The suitability of internal combustion engine sounds as artificial warning sounds for electric and hybrid vehicles
Abstract
The paper discusses the issue of adding artificial warning sounds to hybrid and fully electric vehicles, in order to increase traffic safety by making these vehicles audible at low speeds. The goal of this modification is to enable the pedestrians to perceive possible danger coming from such a vehicle in time to respond accordingly. Following the results of previous research which state that the sounds of internal combustion engines are valid candidates for artificial warning sounds to be added to hybrid or fully electric vehicles, a preliminary examination of the suitability and acceptability of different engine sounds in various modes of operation has been conducted. The chosen modes of operation are running in idle, at 2000 rpm and 3000 rpm with the vehicle stopped. Both gasoline and diesel engines were investigated. To expand the range of engine sounds, the type of vehicles was not limited to personal cars. The results show significant differences in suitability of engine sounds for the stated purpose, with vehicle type being the main differentiating factor.References
Čudina M. Mehanizmi generiranja buke kod ventilatora za hlađenje motora s unutarnjim izgaranjem. Promet – Traffic & Transportation. 1995; 7, No 4:89-93
Verheijen E, Jabben J. Effect of electric cars on traffic noise and safety. RIVM letter report 680300009/2010. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands, 2010 [cited 2014 Feb 1]. Available from: http://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/680300009.pdf
Hanna R. Incidence of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Crashes by Hybrid Electric Passenger Vehicles. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, DC, USA, 2009 [cited 2014 Feb 1]. Available from: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811204.PDF
Barton, B K, Ulrich, T A, Lew, R. Auditory detection and localization of approaching vehicles. Accident analysis and prevention. 2012 Nov; 49:347-53
Sauerburger, D. Quiet Cars and the Safety of Blind Pedestrians. Docket No. NHTSA-2008-0108, : 2008, 2008 [cited 2014 Feb 1]. Available from: http://www.sauerburger.org/dona/quietp
Raymund, F. Blind Pedestrians Say Quiet Hybrids Pose Safety Threat. The Wall Street Journal, New York, USA , 2007 [cited 2014 Feb 1]. Available from: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB117133115592406662
Annon. A Study on Approach Audible System for Hybrid Vehicles and Electric vehicles, Second Report, JASIC, Japan. 50th GRB (The Working Party on Noise) session. 13 Sep. 2009; Informal document No. GRB-50-08:Secretary of the Publications Board, United Nations, New York, USA, 2009 [cited 2014 Feb 1]. Available from: http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2009/wp29grb/ECE-TRANS-WP29-GRB-50-inf08e.pdf
Annon. Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010. U.S. Congress, Washington, DC, USA, 2010 [cited 2014 Feb 1]. Available from: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ373/pdf/PLAW-111publ373.pdf
Annon. European Parliament legislative resolution of 6 February 2013 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the sound level of motor vehicles. European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium, 2013 [cited 2014 Feb 1]. Available from: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2013-41
Motavalli J. Anti-Noise Activists Oppose Sounds for Electric Cars. The New York Times, New York, USA, 2010 [cited 2014 Feb 1]. Available from: http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/anti-noise-activists-oppose-sounds-for-electric-cars/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
Wogalter MS, Ornan RN, Lim RW, Chipley MR. On the risk of quiet vehicles to pedestrians and drivers. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 2001 Annual Meeting. 8-12 Oct. 2001; 1685-1688
Nyeste P, Wogalter MS. On Adding Sound to Quiet Vehicles. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 2008 Annual Meeting. 22-26 Sep. 2008; 1747-1750
Goodes P, Bai Y, Meyer E. Investigation into the Detection of a Quiet Vehicle by the Blind Community and the Application of an External Noise Emitting System. Technical paper, SAE 2009 Noise and Vibration Conference and Exhibition. 19-21 May 2009; Tehnical paper 2009-01-2189:1-7
Chalupper J, Fastl H. Dynamic Loudness Model (DLM) for Normal and Hearing-Impaired Listeners. Acta Acust. 2002 May/Jun: 88(3): 378-386.
Moore BCJ, Glasberg BR, Baer T. A Model for the Prediction of Thresholds, Loudness, and Partial Loudness. J. Audio Eng. Soc. 1997 Apr: 45(4): 224-240.
Fastl H, Zwicker E. Sharpness and Sensory Pleasantness. In: Fastl H, Zwicker E. Psychoacoustics: Facts and Models. 3rd ed. Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 2007. p. 239–246.
Aures W. Procedure for Calculating the Sensory Euphony of Arbitrary Sound Signals, Acustica. 1985 Dec: 59(2): 130-141.
Daniel P, Weber R. Psychoacoustical roughness: Implementation of an optimized model, Acustica. 1997 Jan/Feb: 83(1): 113-123.
Chalupper J. Modellierung der Lautstärkeschwankung für Normal- und Schwerhörige (Modelling of Loudness Fluctuation for Normal and Hearing-Impaired). In: Fortschritte der Akustik DAGA 2000. Berlin: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Akustik; 2000. p. 254-255.
Terhardt E, Stoll G, Seewann M. An algorithm for extraction of pitch and pitch salience from complex tonal signals. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1982 Mar: 71(3), 679-688.
Horvat M, Domitrović H, Jambrošić K. Sound Quality Evaluation of Hand-Held Power Tools, Acta Acust. 2012 May/Jun: 98(3): 487-504.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).