Transport vehicle equipped with a heat engine and method for characterizing the acoustic emissions of said vehicle - Patents.com

Abstract

The transport vehicle (1) comprises a heat engine (8) operable at a speed varying between a minimum speed and a maximum speed, a regulator (52) configured to regulate an input flow of a mixture to the heat engine (8), and at least one on-board memory unit (61) in which an acoustic emission map (70) of the transport vehicle (1) is stored, the acoustic emission map (70) being stored for each data pair having a first data item correlating to an operating state of the regulator (52) and a second data item correlating to the engine speed. The acoustic emission map (70) associates as a function of the first data item and as a function of the second data item a third data item correlating to an acoustic emission measurement by at least one acoustic sensor (S1) provided outside the transport vehicle (1) and positioned at a distance from the transport vehicle (1).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of transport vehicles, in particular to a transport vehicle equipped with a heat engine and to a method for characterizing the acoustic emissions of said vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] As is known, transport vehicles with heat engines generate acoustic emissions during their use, mainly due to acoustic emissions generated by the exhaust system of the heat engine, which, particularly in urban areas and at certain times of the day, can cause nuisance and generally contribute to a significant increase in noise pollution.

[0003] Noise pollution can be harmful to people's health. In fact, it can cause sleep disorders, cognitive impairment in children, and adverse effects on the cardiovascular and metabolic systems. In general, noise pollution also harms nature and induces behaviors that endanger the survival of animals.

[0004] The World Health Organization (WHO) has long promoted the implementation of measures to reduce noise pollution, but there has not been a significant reduction in noise pollution in recent years.

[0005] Furthermore, while government agencies impose approval requirements with regard to the acoustic emissions of heat locomotives, it has been noted that these requirements are still moderate and the limits contained therein are insufficient to reduce noise pollution to levels that are less harmful to health and the environment.

[0006] Furthermore, the acoustic emissions of transport vehicles equipped with thermal engines are also strongly influenced by the driving behaviour of the vehicle operator, but to date there are no effective means of imposing, inducing or suggesting modifications to driving behaviour in order to reduce acoustic emissions. Summary of the Invention

[0007] A general object of the present specification is to provide a transport vehicle equipped with a heat engine that can contribute to reducing environmental and / or urban noise pollution.

[0008] It is a further object of the present disclosure to provide a method for characterizing the acoustic emissions of a transportation vehicle with a heat engine.

[0009] These and other objects are achieved by a transport vehicle as defined in the attached claim 1 and by a method for characterizing acoustic emissions of a transport vehicle as generally defined in the attached claim 7. Alternative preferred and advantageous embodiments of said transport vehicle and said characterization method are defined in the attached dependent claims. The invention also relates to a method for monitoring in real time acoustic emissions generated by a transport vehicle having a heat engine as defined in the attached claim 14.

[0010] The present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof, given by way of example and therefore without any limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are briefly described below. In such drawings, identical or similar elements are identified by the same reference numerals. It should be noted that some elements in such drawings may not be positioned or shown to scale relative to other elements. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] In the accompanying drawings: [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a side plan view of a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of a transportation vehicle including a heat engine. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the transport vehicle of FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a simplified functional block diagram of the control of the thermal engine of the transport vehicle of FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a graph showing an example of an acoustic emission map stored in a storage device mounted on a transportation vehicle equipped with a heat engine. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 shows a simplified flow chart of a method for characterizing the acoustic emissions of a transportation vehicle with a heat engine. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] The accompanying Figures 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a transport vehicle 1 equipped with a heat engine, which in the particular example shown is a saddle-type vehicle 1, without introducing any limitations for this reason.

[0013] The example riding saddle type vehicle 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is a two-wheeled motorcycle, in particular a two-wheeled scooter, having a front wheel 6 and a rear wheel 7. In alternative embodiments, the transport vehicle 1 with a heat engine can be an electric three-wheeler, an electric four-wheeler, a car, a bus, a truck, a lorry, a work vehicle, etc.

