Microphonics, Inc. (MRPS)

[Robza]

Jan./Feb 2010 Article with Jimmy Gayle

Across the State
Sound Check
By Donnie Snow Jan./Feb. 2010
Tags: Across the StateCarGate Ultrasound Leak Detection SystemDavidson CountyGayle TechnologiesJimmy GayleNashvillerestrictor plateTechnology
A technology developed to slow down race cars may prove a fast track to green for the auto industry

Nashville may yet turn Detroit all-acoustic. No, this isn't another story about a rock or soul star restarting a flagging career with a country music release. Rather this little ditty is about Jimmy Gayle and a potential acoustical retooling of automakers' quality control process.

Gayle's ultrasonic technology has already helped put the brakes on mechanics and drivers bent on outwitting the NASCAR-mandated restrictor plates used to slow the cars down to a safer speed. This same ultrasonic technology is also the foundation of Gayle Technologies' CarGate Ultrasound Leak Detection System.

The application of the technology, essentially a rectangular mechanical gate built to scan vehicles on the assembly line for leaks, was initially used to help NASCAR police its speed limit. The technology caught the attention of commercial automakers as a means to improve quality control cost. Even better -- and news to Gayle -- the innovation turns out to be rather green in its environmental impact.

The ultrasonic system utilizes sound and air to find holes in a presumably airtight vehicle. Currently, automakers use another element to do this–water.

"That system uses a staggering amount of electricity to operate the pumps," Gayle says, and the auto industry uses upwards of a billion gallons of water in the process. Gayle's system may turn out to be a boon for the auto industry: a rare cost saver with built-in green appeal for environmentalists.

A patent for this technology was registered by a former Gayle employee for Brentwood-based competitor QuadraScan (QST). QST and GTI sued each other on several infringement claims more than five years ago. The court, despite deciding some claims relating to specific facts in the patent, ultimately allowed the companies to mediate the matter in December 2008. Due to pending mediation, GTI declined comment on either the lawsuit or mediation. Nevertheless, the same year they agreed to mediation, Gayle Technologies won Automotive Testing Technology's Innovation of the Year prize for CarGate.

The most intriguing innovation of the CarGate package may not have anything to do with cars. In addition to the commercial and specialized automotive applications of the CarGate system as a whole, its software, Gayle explains, already used by NASCAR to adjust the cars while driving, can also be used for real-time structural analysis and adjustment of airplanes. Essentially, Gayle says the system enables a ground technician to evaluate the mechanical workings of an airplane and make adjustments.

"We actually do to the race cars what we do to the airplanes," he says. "We literally dial it into its most functional state." (Gayle adds that such technology could also prove extremely beneficial onboard military drone aircraft, an as yet unexplored application.)

The breadth of possible applications surprises even Gayle himself.
"We started this back in 1995 in Talladega to help slow down the cars, but we seem to have stumbled onto a lot of things all at one time."

http://businesstn.com/content/201001/sound-check