The number of electric vehicles on the road is rapidly increasing. Due to the decreased sound produced by these vehicles at low speeds there is significant concern that pedestrians and bicyclists will be at increased risk of vehicle collisions. Because of this potential for collisions, govenrnemts have institutes regulations governing additive vehicle warning sounds for electric vehicles. This research presents results on the detectability of six electric vehicle acoustic warning sounds using two different hardware systems. Detectability was initially by on-road participant tests and replicated in an immersive reality lab. Results were analyzed through both mean detection distances and probability of detection. This research aims to verify the lab environment as it will allow for a broader range of potential test scenario’s, more repeatable tests, and faster test sessions. Along with pedestrian drive by tests, experiments were conducted to evaluate stationary vehicle acoustics, 10 and 20 km/h drive by acoustics, and interior acoustic impact of each warning sound.
Electric vehicles are significantly quieter than standard internal combustion engine vehicles. Although this is a benefit to the acoustic soundscape, it presents a safety concern, particularly to the vision impaired. Because of this, governments around the world have mandated that artificial sounds be added to electric vehicles in order to improve pedestrian safety. In the United States, these regulations are embodied in a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration document, FMVSS-141. This document provides guidance on the 1/3 octave-band frequency content, overall SPL, and measurement procedures that must be followed for a vehicle to be certified. This talk will present the results of a listener test with 16 participants who pressed a button upon detection of an approaching vehicle equipped with a FMVSS-141 compliant additive sound. Results are presented at probability of detection versus distance. This provides a unique view of the effectiveness of these sounds and additional aspects of this problem such as additive sound contribution to noise pollution and listener false alarm rates. Lastly, the talk will cover difficulties with this type of outdoor testing and recommendations for conducting them in a virtual environment.
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