Acoustic control device and sound generation method

Abstract

To provide an excellent sound control device and a sound generation method.SOLUTION: A sound control device 10 for causing a speaker 12 to output sound toward the interior of a vehicle includes: a signal generation part 18 for generating a sound signal which is a signal to cause the speaker to output sound; an acquisition part 20 for acquiring an operation value according to operation of a user; a gain determination part 22 for determining a gain of the sound signal according to the operation value acquired by the acquisition part; and an output part 24 for outputting a sound signal corrected with the gain determined by the gain determination part to the speaker. The gain determination part determines the gain to be small as a difference between a predetermined reference value and the operation value becomes larger if the operation value is smaller than the reference value, and determines the gain to be large as the difference between the reference value and the operation value becomes larger if the operation value is larger than the reference value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a sound control device and a sound generation method. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a sound control device that allows the driver to set the volume of the notification by the notification device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-020160 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] There is a need for better sound control devices and sound production methods.

[0005] The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A first aspect of the present disclosure is an acoustic control device that causes a speaker to output sound toward a vehicle cabin, the acoustic control device comprising: a signal generation unit that generates a sound signal that causes the speaker to output the sound; an acquisition unit that acquires an operation value in accordance with an operation by a user; a gain determination unit that determines a gain of the sound signal in accordance with the operation value acquired by the acquisition unit; and an output unit that outputs the sound signal corrected to the gain determined by the gain determination unit to the speaker, wherein when the operation value is smaller than a predetermined reference value, the gain determination unit determines the gain to be smaller as the difference between the reference value and the operation value increases, and when the operation value is larger than the reference value, the gain determination unit determines the gain to be larger as the difference between the reference value and the operation value increases.

[0007] A second aspect of the present disclosure is a sound generation method for outputting sound from a speaker toward a vehicle interior, the method comprising: generating a sound signal that causes the speaker to output the sound; acquiring an operation value according to an operation by a user; and, if the acquired operation value is smaller than a predetermined reference value, determining a gain to be smaller as a difference between the reference value and the operation value increases; operation value but The aforementioned standard value twist If the difference between the reference value and the operation value is large, the gain is determined to be larger as the difference between the reference value and the operation value becomes larger, and the sound signal corrected to the determined gain is output to the speaker. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] The present invention provides a better sound control device and sound generation method. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an acoustic control device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display unit on which controls are displayed in one embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a map of gains for one embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a sound effect generation process executed in the sound control device according to an embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display unit on which controls are displayed in a comparative example. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a map of the gain of the comparative example. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display unit on which controls are displayed in another embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display unit on which a volume input section is displayed in another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] In conventional sound control devices (active sound effect generation devices), the user was not able to set the sound pressure (volume) of sound effects. In the sound control device of the present invention, as will be described later, the user can set the sound pressure of sound effects. Furthermore, with the sound control device of the present invention, it is possible to effectively reflect the design concept in the volume of sound effects and the like adjusted by the user, as will be described later.

[0011] [One embodiment] [Configuration of sound control device] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an acoustic control device 10 according to an embodiment. The acoustic control device 10 is, for example, an active sound effect generation device. The acoustic control device 10 is mounted on a vehicle having an electric motor as a drive source. Vehicles driven by an electric motor include a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), an HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), and an FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle). The acoustic control device 10 may also be mounted on a vehicle having an internal combustion engine as a drive source.

[0012] The sound control device 10 is a device that outputs sound effects that change according to the rotation speed of an electric motor from a speaker 12 provided in the vehicle cabin. The sound effects increase the vehicle's appeal to occupants. The sound control device 10 may output sound effects that change according to vehicle speed from the speaker 12 provided in the vehicle cabin. When the sound control device 10 is installed in a vehicle having an internal combustion engine as a drive source, the sound control device 10 may output sound effects that change according to the rotation speed of the internal combustion engine from the speaker 12 provided in the vehicle cabin.

[0013] The acoustic control device 10 includes a calculation unit 14 and a storage unit 16. The calculation unit 14 is a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

[0014] The calculation unit 14 functions as a signal generation unit 18, an acquisition unit 20, a gain determination unit 22, and an output unit 24. The signal generation unit 18, the acquisition unit 20, the gain determination unit 22, and the output unit 24 are realized by the calculation unit 14 executing a program stored in the storage unit 16.

[0015] At least a part of the signal generating unit 18, the acquiring unit 20, the gain determining unit 22, and the output unit 24 may be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), etc. At least a part of the signal generating unit 18, the acquiring unit 20, the gain determining unit 22, and the output unit 24 may be realized by an electronic circuit including discrete devices.