[0014] In the following description of a detailed embodiment of the invention, without introducing any limitation to the transport vehicle, reference will be made to a motorcycle 1, i.e. a riding saddle-type transport vehicle having the following configuration: - body 2, 3, 4; - at least two wheels 6, 7 attached to the body 2, 3, 4; a heat engine 8, for example a thermal traction engine, constrained to the body 2, 3, 4 and operatively connected directly or indirectly to at least one of the two wheels 6, 7.

[0015] It is noteworthy that in this specification and the claims, the terms "transport vehicle," "vehicle," and "motorcycle" are entirely interchangeable.

[0016] The main bodies 2, 3, 4 of the motorcycle 1 extend along a longitudinal axis LL parallel to the traveling axis of the motorcycle 1. In the embodiment, the main body portions 2, 3, 4 each have a front portion 2, a rear portion 4, and a central portion 3 interposed between the front portion 2 and the rear portion 4. For example, the central portion 3 forms a footboard 5.

[0017] Advantageously, the motorcycle 1 , in particular the rear part 4 , includes a saddle 41 and a supporting part 43 of the saddle 41 , and a footboard 5 connects the supporting part 43 of the saddle 41 to the front part 2 of the body 2 , 3 , 4 of the motorcycle 1 .

[0018] In the embodiment, the front part 2 of the body 2, 3, 4 comprises a windshield 21, a steering handlebar 22, a front wheel 6, a front mudguard 26 and a front suspension 25. The front part 2 preferably comprises a control dashboard 24, for example integrated in the steering handlebar 22. The steering handlebar 22 preferably comprises a throttle grip 23.

[0019] In the embodiment, the rear part 4 of the body 2 , 3 , 4 includes a luggage rack 42 , a rear suspension 45 , rear wheels 7 , a heat engine 8 , a rear mudguard 44 and an exhaust pipe 46 .

[0020] The motorcycle 1 comprises at least one headlight 12 fixed to the front part 2 and at least one rear light 14 fixed to the rear part 4. When the steering handle 22 is not turned, i.e. when the front wheel 6 and the rear wheel 7 are aligned along the longitudinal axis LL, the headlight 12 projects a light beam mainly along the longitudinal axis LL and is adapted to illuminate a part of the ground located in front of the motorcycle 1. The rear light 14 preferably emits diffuse, i.e. non-directional, light radiation.

[0021] With reference to Fig. 3, the motorcycle 1 further comprises a fuel tank 50 adapted to contain a fuel to be supplied to the heat engine 8. The control diagram shown in Fig. 3 illustrates the particular case in which the heat engine 8 is a gasoline engine. It should be noted, however, that a person skilled in the art knows how to modify the diagram of Fig. 3 in case the heat engine 8 is a diesel engine or in case of a heat engine supplied with a different fuel.

[0022] The motorcycle 1 comprises an engine control unit 60 or ECU adapted to operatively control the heat engine 8 between a minimum and a maximum rotational speed. In particular, the engine control unit 60 controls the air-fuel mixture supplied to the heat engine 8 based on a torque request received or calculated by the engine control unit 60 and on signals provided by various sensors known to those skilled in the art. For example, the torque request is sent by the driver of the motorcycle 1 by means of a throttle grip 23 or generally by any acceleration control device 23. For example, in a passenger car, the acceleration control device 23 is generally an accelerator pedal. The engine control unit 60 comprises hardware and software components enabling the engine control unit 60 to carry out the required operations.

[0023] The throttle grip 23, or generally the acceleration control 23, is preferably operatively connected to the engine control unit 60 for providing it with an electrical torque request signal. In other words, the acceleration control is a drive-by-wire control. In an alternative embodiment, the acceleration control 23 is a conventional control with mechanical wires. Again, a person skilled in the art will know how to modify the diagram of FIG. 3 to accommodate this alternative embodiment.

[0024] The motorcycle 1 comprises at least one regulator 52 configured to regulate the inlet flow of the air-fuel mixture to the heat engine 8. The regulator 52 is preferably operatively connected to and controlled by the engine control unit 60. For example, the regulator 52 may control the air flow supplied to the heat engine 8 and thus may also regulate the supply flow of the air-fuel mixture supplied to the heat engine 8. For example, the regulator 52 is or has a butterfly valve.

