The Acalc roadmap is long and ambitious. We have many tools and libraries planned. The basis of Acalc will be a calculation engine with individual tools based on all the spreadsheets we've built over the years and all the one-trick programs we've used. HVAC, barriers, room response, room to room transmission, exterior to interior transmission, even HUD studies. Data and operations can be stacked into calculation flows that can be branched, re-used, and shared. Data, inputs, and outputs will all be typed using the correct acoustical concepts to minimize mistakes and speed up assembling flows. No more copying and pasting between spreadsheets.
We also plan to make dealing with data much easier. Auto-import your measurements from sound level meters and view them in an olrganized, intuitive interface that allows you to easily insert your data into any calculation flow.
Most of these tools will be free to use. We plan to charge for back-end functionality, which will mostly be in Server. Anything that relies on public data, such as the TL search, is guaranteed to be free forever.
Here is the current list of everything we are working on. Some of the tools we have planned for Acalc already exist as internal tools at Colorado Analytics and need to be converted into something that is appropriate for public consumption. Many of these tools are still in planning stages. As we make progress we'll update this table.
Project | Description | Status |
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Server | The service that ties everything together. Your measurements, calculations, projects, teams, and libraries will all be stored here and brought together seamlessly. For the forseeable future the cloud version that you see here will be the only version. In the future we plan to launch a self-hosted version for larger firms that want full control of their data. |
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Web | You Are Here. This web application will be the place to access most of the individual Acalc tools. Here are some that we have planned:
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Desktop | A desktop application for Windows, Mac, and Linux. We use Linux at Colorado Analytics so wide compatibility is important to us. The desktop application will be more focused than the web application. It will be the interface between your local machine and Acalc Server
and it will provide some tools where the experience is better on desktop. Some tools will appear in both the web and desktop versions of Acalc.
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Logger | A low-power application that runs on a Raspberry Pi or similar device. There's really no need to deploy an entire SLM
anymore - we have more than enough power in sub $20 devices to collect and store all the data you could ever need. Just add
a calibrated USB microphone, or a USB interface such as PCB's 485B39, along with a power source and maybe a USB SSD and you now
have a monitoring station that's at least as powerful as monitors that cost thousands of dollars. Bring it back to the office
and your data will be transmitted to your Acalc account effortlessly.
Acalc Logger will be open source.
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Mobile | Perhaps the most ambitious project here, we want to replace your sound level meter with your phone or tablet for most
situations. Why have a separate device when you can plug a calibrated microphone into your phone, which has far more processing power
and a better UI than any SLM on the market? And if it automatically transfers your measurements into Acalc, all the better.
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