[0016] The storage unit 16 is configured by a volatile memory (not shown) and a nonvolatile memory (not shown), which are computer-readable storage media. The volatile memory is, for example, a random access memory (RAM). The nonvolatile memory is, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, etc. Data and the like are stored, for example, in the volatile memory. Programs, tables, maps, etc. are stored, for example, in the nonvolatile memory.

[0017] At least a part of the storage unit 16 may be provided in the above-mentioned processor, integrated circuit, etc. At least a part of the storage unit 16 may be installed in a device connected to the acoustic control device 10 via a network.

[0018] The signal generating unit 18 generates a sound effect signal. The sound effect signal is a signal of a sound effect having a frequency component according to the rotation speed of the electric motor.

[0019] The acquisition unit 20 acquires an operation value corresponding to an operation by a user. The operation value is determined by the user operating an operator 28 displayed on the display unit 26 (FIG. 2).

[0020] 2 is a diagram showing a display unit 26 on which an operator 28 is displayed in one embodiment. The display unit 26 is installed in the center of an instrument panel inside the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, the display unit 26 displays an operator 28 and a slide bar 30. The operator 28 is a slider that can be moved along the slide bar 30 by a user's operation.

[0021] An operation value between "0" and "255" is input to the sound control device 10 depending on the position of the control device 28 on the slide bar 30. When the control device 28 is located at position Pa, the leftmost position of the slide bar 30, an operation value of "0" is input to the sound control device 10. When the control device 28 is located at position Pb, the center of the slide bar 30, an operation value of "128" is input to the sound control device 10. When the control device 28 is located at position Pc, the rightmost position of the slide bar 30, an operation value of "255" is input to the sound control device 10. The correspondence between the position of the control device 28 and the operation value is not limited to the above.

[0022] The gain determination unit 22 determines the gain of the sound effect signal in accordance with the operation value acquired by the acquisition unit 20. Fig. 3 is a gain map according to one embodiment. The gain determination unit 22 determines the gain in accordance with the map in Fig. 3.

[0023] In one embodiment, "128" is predetermined as the reference value. When the operating value matches the reference value, the gain determination unit 22 determines the gain to be "1." When the operating value is smaller than the reference value, the gain determination unit 22 determines the gain to be a value smaller than "1." Furthermore, when the operating value is smaller than the reference value, the gain determination unit 22 determines the gain to be a value that decreases as the difference between the reference value and the operating value increases. When the operating value is larger than the reference value, the gain determination unit 22 determines the gain to be a value larger than "1." Furthermore, when the operating value is larger than the reference value, the gain determination unit 22 determines the gain to be a value that increases as the difference between the gain reference value and the operating value increases.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 3, when the operating value is smaller than the reference value and the operating value changes by a predetermined amount ΔV, the amount of change in gain ΔB is smaller than the amount of change in gain ΔA when the operating value is larger than the reference value and the operating value changes by a predetermined amount ΔV.

[0025] The gain determiner 22 may determine the gain by calculation without using a map. When the gain is G, the manipulated value is Vo, and the maximum manipulated value is Vmax, if the manipulated value is greater than the reference value, the gain G is calculated using the following equation (1) using a positive constant α (α>1). G=1+{(Vo-Vs) / (Vmax-Vs)}×(α-1)…(1)

[0026] If the gain is G, the manipulated value is Vo, and the minimum manipulated value is Vmin, when the manipulated value is smaller than the reference value, the gain G can be calculated using the following equation (2) using a positive constant β (β<1). G=1-{(Vs-Vo) / (Vs-Vmin)}×(1-β)…(2)

[0027] The constants α and β have the relationship shown in the following equation (3). α-1>1-β…(3)

[0028] The output unit 24 corrects the sound effect signal generated by the signal generation unit 18 to the gain determined by the gain determination unit 22. The output unit 24 outputs the corrected sound effect signal to the speaker 12. The speaker 12 generates a sound effect in accordance with the sound effect signal within the vehicle cabin.

[0029] In one embodiment, by adjusting the constants α and β, the designer of the acoustic control device 10 can appropriately reflect the design concept in the volume of sound effects adjusted by the user. For example, when the user operates the operator 28 to increase the volume, the gain is increased to increase the volume of the sound effects output into the vehicle cabin. This allows the user to feel a greater sense of excitement and acceleration from the sound effects. On the other hand, when the user operates the operator 28 to decrease the volume, the gain is suppressed from decreasing too much, so that the volume of the sound effects output into the vehicle cabin continues to be felt by the sound effects.

[0030] [Sound effect generation processing] 4 is a flowchart of the sound effect generation process executed in the acoustic control device 10 according to one embodiment. The sound effect generation process is repeatedly executed at a predetermined cycle while the electric vehicle is running.

[0031] In step S1, the acquisition unit 20 acquires an operation value, and then the process proceeds to step S2.

