Optimizing the future driving experience

From sustainability to safety, electric vehicles to autonomous cars, the automotive industry is transforming rapidly. With the market narrowing, the user experience will be the differentiating factor, and one future trend – simulation – will be invaluable.

“It’s a technical challenge and a business model challenge,” explains Dave Bogema, Product manager – NVH Refinement, Brüel & Kjær. Millennials are more environmentally conscious and under more economic pressure than the boomers before them. Will upcoming generations buy as many cars? And what will ownership look like in 10 to 20 years? New technologies such  as autonomous driving will open up whole new opportunities for ride-sharing and shared-ownership models. “We’re at an inflection point,” says Dave Bogema. “The industry is undergoing a big change – and change goes hand in hand with innovation.”

 

Sound and vibration as the differentiator

Whether it’s a choice between a purchase or service, an EV or autonomous car, as the market evolves and narrows the user experience will be the ultimate differentiator. As Mark AllmanWard, Senior Application Specialist, Brüel & Kjær, explains: “Aesthetics has traditionally been a key focus area for OEMs – but when you sit in a car, you can’t see its colour! Meanwhile, speed limits cap your max speed and give a similar driving efficiency. That leaves the driving experience as the differentiator: suspension, driving dynamics and noise, vibration and harshness.”

NVH has long played a subtle but important role in the driving experience. From the slam of the car door to the beep of a low fuel warning, the wrong noises can make a car sound cheap and unreliable – regardless of the actual cost and quality. The right noises add a sense of premium quality, and even pleasure and excitement, and the vehicle’s sonic identity can further differentiate the model or brand as a whole. Future trends and technologies bring more opportunities to develop the driving experience through NVH.

 

The sound of electric

Designing the sound of EVs brings new challenges and opportunities. All cars need to become more efficient. For combustion engines this is to meet tightening fuel regulations, while for EVs it’s about increasing range. But decreasing weight increases noise and discomfort. This poses a particular challenge for electric engines, which make little sound to mask the road and wind noise.

Sound designers need to get creative to make the best user experience for EVs. The sound of a combustion engine is both a familiar and a pleasant one for many drivers. But EVs offer a blank slate and the chance for innovation.

“We crave information. if you’re not involved, you can only process what’s left. every single sound in the car will be more significant when you’re not driving.”

The driverless driving experience

Communicating through sound and vibration will be even more important with autonomous cars, where there’s less involvement and less trust, especially at the beginning. “We crave information,” says Mark Allman-Ward. “If you’re not involved, you can only process what’s left. Every single sound in the car will be more significant when you’re not driving.” The volume of information available, when you consider car-to-car communication, is set to grow exponentially – some of that will be interesting to occupants, but there will be far too much information to deliver it all visually.

Some people will want to know exactly what the car is doing. Others will want to use the space to work or relax. Sound designers will need to remove unnecessary sound and vibration and consider the best way to convey crucial information. This could be haptic feedback when the car is speeding up or slowing down, or a pleasant sound when riders reach their destination. The whole experience, from seat configuration to sound preferences, can be personalized through explicit or learned feedback.

 

NVH simulation

Developers make changes throughout a vehicle’s development. It is useful to evaluate the effects of alterations and trial alternative design solutions – such as modified components – in a virtual prototype. With Brüel & Kjær’s NVH simulation, it is possible to test the NVH effects of alternative designs back-to-back, without making a physical prototype. Simulations can combine real-world test data and data from Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) models, interfacing with all common CAE codes.