Caterpillar lab near Peoria is home to the quietest room in Illinois

Posted on July 5, 2022
David Copley, a senior engineering specialist at the company’s Mossville, Ill., facility, says the idea is that the equipment is easier to use when his team applies “quiet” technology to it. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – A Caterpillar lab near Peoria is home to “the quietest room in Illinois.”

David Copley, a senior engineering specialist at the company’s Mossville, Ill., facility, says the idea is that the equipment is easier to use when his team applies “quiet” technology to it.

“Sound is a great diagnostics tool,” said Copley. “It may be that a part is starting to wear out or fail, and so a unique sound will occur, and they will often make a video with an iPhone and that will have an audio component to it.”

The lab actually includes two rooms, one of which is an echo chamber. “The other chamber is called a hemi anechoic chamber,” Copley continued. “Anechoic means ‘no echo.’ This absorbs all sounds, so it’s exactly the opposite We use that room to determine where a sound is coming from. It’s a very quiet environment. If anything, it simulates being outside but with no wind, no birds, no planes overhead.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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