A Prototype and Basic 2D Drawings to 3D Data

Recently Bayly had the opportunity to work on a new SODAR baffle design.

Wake Watch Pty Ltd (WW) has developed a wind measurement and aircraft wake turbulence system that provides real time data to air traffic control and aircraft on arrival and departure. The SOund Detection And Ranging (SODAR) system can provide alerts of dangerous wind shear conditions to a height of 300m. By measuring wind conditions and aircraft wake turbulence in real time, the system allows for an increase in runway capacity and throughput as conditions can be more accurately determined and aircraft can arrive and depart with improved safety and with closer spacing than is otherwise the case.

WW met with the Bayly team in Melbourne and engaged us with the task of documenting their SODAR baffles that had already been prototyped and thoroughly tested and iterated. The innovative and Patented baffles are a critical component of the wind and wake systems and prototypes have been installed and trialled at Melbourne airport. However, to make the design manufacturable, and able to be made accurately and to specification, a set of manufacturing drawings and 3D CAD model for the baffles were needed.

The new baffle design also has potential for application for sound control in other areas such as to control industrial or road noise.

Working to document an existing design

The prototyping work had already been done for us and the challenge was to translate the design into one that could be manufactured. We worked closely with WW to make sure that the design did not stray far from the tested SODAR baffles. We knew that the design worked and was giving accurate readings but, as the case often is, there were details to be ironed out. The Bayly team were able to adjust the design slightly but keep the original design intent. Sheets of material were used as part of the wall assemblies and we minimised the amount of sheets that were needed by planning the sizing accordingly. This saved on wastage and ultimately money for the client. The prototype was also designed to sit atop a trailer and the new design was to be attached to the ground. Bayly designed a concrete base that is to be poured on site and allowed for the whole system to lock down to the ground and also allowed for cabling access and drainage.

Working with the Bayly team

One of the benefits of working with Bayly is that more often than not your contact within our company is the person that is doing the work for you. This suited WW as any details could be worked out directly with the team that knew the most about the design. Bayly strive to be just like your own personal design and engineering department and we made sure that we headed out to WW’s factory to size up the prototypes and gain as much knowledge of the company and SODAR baffle design as possible.

Something new? No problem!

WW’s SODAR baffle is not like anything that we had designed before. There were new concepts to get our heads around and the scientific data behind the SODAR design was fascinating. This is just the kind of project we love to dig our teeth into and we can work with you on your project from start to finish or any point in between.

Here's what Andrew had to say about working with Bayly, 'the Bayly team has proved to be the essential step in getting the new baffle design from prototype to production. The team developed all the essential drawings and procedures necessary to ensure that all the production issues were resolved while maintaining the integrity of baffle prototype concept. The Bayly team showed a creative flare and were also very responsive to WW inputs and fun to work with, all of which delivered the great result'.

Interested in working with Bayly on your upcoming design project?  Contact us here in Melbourne on +613 9413 9000 or email Mark at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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