[0025] In the particular diagram shown in FIG. 3, which illustrates the control of a gasoline heat engine as already explained, a regulating device 52 makes it possible to regulate the air flow supplied to the heat engine 8 from an intake nozzle 53 of the motorcycle 1, for example arranged downstream of an air filter (not shown).

[0026] 3, the motorcycle 1 comprises at least one fuel injector 51, for example at least one electronic fuel injector 51, operatively connected to the heat engine 8 and to the fuel tank 50 for regulating the fuel flow rate supplied to the heat engine 8. Preferably, the injector 51 is operatively connected to and controlled by the engine control unit 60.

[0027] The regulating device 52 is configured to assume a number of operating conditions in order to regulate the air-fuel mixture supply flow rate to the heat engine 8. In particular, said operating conditions are assumed by the regulating device 52 under control operated by the engine control device 60 or, more generally, by control operated by the acceleration control device 23. For example, if the regulating device 52 comprises a butterfly valve, each of said operating conditions corresponds to a different opening degree of the butterfly valve. As is known, the opening degree of the butterfly valve can be precisely adjusted by an electronically controllable actuator, for example an electric motor arranged on the butterfly valve.

[0028] The motorcycle 1 also comprises at least one on-board memory unit 61 in which an acoustic emission map 70 of the motorcycle 1 is stored or can be stored. For each data pair having a first data item correlating to the operating state of the regulating device 52 and a second data item correlating to the engine speed, the acoustic emission map 70 associates a third data item correlating to the acoustic emission measurement value of the motorcycle 1. These acoustic emissions of the motorcycle 1 are measured in advance by an acoustic sensor S1 provided outside the transport vehicle and arranged at a predetermined distance from the transport vehicle. In this way, the measured acoustic emissions are not perceived by the driver or passengers of the transport vehicle, but rather by a fictitious third party at a predetermined distance from the vehicle 1 when the vehicle is traveling under predetermined conditions such as the engine speed and the control of the regulating device 52. In this way, the acoustic emissions associated with the third data item are the acoustic emissions perceived by a third party other than the third party riding in the vehicle 1. The noise representation of the vehicle 1 is therefore more objective and authentic than a third party's detection point.

[0029] A non-limiting example of an acoustic emission map 70 is shown in FIG. 4, which depicts a three-dimensional map. The first data item %_op represents the degree of rotation of the throttle grip 23 expressed as a percentage, which is assumed, purely by way of example, to vary between 0% (engine idling) and 100%. The second data item RPM is the rotational speed of the heat engine 8, which is assumed, purely by way of example, to vary between a minimum rotational speed of 1,500 RPM and a maximum rotational speed of 10,000 RPM. The third data item is the acoustic emission measurement value expressed in dB(A), which is assumed, purely by way of example, to vary between 0 dB(A) and 100 dB(A).

[0030] In other words, the aforementioned three-dimensional map 70 can be managed by a data look-up table, e.g. a function of digital data, which allows a priori measured acoustic emission values ​​associated with each coordinate pair formed by a first data item and a second data item to be determined, preferably in real time.

[0031] It is also clear that the degree of rotation of the throttle grip 23, mentioned with reference to the map 70 of Figure 4 and detectable, for example, by an encoder, is a first possible item of data correlated to the operating state of the regulating device 52, for example correlated to the opening degree of a butterfly valve. However, it should be noted that this is not the only possibility, since other data correlated to the operating state of the regulating device 52 may be installed on board the motor vehicle 1, obtained, for example, by sensors integrated in the regulating device 52 or from control signals supplied to the regulating device 52 from the engine control unit.

[0032] Advantageously, the on-board memory unit 61 of the motorcycle 1 is a non-volatile computer memory. In the non-limiting example of the diagram of FIG. 3, the on-board memory unit 61 is shown integrated into the engine control unit 60. In alternative embodiments, the on-board memory unit 61 may be a memory unit external to the engine control unit 60 and operatively connected thereto. For example, the on-board memory unit 61 may be integrated into or operatively connected to an electronic processing unit external to the engine control unit 60.

