[Quietcars] Quiet vehicle warning sounds

[Robert Wilson]

This year the NHTSA has issued at least three, downloadable reports. I don't have the URLs handy but they consists of:

1) April - survey of field study including blind subjects at an NHTSA leased, rurual site. This includes credible metrics on sound levels and characteristics.

2) August(?) - announcement of a call for environmental impact study comments which can be found in www.regulations.gov

3) September/October - preliminary NHTSA report indicating it should sound 'sound like a car engine.'

Between Google and the NHTSA web site search function, you should have no problem finding these sources. One thing the NHTSA report speculated about was it is likely the implementations wiil use a microprocessor and speaker setup to replicate an 'automotive-like' noise.

The final NHTSA requlations have yet to be issued so it is likely that the early manufactures will implement software configurable, noise maker systems and wait for the final regulations to be issued. Technical issues include the specific noise profile as well as the sound intensity map around the car. 

My understanding is the Prius wagon (called the Prius V) has an implementation. However, it and other implementations such as the Leaf, Volt, and Fisker may change to comply with the final regulations.

Bob Wilson

> From: kramc11 at gmail.com
> To: quietcars at nfbnet.org
> Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:23:53 -0500
> Subject: [Quietcars] Quiet vehicle warning sounds
> 
> Hello fellow Federationists,
> 
>  
> 
> I am working on researching quiet cars and their affect on blind pedestrians for a research paper for my Engineering Design course. I am looking for technical information on the synthetic sound sources manufacturers have developed for quiet vehicles. I was hoping you could direct me to some technical specifications about synthetic sound sources for silent or nearly silent vehicles.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for your help, 
> 
> Mark J Cadigan
> 
> Electrical Engineering Department
> 
> Suffolk University
> 
> mjcadigan at suffolk.edu
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