[0032] In step S2, the signal generating unit 18 generates a sound effect signal, and then the process proceeds to step S3.

[0033] In step S3, the gain determination unit 22 determines the gain, and then the process proceeds to step S4.

[0034] In step S4, the output unit 24 corrects the sound effect signal generated by the signal generation unit 18 to the gain determined by the gain determination unit 22. The output unit 24 also outputs the corrected sound effect signal to the speaker 12. Thereafter, the sound effect generation process ends.

[0035] [Comparative Example] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing display unit 26 displaying operator 40 in a comparative example. As shown in Fig. 5, slide bar 42 and operator 40 are displayed on display unit 26. Operator 40 is a slider that can be moved along slide bar 42 by a user's operation.

[0036] An operation value between "0" and "255" is input to the acoustic control device 10 depending on the position of the control device 40 on the slide bar 42. When the control device 40 is located at position Qa, the leftmost position of the slide bar 42, an operation value of "0" is input to the acoustic control device 10. When the control device 40 is located at position Qb, the rightmost position of the slide bar 42, an operation value of "255" is input to the acoustic control device 10.

[0037] FIG. 6 is a gain map for the comparative example. In the comparative example, "0" is determined as the reference value. The larger the difference between the reference value and the manipulated value, the larger the value that is determined as the gain. As shown in FIG. 6, the amount of change in gain when the manipulated value changes by a predetermined amount is constant over the entire range of the manipulated value.

[0038] That is, in the embodiment, "128" is determined as the reference value, whereas in the comparative example, "0" is determined as the reference value.

[0039] In one embodiment, when the manipulated value is smaller than the reference value, the gain is determined to be a smaller value as the difference between the reference value and the manipulated value increases, and when the manipulated value is larger than the reference value, the gain is determined to be a larger value as the difference between the reference value and the manipulated value increases.In contrast, in the comparative example, there is no manipulated value smaller than the reference value, and the gain is determined to be a larger value as the difference between the reference value and the manipulated value increases.

[0040] Furthermore, in one embodiment, the amount of change in gain when the manipulated value changes by a predetermined amount when the manipulated value is smaller than the reference value is smaller than the amount of change in gain when the manipulated value changes by the predetermined amount when the manipulated value is larger than the reference value. In contrast, in the comparative example, the amount of change in gain when the manipulated value changes by the predetermined amount is constant over the entire range of the manipulated value.

[0041] Other Embodiments Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the display unit 26 displaying the operator 28 in another embodiment. In the above embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2, the operator 28 is a slider that is movable on the slide bar 30. However, as shown in Fig. 7, the operator 28 may be a rotatable dial.

[0042] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the display unit 26 on which a volume input unit 32 is displayed in another embodiment. In the above embodiment, the user operates the controls 28 displayed on the display unit 26 to input an operation value to the acoustic control device 10. Alternatively, the user may input a numerical value to the volume input unit 32 shown in Fig. 8. The numerical value input to the volume input unit 32 and the operation value are associated in advance, and the operation value corresponding to the numerical value input by the user is input to the acoustic control device 10.

[0043] In the embodiment described above, the signal generating unit 18 generates a sound effect signal. The signal generating unit 18 may also generate a sound signal that causes the speaker 12 to output a sound other than a sound effect.

[0044] When the signal generating unit 18 generates a sound signal, the gain determining unit 22 determines the gain of the sound signal. When the signal generating unit 18 generates a sound signal, the output unit 24 outputs the sound signal, which has been corrected to the gain determined by the gain determining unit 22, to a speaker.

[0045] The following additional notes are further disclosed regarding the above embodiment.

[0046] (Appendix 1) An acoustic control device (10) of the present disclosure is an acoustic control device that causes a speaker (12) to output sound toward a vehicle interior, and includes a signal generation unit (18) that generates a sound signal that causes the speaker to output the sound, an acquisition unit (20) that acquires an operation value according to an operation by a user, a gain determination unit (22) that determines a gain of the sound signal according to the operation value acquired by the acquisition unit, and an output unit (24) that outputs the sound signal corrected to the gain determined by the gain determination unit to the speaker, wherein when the operation value is smaller than a predetermined reference value, the gain determination unit determines the gain to be smaller as the difference between the reference value and the operation value increases, and when the operation value is greater than the reference value, the gain determination unit determines the gain to be larger as the difference between the reference value and the operation value increases. This makes it possible to set the gain based on the difference between the reference value and the operation value.

[0047] (Appendix 2) In the acoustic control device described in Supplementary Note 1, the amount of change in the gain when the operation value changes by a predetermined amount when the operation value is smaller than the reference value may be different from the amount of change in the gain when the operation value changes by the predetermined amount when the operation value is larger than the reference value. This allows the design concept to be well reflected in the gain that changes in response to user operation.