[0033] According to an advantageous embodiment, the motorcycle 1 comprises an electronic processing unit configured to detect in real time, during the running of the motorcycle 1, the operating state of the regulating device 52 and the engine speed, and to access the on-board memory unit 61 to obtain in real time the aforementioned third data item correlated to the corresponding acoustic emission measurement. The aforementioned electronic processing unit may be the same engine control unit 60 or a separate and / or distinct unit. In the following, reference will be made to the case where the electronic processing unit is the same as the engine control unit 60, and for this reason it will be called the electronic processing unit 60 as well as the engine control unit 60. As mentioned above, one or more sensors integrated in or connected to the regulating device 52 can be used to detect the operating state of the regulating device 52. Alternatively, the operating state of the regulating device 52 can be determined based on a control signal provided by the engine control unit 60 and / or based on the operating state of the acceleration control device 23. One or more sensors integrated in or operatively connected to the heat engine 8 can be used to detect the engine speed. In any event, this item of data is generally already available to the engine control unit 60.

[0034] According to an advantageous embodiment, the electronic processing unit 60 is arranged to generate an electronic control signal on the basis of the obtained third item of data.

[0035] For example, the electronic control signals are provided by the electronic processing unit 60 to a human machine interface device 29 or HMI 29, preferably a graphical and / or acoustic and / or haptic interface device. Said human machine interface device 29 is for example a graphic display or optical indicator and is advantageously integrated in the control dashboard 24 of the motorcycle 1. Additionally or alternatively, the human machine interface device 29 is a wearable device, for example a protective helmet, or a personal communication device, for example a smartphone or a smartwatch, operably connectable to the electronic processing unit 60.

[0036] If the human machine interface device comprises, for example, a graphical interface device, said graphical interface may dynamically display a color bar to the driver, e.g. - Green if the acoustic emission taken from map 70 is lower than 75 dB(A); - amber if the acoustic emission taken from Map 70 is in the range 75-82 dB(A); - Red if the acoustic emission obtained from Map 70 is higher than 82 dB(A).

[0037] According to an alternative embodiment, or in addition to what has been described in the previous paragraph, by means of electronic control signals, the electronic processing unit 60 can modify the operating state of the regulating device 52, and / or the rotation speed and / or the operating state of the thermal engine 8. This allows the acoustic emissions of the motorcycle 1 to be adjusted automatically and in real time to comply with regulatory or ethical requirements that impose or suggest maximum limits on such acoustic emissions.

[0038] Advantageously, the aforementioned automatic adjustment can also be performed based on time data, e.g. day / date and time, during which the motorcycle 1 is being used, and / or based on location data indicative of the real-time geographical location during which the motorcycle 1 is being used. For example, the time data may be already available per se in the electronic control unit 60 or provided to the latter by one or more external devices operatively connected thereto, e.g. a wearable device and / or a personal communication device and / or a sensor, e.g. a twilight sensor. The location data indicative of the real-time geographical location can be provided by a satellite tracking module 63 integrated in or operatively connected to the electronic processing unit 60. For example, the satellite tracking module 63 may be integrated in the motorcycle 1, fixed to the motorcycle 1, or integrated in a wearable device or a personal communication device operatively connected to the engine control unit 60.

[0039] Where an option for automatic adjustment is provided, it is advantageous to provide the possibility for said automatic adjustment to be selectively activated and deactivated, for example by the driver.

[0040] Here too, if the possibility of automatic adjustment is provided, it is particularly advantageous to provide that an early warning signal is sent, for example from the electronic control unit 60, to the driver of the transport vehicle 1, for example by means of the above-mentioned human machine interface 29, before carrying out said automatic adjustment. Advantageously, after the early warning signal has been sent, the automatic adjustment can be carried out after a programmed or programmable period has elapsed, for example a period of 5S or 10S.

[0041] 5, a method 100 for characterizing acoustic emissions generated by a transport vehicle 1 (also referred to as characterization method 100) will now be described. As mentioned above, the transport vehicle 1 comprises a heat engine 8 operable at a rotational speed that varies between a minimum rotational speed and a maximum rotational speed, and a regulating device 52 configured to regulate an inflow flow of an air-fuel mixture to the heat engine 8.

