Minor nitpick about the reporting:

> The team reduced the overall leaf blower noise by about two decibels, making the machine sound 37% quieter.

While a 2 dB reduction in noise does represent a 37% reduction in acoustic power, our perception of sound is logarithmic so this is extremely unlikely to "sound 37% quieter"-- Assuming the reduction is from 50 dB to 48 dB, it will sound about 4% quieter.

Much more significant is the 12 dB reduction in the "shrill and annoying" frequency range. While the 94% reduction there is probably also overstated for the same reason, the initial power level in that range will be only a portion of the overall noise output-- I wouldn't be surprised if there's a 50-75% perceived reduction of noise in this range.

After reading all comments, not rushing to the comments, I have to say, I have a quiet leaf blower to, it is, as mentioned in this thread somewhere else, a rake and I would appreciate if more people would use one.

It's mentioned in the article but easy to miss, this is an improvement on the already much much quieter electric leaf blowers that are readily available. The ones you are thinking of are two stroke gas powered ones which are loud as fuck and terrible for the environment, anyone using one of those could have gotten a quieter electric one but chose not to, which means they definitely aren't going to use this improved electric one.

A few years back Moxie (of Signal) put up a video[0] of a quiet leaf blower which was pretty sweet. His design appears to be quieter than this one. Either way this is great, as a person highly sensitive of sound I support all technologies that reduce excessive noise.

[0]: https://x.com/moxie/status/1582154037700399104

This is great. I live in a dense suburb and the weekend is just a cacophony of deafening noise from leafblowers, table saws, pressure washers, lawn mowers, etc. My neighbor had a team of people grinding and cutting stone slabs for their patio from 9-5 last weekend. Wish people would chill out.

As a side note, leafblowers aren't just disruptive to the sound environment: https://twitter.com/touchmoonflower/status/17242321111447757...

Is leaf blowing a worldwide nuisance or an American thing?

I hate it. And it serves no ecological purpose.

This is perhaps the most practically useful thing to come out of academia since the technology that allowed for the leaf blower.

They're the worst. A noise pollution posterchild.

First, it's an attachment that could fit on nearly all blowers.

Second, it dampens the noise while retaining all the force.

If this works out, it will be amazing! Kudos to the student teams!

Dupe from yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40377201 (400+ comments)

About 10 years ago, I remember seeing someone using an electric leaf blower connected by extension cord to a Honda generator strapped down to a furniture dolly to circumvent the gas-powered leaf blower ban. It was still pretty damn loud and annoying, but less than the oft muffler-less, 2-stroke modified leaf blowers most gardening crews use unconcerned with emissions or noise pollution.

I really hate leaf blowers. They are the main generator of noise in our neighborhood and they don’t conserve that much energy in most cases than a rake (and in some cases are less efficient). I’d be happy if they were banned in residential neighborhoods. Edit: not the mention the pollution from the gas powered ones which most are.

Congrats to these students for producing a clever solution to a real practical problem! I hope that the students will own the patent, and not the university. Many schools have a way of taking ownership of absolutely anything their students come up with.

That said, I prefer just raking up leaves manually. It makes no noise, it's quiet, and it's good exercise.

Patented and licensed, so not coming to a neighborhood near you unless mandated by local government. Because while people want their neighbors to use it, in enough cases they won't pay the extra and rationalize it somehow.

One thing i never understood: Why a blower instead of a vacuum type of device...?

Direct link to noise comparison in the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISgHpUDeLBw&t=64s

How does it compare to the ultra quiet electric leaf blower that was on HN 7 months ago?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37932971

If I had the financial resources, I would buy every yard service company that serves my immediate neighborhood, specifically those that love to do their work at 7 AM on Saturdays.

Only one minor thing wrong; it's still a leaf blower.

I didn't know of electric-battery-powered leaf blowers! Here in France i always suffer gas engine blowers which are so annoyingly loud and smelly.

Can someone explain why it's going to take 2 years to bring a piece of plastic to the market?

I watched the demo video, and, IMHO, even the muffled version of the leaf blower is way too loud.

Leaf blowers are probably one of the most annoying inventions ever.

So shitty neighbors can be slightly less loud. :)

Can we apply this to vacuum cleaners too?

Honestly I expect to see a Dyson Leaf Blower.