[0048] (Appendix 3) In the acoustic control device described in Supplementary Note 2, the amount of change in gain when the operation value changes by the predetermined amount when the operation value is smaller than the reference value may be smaller than the amount of change in gain when the operation value changes by the predetermined amount when the operation value is larger than the reference value. When the user performs an operation to increase the volume, the gain is increased so that a louder sound can be output into the vehicle cabin. On the other hand, when the user performs an operation to decrease the volume, the decrease in gain is suppressed so that the sound in the vehicle cabin does not become too quiet.

[0049] (Appendix 4) In the acoustic control device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 3, the operation value may be determined by the user operating an operator (28) displayed on a display unit (26) provided on an instrument panel inside the vehicle, thereby making it easier for the user to operate the operator.

[0050] (Appendix 5) In the acoustic control device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 3, the sound signal may be a sound effect signal that causes the speaker to output a sound effect that changes in accordance with the rotation speed of a drive source of the vehicle, thereby allowing a user to adjust the volume of the sound effect.

[0051] (Appendix 6) The sound generation method of the present disclosure is a sound generation method for causing a speaker to output sound toward a vehicle interior, the sound generation method including: generating a sound signal that causes the speaker to output the sound; acquiring an operation value according to an operation by a user; and, if the acquired operation value is smaller than a predetermined reference value, determining a gain that is smaller as the difference between the reference value and the operation value increases; operation value but The aforementioned standard value twist If the difference between the reference value and the operation value is large, the gain is determined to be larger as the difference between the reference value and the operation value becomes larger, and the sound signal corrected to the determined gain is output to the speaker. This makes it possible to set the gain based on the difference between the reference value and the operation value.

[0052] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail, the present disclosure is not limited to the individual embodiments described above. Various additions, substitutions, modifications, partial deletions, etc. are possible in these embodiments without departing from the gist of the present disclosure or the spirit of the present disclosure derived from the content of the claims and their equivalents. These embodiments can also be implemented in combination. For example, in the above-described embodiments, the order of each operation and the order of each process are shown as examples and are not limited to these. The same applies when numerical values ​​or mathematical expressions are used in the description of the above-described embodiments. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 10... Acoustic control device 12... Speaker 18...signal generation section 20...acquisition section 22...Gain determination section 24...Output section 26...Display section 28...Controller

Claims

1. An acoustic control device that outputs sound from a speaker toward a vehicle interior, a signal generating unit that generates a sound signal that causes the speaker to output the sound; an acquisition unit that acquires an operation value according to an operation by a user; a gain determination unit that determines a gain of the sound signal in accordance with the operation value acquired by the acquisition unit; an output unit that outputs the sound signal corrected to the gain determined by the gain determination unit to the speaker; Equipped with when the operation value is smaller than a predetermined reference value, the gain determiner determines the gain to be smaller as the difference between the reference value and the operation value increases, and when the operation value is larger than the reference value, the gain determiner determines the gain to be larger as the difference between the reference value and the operation value increases, an amount of change in the gain when the operation value is smaller than the reference value and the operation value changes by a predetermined amount is different from an amount of change in the gain when the operation value is larger than the reference value and the operation value changes by the predetermined amount; An acoustic control device, wherein the amount of change in gain when the operating value changes by the predetermined amount when the operating value is smaller than the reference value is smaller than the amount of change in gain when the operating value changes by the predetermined amount when the operating value is larger than the reference value.

2. 2. The acoustic control device according to claim 1, The operation value is determined by the user operating an operator displayed on a display unit provided on an instrument panel inside the vehicle.

3. 3. The acoustic control device according to claim 1, The sound signal is a sound effect signal that causes the speaker to output a sound effect that changes depending on the rotation speed of a drive source of the vehicle.

4. A sound generating method for outputting sound from a speaker toward a vehicle interior, comprising: generating a sound signal that causes the speaker to output the sound; Acquires an operation value according to an operation by a user, When the acquired operation value is smaller than a predetermined reference value, the gain is determined to be smaller as the difference between the reference value and the operation value increases, and when the acquired operation value is larger than the reference value, the gain is determined to be larger as the difference between the reference value and the operation value increases, outputting the sound signal corrected to the determined gain to the speaker; an amount of change in the gain when the operation value is smaller than the reference value and the operation value changes by a predetermined amount is different from an amount of change in the gain when the operation value is larger than the reference value and the operation value changes by the predetermined amount; A sound generation method, wherein the amount of change in gain when the operating value changes by the predetermined amount when the operating value is smaller than the reference value is smaller than the amount of change in gain when the operating value changes by the predetermined amount when the operating value is larger than the reference value.

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