[0042] The characterization method 100 includes the following steps. a) obtaining acoustic emission measurements 101 of a transport vehicle 1 as a function of a first data item correlating to the operating state of a regulating device 52 and a second data item correlating to the engine speed, said first data item and said second data item forming a data pair; b) storing 102 in a memory unit a respective third data item correlating to each acquired acoustic emission measurement for said data pair;

[0043] In the characterization method 100, the above steps a) and b) are repeated for a plurality of first and second data pairs to obtain an acoustic emission map 70 of the transportation vehicle 1. The plurality of pairs may consist of a small or large number of pairs, as desired, the number of which may be on the order of tens, hundreds, or even thousands, for example.

[0044] As mentioned above, according to a non-limiting embodiment, the regulator 52 is or consists of a butterfly valve, and the operating condition of the regulator 52 is the opening degree of the butterfly valve.

[0045] According to an advantageous embodiment, the step of acquiring the acoustic emission measurements 101 is performed by at least one acoustic sensor S1, preferably a microphone, which is provided outside the transport vehicle 1 and is located at a distance from the transport vehicle 1, advantageously in a stationary position. Preferably, the distance is between 5 and 10 m, preferably equal to 7.5 m, as defined in noise standard UNECE R41.04.

[0046] According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the at least one acoustic sensor S1 comprises a pair of acoustic sensors, for example a pair of microphones, arranged opposite each other with respect to the longitudinal axis LL of the transport vehicle 1. Advantageously, the microphones are directional microphones.

[0047] In the characterization method 100 according to the embodiment, the step 101 of acquiring acoustic emission measurements includes the following sub-steps: a.1) passing a transport vehicle 1 in front of at least one acoustic sensor S1 at a predefined rotation speed of the heat engine 8 and under predefined operating conditions of the regulating device 52 in order to obtain said acoustic radiation measurements of the transport vehicle 1; a.2) repeating step a.1) for a number of values ​​of said operating condition of the regulator 52 while keeping the predetermined engine speed constant; a.3) Repeating steps a.1) and a.2) for a number of discrete values ​​between said minimum and maximum engine speed values.

[0048] The pitch of said discrete values ​​may be small or large as desired, for example equal to 50, 100, 200, 500 revolutions. Moreover, said pitch may be constant or variable. In the latter case, for example, when the engine speed is relatively low, the pitch may be wide and therefore coarse, and when the engine speed is relatively high, the pitch may be narrow and therefore fine.

[0049] According to an advantageous embodiment, the characterization method 100 includes, for each first data item correlated to the operating state of the regulating device 52 and each second data item correlated to the engine speed, a step of interpolating the third data item 103 correlated to the acoustic emission measurement value to obtain it as a continuous surface adapted to provide the map 70.

[0050] Advantageously, the characterization method 100 includes a step 104 of storing the acoustic emission map 70 in an on-board memory unit 61 of the transport vehicle 1. Such on-board memory 61 is preferably a non-volatile memory unit.

[0051] The acoustic emission map 70 obtained by the above-described characterization method 100 can be advantageously used in real time when using a transport vehicle 1 equipped with at least one on-board memory unit 61 in which the above-described acoustic emission map 70 is stored. For example, said map 70 can be used in a method for monitoring the acoustic emissions generated by the transport vehicle 1, the method comprising the following steps: - detecting, when using the transport vehicle 1, by a processing unit 60 mounted on the transport vehicle 1 and operatively connected to the mounted memory unit 61, the operating state of the regulating device 52 and the engine speed, and obtaining, preferably in real time, from the stored map 70, respective third data correlated to the acoustic emissions emitted by the transport vehicle 1; - generating at least one electronic control signal as a function of said third data.

[0052] According to an advantageous embodiment of the monitoring method, the step of generating at least one electronic control signal includes a step of correlating said third data in real time to temporal data, such as date or time, and / or georeferenced data of the transport vehicle 1, such as satellite tracking data.

