Virtual Engine Sound Control via Head Position Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current virtual engine sound systems in electric vehicles fail to maintain optimal auditory experience for drivers as their head position changes from a reference position, leading to degraded sound quality due to altered arrival distance and volume.
Innovation Solution
A virtual engine sound generating system that includes multiple speakers and a controller, which calculates the driver's head position based on seat state information to adjust delay times and amplification factors for each speaker, ensuring the virtual engine sound reaches the driver with consistent volume and timing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If virtual engine sound is set based on reference position and reference backrest angle, then initial tuning is simplified, but sound quality degrades when driver head position changes
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts delay times and amplification factors of multiple speakers based on real-time detection of driver head position. When the head position changes from the reference position, the controller calculates new parameters to maintain consistent sound arrival time and volume, resolving the contradiction between simplified initial tuning and consistent sound quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from head position detection to continuously monitor and adjust speaker output parameters. The controller receives head position information, recalculates delay times and amplification factors, and applies corrections to maintain optimal sound quality, thereby solving the problem of sound quality degradation when head position changes.
2Ease of operation
If driver seat position and backrest angle change, then driver comfort is improved, but arrival distance and engine sound volume change
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically compensates for changes in arrival distance and sound volume by adjusting speaker amplification factors based on detected head position changes. When the driver adjusts their seat or backrest angle, the controller calculates the new head position and modifies speaker output to maintain consistent sound volume, allowing driver comfort adjustments without compromising sound quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the output parameters (delay time and amplification factor) of the speaker system in response to detected head position changes. By calculating new parameters based on the updated head position, the system maintains consistent sound arrival characteristics even when the driver changes their seating position or backrest angle for comfort.
3Reliability
If multiple speakers are used to output virtual engine sound, then sound immersion is improved, but complexity of adjusting delay time and amplification factor increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses automated feedback control to manage the complexity of multiple speaker adjustments. The head position detection provides feedback that triggers automatic recalculation of delay times and amplification factors for all speakers, eliminating the need for manual adjustment and making the complex multi-speaker system as easy to operate as a single speaker system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-adjustment by automatically calculating and applying the appropriate delay times and amplification factors based on detected head position. The controller autonomously manages the complexity of coordinating multiple speakers, eliminating the need for user intervention and making the system as simple to use as a single-speaker configuration while maintaining superior sound immersion.
Data Source
AI summary
A virtual engine sound generating system and method are provided in which each of speakers outputting a virtual engine sound provides an intended optimal virtual engine sound to a driver by adjusting a time for a virtual engine sound to reach the driver and an amplitude of an engine sound that reaches the driver when the head position of the driver changes from a reference position. The system includes speakers provided in a vehicle to output the virtual engine sound, an engine sound generating unit generating the sound, and a controller calculating a head position of a driver based on state information of the driver's seat, adjusting a delay time at which the virtual engine sound is output and/or an amplification factor for each of the speakers based on the calculated head position, and outputting an adjusted delay time and/or amplification factor to the engine sound generating unit.