[nfb-talk] Fw: Accessible Devices (Hybrid cars article

Tue May 26 02:03:34 UTC 2009

hi Sherri,

Tell me if you plan to respond to our room situation.

Bryan Schulz
The BEST Solution
www.best-acts.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sherri" <flmom2006 at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Florida Listserv" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>; "NFB Talk Mailing List" 
<nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, May 25, 2009 8:53 PM
Subject: [nfb-talk] Fw: Accessible Devices (Hybrid cars article

> Interesting article.
> Sherri
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Parker at Vip conduit" <Vipcomm at mchsi.com>
> To: "Accessible Devices" <a-d at accessible-devices.com>
> Sent: Monday, May 25, 2009 12:54 PM
> Subject: Accessible Devices (no subject)
>
>
>> It seems that both the blind and sighted community agree on this one.
>> Manufacturers Determine Hybrid Cars Should Have Noise Generators
>> The sound of silence May 7th 2009
>>>From The Economist print edition Sound generators will make electric and 
>>>hybrid cars
>> safer WHEN cars run on electric power they not only save fuel and cut 
>> emissions but
>> also run more quietly. Ordinarily, people might welcome quieter cars on 
>> the roads.
>> However, as the use of hybrid and electric vehicles grows, a new concern 
>> is growing
>> too: pedestrians and cyclists find it hard to hear them coming, 
>> especially when the
>> cars are moving slowly through a busy town or manoeuvring in a car park. 
>> Some drivers
>> say that when their cars are in electric mode people are more likely to 
>> step out
>> in front of them. The solution, many now believe, is to fit electric and 
>> hybrid cars
>> with external sound systems.
>> A bill going through the American Congress wants to establish a minimum 
>> level of
>> sound for vehicles that are not using an internal-combustion engine, so 
>> that blind
>> people and other pedestrians can hear them coming. The bill's proponents 
>> also want
>> that audible alert to be one that will help people judge the direction 
>> and speed
>> of the vehicle. A similar idea is being explored by the European 
>> Commission.
>> Although there is little data on accidents, the latest research suggests 
>> there is
>> cause for concern. Vehicles operating in electric mode can be 
>> particularly hard to
>> hear below 20mph (32kph), according to experiments by Lawrence Rosenblum 
>> and his
>> colleagues at the University of California, Riverside. Above that speed 
>> the sound
>> of the tyres and of air flowing over the vehicle start to make it more 
>> audible.
>> The researchers made sophisticated recordings of Toyota Prius hybrids 
>> running on
>> electric power and petrol-engined cars approaching at 5mph from different 
>> directions.
>> These were played to a group of subjects wearing headphones. The subjects 
>> were asked
>> to press one of two buttons to identify which way the vehicle was coming 
>> from as
>> quickly and accurately as possible.
>> As expected, they could determine the direction of the petrol-engined 
>> cars much faster.
>> When natural background sounds, like the engine tickover of a parked car, 
>> were added,
>> the hybrids' direction sometimes could not be detected until they were 
>> perilously
>> close. Both sighted and blind subjects gave similar results.
>> Beep, beep
>> Dr. Rosenblum and his colleagues recently repeated the experiment outside 
>> in a car
>> park. This time blindfolded subjects stood three metres away from the 
>> point where
>> the vehicles passed. The researchers found that the hybrid vehicles had 
>> to be around
>> 65% closer to someone than a car with a petrol engine before the person 
>> could judge
>> the direction correctly.
>> What sort of noise should electric-powered cars make? They could, 
>> perhaps, beep as
>> some pedestrian crossings do, or buzz like a power tool. Having worked 
>> with blind
>> subjects, Dr. Rosenblum is convinced of a different answer: "People want 
>> cars to
>> sound like cars." The sound need not be very loud; just slightly 
>> enhancing the noise
>> of an oncoming electric vehicle would be enough to engage the auditory 
>> mechanisms
>> that the brain uses to locate approaching sounds, he adds.
>> Systems to do this are already being developed. Lotus Engineering, the 
>> consultancy
>> of a British sportscar-maker, recently signed an agreement with Harman 
>> Becker, a
>> producer of audio systems, to commercialise one. Lotus has worked on a 
>> number of
>> hybrid and electric vehicles and it was while these were moving around 
>> its factory
>> that the engineers thought they would be safer if they made a noise.
>> The system Lotus uses was originally developed for a different reason: to 
>> cancel
>> out intrusive noises inside a car. Sound-cancelling works by analysing 
>> any unwanted
>> frequencies and then producing counteracting ones. The Lotus system was 
>> adapted so
>> that it could also produce sounds that change with speed and use of the 
>> throttle,
>> providing a familiar audible "feedback" to drivers of vehicles with a 
>> silent engine.
>> Adding external speakers allows pedestrians to hear the noise too.
>> It is possible to create a different sound within a car from the one that 
>> is heard
>> outside, says Colin Peachey, a chief engineer with Lotus. Manufacturers 
>> could create
>> their own sounds according to how they perceive their models. Carmakers 
>> already take
>> engine noises seriously enough to use acoustic engineers to tune exhaust 
>> pipes, especially
>> for high-performance cars. Drivers of electric cars might in future even 
>> be able
>> to select different engine sounds, and maybe download them like 
>> ringtones.
>> Although some drivers might want to cruise in an electric car thundering 
>> to the sound
>> of a mighty V8 engine, it is not necessary-and traffic police may have 
>> something
>> to say about it. Synthesised engine noises could even help reduce noise 
>> pollution,
>> says Mr. Peachey. For instance, sound from the speakers at the front of 
>> an electric
>> car (or the rear if reversing) is highly directional. This means it is 
>> more likely
>> to be noticed by pedestrians in front or behind the vehicle. The noise 
>> from an internal
>> combustion engine, however, radiates in many directions-including upwards 
>> into offices
>> and bedrooms.
>> Unique engine noises would still be possible. A sound-generator will be 
>> fitted to
>> the Fisker Karma, a luxury plug-in electric hybrid which goes into 
>> production later
>> this year. It will both alert pedestrians and enhance the "driver 
>> experience", says
>> Russell Datz of Fisker, based in California. As the Karma uses new 
>> technology it
>> is fitting that its sound should also be new, he adds. But Fisker still 
>> has to decide
>> what a luxury electric car should sound like.
>>
>> www.vipconduit.com
>> and
>> www.accessible-devices.com
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