[0053] Further features of the above-described characterization method 100 or monitoring method can be immediately inferred from the above explanation given in the description of the transport vehicle 1 given with reference to Figures 1-4, whereby such explanation complements the description of the aforementioned method.

[0054] Based on the above description, it can be seen how the transportation vehicle, the characterization method, and the monitoring method as described above can fully achieve their intended purpose.

[0055] The above disclosure illustrates and describes the precise embodiments disclosed, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise embodiments disclosed. Modifications and variations can be made in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the embodiments.

[0056] Although reference is made herein generally to a regulator 52, and in particular to a regulator 52 capable of regulating the air-fuel mixture by regulating the airflow supplied to the heat engine 8, it will be apparent that in alternative or additional embodiments the regulator 52 may also be or consist of a regulator 52 capable of regulating the amount of fuel supplied to the heat engine 8 and thus may be or consist of a different type of injector or regulator. Furthermore, although a transport vehicle 1 having a heat engine 8 has been described, embodiments are also included in which in addition to the heat engine 8 the transport vehicle 1 comprises a further motor of a different type, such as an electric motor.

[0057] Several human-machine interfaces, or user interfaces, have been described herein. The user interfaces may include graphical user interfaces, non-graphical user interfaces, text-based user interfaces, and / or the like. The user interfaces may provide information for display. In some embodiments, a user may interact with the information, for example, by providing input via an input component of the device that provides the user interface for display. In some embodiments, the user interface may be configurable by the device and / or the user (e.g., the user may change the size of the user interface, the information provided by the user interface, the location of the information provided by the user interface, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the user interface may be pre-configured into a set of standard configurations, specific configurations based on the type of device on which the user interface is displayed, and / or configurations based on capabilities and / or specifications associated with the device on which the user interface is displayed.

[0058] It will be apparent that the transportation vehicles and methods described herein may be implemented in different forms of hardware and software and / or firmware.

[0059] Although claims of certain features are provided in the claims and / or disclosed in the description, these combinations are not intended to limit the description of various implementations. Indeed, many of these features can be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and / or disclosed in the description. Although each dependent claim listed below may depend directly on a single claim, the disclosure of various embodiments includes each dependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set.

[0060] No element, act, or instruction used herein should be construed as critical or essential unless expressly stated as such. Furthermore, as used herein, the indefinite article "a / an" means to include one or more items and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". Furthermore, as used herein, the definite article "the" means to include one or more items referred to in connection with the definite article "the" and can be used interchangeably with "the one or more". When only one element is provided, "only one" or similar expressions are used. Furthermore, as used herein, terms such as "have", "haves", "has", and the like are intended as open-ended terms. Furthermore, the phrase "based on" means "based at least in part on" unless otherwise specified. Furthermore, as used herein, the term "or" when used in a series is intended to be inclusive and can be used interchangeably with "and / or" unless otherwise specified (e.g., when used in combination with "one" or "only one of").

[0061] Without prejudice to the principles of the invention, the details of the embodiments and construction may be varied widely with respect to the above description, disclosed merely as non-limiting examples, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A transport vehicle (1), a heat engine (8) operable at engine speeds varying between a minimum speed and a maximum speed; a regulating device (52) configured to regulate an input flow of an air-fuel mixture to the heat engine (8); at least one on-board memory unit (61) in which an acoustic emission map (70) of the transportation vehicle (1) is stored; The acoustic emission map (70) For each data pair having a first data item correlating with the operating state of the regulating device (52) and a second data item correlating with the engine speed, a third data item related to acoustic emission measurement values ​​obtained by at least one acoustic sensor (S1) provided outside the transportation vehicle (1) and positioned at a distance away from the transportation vehicle (1) is associated as a function of the first data item and as a function of the second data item.

2. 2. The transport vehicle (1) of claim 1, further comprising an electronic processing unit (60) configured to detect the operating state of the regulating device (52) and the engine speed in real time while the transport vehicle (1) is traveling, and to access the on-board memory unit (61) to obtain in real time the third data item correlated to the corresponding acoustic emission measurement value.

