Rugged conditions present special challenges for electronics designers.
Henrietta Thompson reports Racal Acoustics designs, tests and manufactures telephones, intercoms and microphones that are somewhat out of the ordinary. The company's products are intended for a market that is far removed from any consumer niche. They will instead end up in the extreme conditions and harsh environments experienced by soldiers and outdoor workers in civil and marine industries. Maintaining speech intelligibility in the presence of severe ambient noise is one area of significant investigation - in noisy and confused conditions, clarity of speech is substantially impaired. Products need to be able to withstand severe shock, and in some cases vandalism, and are therefore subjected to rigorous testing.