manage the entire data value chain and can advise you from the reflection phase from your geophysics challenges, and this until the risk evaluation, going through acquisition as well. Sissterra is a tool that helps manage risks associated to the underground as it allows to consolidate the geologic model. The global visualisation ahead of the works allow to anticipate the adjustments of the constructive methods to maximise the site productivity.

 

Discover the solution in video:

Whilst tunnelling using traditional method, the geologists usually carry out regular “manuals” cutting face mappings using a combination of field observation and pictures. But this method is not optimised as the pictures are not “at scale” and are often distorted and therefore, not representative of the actual geometry of the cutting face.

The new photogrammetric solution Pika allows a true and instant 3D reconstruction model of the tunnel face.
The geologist simply takes a few pictures of the tunnel face, then drops off the images on the Sixense Mapping beMap online platform. A Few minutes later, an ortho-image, a 3D map, a point cloud and a mesh are all made available through beMap.
All those files are a true representation of the reality, for both the geometry and the texture.

 

With Pika, the geologist therefore has access to:

• The lithology and/or the mineralized veins, with real appearance, size and thickness
• The location and the orientation of the fractures and cracks
• The 2D-3D visualisation of all successive tunnel faces, one after another
• The exact measurement of size, distance and surface of anything on the models

 

Precision, time saving, data storage: Pika facilitates geologic follow ups of excavation works.

 

Pika is a Sixense Mapping solution.

 

More information : mapping@sixense-group.com & emilie.jousset@sixense-group.com

 

We have supported Nordex wind farm development projects since 2003 through our involvement in developing the noise component of the environmental impact assessment package for its projects. This long-term partnership has developed throughout our collaboration on more than 50 projects all over france. Now is a great opportunity to look back on this special relationship and the way we operate.

All wind farm projects in France must meet particularly strict regulatory criteria, including the environmental impact study that acts as the basis for consideration of all applications to operate a wind power generating facility. The study is required to demonstrate that the project can be integrated sensitively into its environment, and that the potential impacts of the future wind farm are both managed and controlled.

Noise pollution is a major element of such an impact study. France has some of the most restrictive regulations in the world, requiring wind power projects to comply with a noise emission criterion based on residual noise: the base noise level prior to construction of the project, as measured at the dwellings closest to the future wind farm. A predictive acoustic impact study is then prepared as the basis for estimating the emergence levels (the difference in noise levels with and without wind generators in operation) and providing local authorities and communities with guarantees that the project will comply fully with all applicable rules once it becomes operational.

As acoustic engineers, our priority is to provide an objective and robust study that will enable the wind farm developer to prepare its operating strategy and strike precisely the right balance between power generation and regulatory compliance.

A standard study therefore includes pre-construction residual noise level measurements taken over several weeks, which will serve as the current benchmark level. There then follows the use of a predictive model to forecast the level of noise generated by the future wind turbines. Operating scenarios prepared in consultation with Nordex on the basis of reducing turbine noise levels in different weather conditions are then studied to ensure that the project complies fully with all regulations.

As these projects have advanced, so we have been able to develop our techniques in a number of ways: examples include systematic preliminary visits to all study areas before beginning any campaign to measure the initial noise landscape. The purpose of such visits is to identify the most representative measurement locations and to agree arrangements with local residents before installing our sensors.

The relationship between Nordex and Sixense is much more of a partnership than simply a customer/supplier relationship. The long-term involvement of Sixense in our projects and its excellent understanding of wind farm noise gained from practical experience in the industry mean that Nordex can be certain that the acoustic studies it includes in the impact assessments for its development projects are both robust and comprehensive. The primary goal of the acoustic study is its acceptance by the regulatory authorities, and the feedback we have received from these authorities tells us that the studies produced by Sixense are appreciated not only for their technical and scientific content, but also for their clarity.

As a wind farm developer rather than an operator, it’s important that Nordex obtains the most reliable acoustic measurement results in order to estimate how wind farms should be operated to maximum advantage. So we have to anticipate the possible noise reduction measures to be applied prior to their commissioning. In practice, these noise emission reductions impact the generating output of the project. These issues are relevant, because it is important that the customer ultimately responsible for operating the wind farm has no nasty surprises as a result of underestimating the impacts of the project, at the same time as avoiding the pitfall of devaluing a project by overestimating the risks involved and recommending excessively stringent constraints that will negatively affect the forecast generating output.

From our prospective as a wind turbine manufacturer, the expertise and involvement of Sixense helps us to develop our wind turbines in ways that can take maximum advantage of the operating conditions recommended by Sixense. The issues around the specific impact of wind parks during the particularly sensitive evening period can now be effectively addressed by the wind turbines we produce. In return, our special expertise as a turbine and wind farm developer undoubtedly helps Sixense to continuously improve its knowledge of wind energy technology and related issues.

Quentin Crespel, Acoustics Expert at Nordex France SAS