3. 3. A transport vehicle (1) according to claim 2, wherein the electronic processing unit (60) is configured to generate electronic control signals based on the acquired third item of data.

4. 4. A transport vehicle (1) according to claim 3, wherein the electronic control signals are provided by the electronic processing unit (60) to a human-machine interface device (29), preferably a graphic device and / or an acoustic device and / or a haptic interface device.

5. A transport vehicle (1) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the electronic control signal enables the electronic processing unit (60) to change the operating state of the regulating device (52) and / or the engine speed of the heat engine (8) and / or the state of the heat engine (8).

6. The transport vehicle (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the transport vehicle (1) is a riding saddle type vehicle, preferably a motorcycle.

7. A method (100) for characterizing acoustic emissions generated by a transportation vehicle (1) comprising a heat engine (8) operable at engine speeds varying between a minimum speed and a maximum speed, and a regulating device (52) configured to regulate an input flow of an air-fuel mixture to said heat engine (8), comprising: c) acquiring (101) acoustic emission measurements of the transport vehicle (1) by at least one acoustic sensor (S1) external to the transport vehicle (1) and positioned at a distance from the transport vehicle (1) as a function of a first data item correlated to the operating state of the adjustment device and a second data item correlated to the rotation speed, the first data item and the second data item forming a data pair; d) storing (102) a third data item correlating to the acquired acoustic emission measurement for said data pair in a memory unit (61) of said transport vehicle (1); The method (100), further comprising repeating steps a) and b) for a plurality of first and second data pairs to obtain an acoustic emission map (70) of the transportation vehicle (1).

8. The method (100) according to claim 7, characterized in that the separation distance is 5-10 m, preferably 7.5 m.

9. The method (100) according to claim 7 or 8, wherein said at least one acoustic sensor (S1) comprises a pair of acoustic sensors arranged on opposite sides relative to a longitudinal axis (LL) of the transport vehicle (1).

10. The step of obtaining acoustic emission measurements (101) comprises: (a.1) passing the transport vehicle (1) in front of the acoustic sensor (S1) at a predetermined engine speed of the heat engine (8) and under predetermined operating conditions of the adjustment device (52) to obtain the acoustic emission measurements of the transport vehicle (1); (a.2) repeating said step (a.1) for a plurality of values ​​of said predetermined operating condition of said regulating device (52) while maintaining said predetermined engine speed constant; (a.3) repeating steps (a.1) and (a.2) for a plurality of discrete values ​​between the minimum and maximum number of engine revolutions.

11. the regulating device (52) is or includes a butterfly valve; The method (100) of any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the predetermined operating condition of the regulating device (52) is an opening degree of the butterfly valve.

12. 12. The method (100) according to any one of claims 7 to 11, comprising the step of interpolating (103) the third data item correlated to the acoustic emission measurements to obtain the acoustic emission map (70) as a continuous curve adapted to provide the third data item correlated to the acoustic emission measurements for each of the first data items correlated to operating conditions of the regulating device (52) and each of the second data items correlated to the engine speed.

13. 13. The method (100) of any one of claims 7 to 12, further comprising the step of storing (104) the acoustic emission map (70) in an on-board memory unit (61) of the transport vehicle (1), preferably a non-volatile memory unit.

14. A monitoring method for monitoring in real time acoustic emissions generated by a transport vehicle (1) equipped with a heat engine (8), the transport vehicle (1) comprising at least one on-board memory unit (61) in which an acoustic emission map (70) obtained according to the method (100) according to any one of claims 7 to 13 is stored, the monitoring method comprising the steps of: detecting, by a processing unit arranged on the transport vehicle (1) and operatively connected to the on-board memory unit (61), an operating state of the regulating device (52) and an engine speed, and retrieving in real time from the stored acoustic emission map (70), a respective third data item correlated to an emitted acoustic emission, when the transport vehicle (1) is in use; and generating at least one electronic control signal as a function of said third data.

15. 15. The monitoring method of claim 14, wherein the step of generating at least one electronic control signal includes a step of correlating the third data item in real time to temporal data, such as date or time, and / or georeferenced data of the transport vehicle (1), such as satellite tracking data.

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