Human Centred Design Institute
Brunel University
8 July 2014
Brochure for Sound Quality & Product Perception Workshop
This one day event was aimed at engineers and managers working within a variety of sectors including the automotive field and focused on increasing their understanding of the sound quality techniques used to optimise products for refinement and maximise customer perceived quality.
Sound Metrics Unleashed! – Andrew McQueen, LMS International
This interactive seminar provided delegates with an introduction to sound quality metrics and their use in industry via a number of practical examples with accompanying background theory. The session addressed typical questions such as:
• Why doesn’t the decibel level “dB” match my subjective impressions of the sound?
• What are all the different types of sound metrics (loudness, roughness, tonality, modulation etc) and how are they used?
• What is the best metric to use to describe the sound I am hearing?
• How do I reduce a sound to a meaningful representative value?
Interactive Assessment of Vehicle Sound Quality: Target Setting and Jury Evaluation – Roger Williams, Bruel & Kjaer
Over the last decade, the techniques available for assessment and development of vehicle sound quality have undergone huge advances. Gone are the days when the sound quality engineer would base his work around listening to, analysing and jury testing recorded files. These days, the sound quality work flow, from recording to final sign-off by engineering managers, is a much more intuitive, interactive and ultimately, reliable process which uses an NVH Simulator for auralisation and evaluation. This session gave an overview of how this process is used to understand the sounds you experience in a vehicle and to create target sounds which can be assessed whilst freely driving rather than for predefined operating conditions.
Laser Vibrometry – See What’s Happening to your Structure – Roger Traynor, Polytec
Non-contact laser vibrometry is a powerful tool to measure sound and vibration from almost any surface, without mass-loading and therefore any modification of the structure’s response. Polytec gave a live workshop demonstration of the use of a scanning vibrometer on a lightweight structure, with further examples of vibration/sound quality comparison of damped/undamped vehicle floorpans and sports motorbikes. The measurement examples showed the vibration amplitudes and frequency mix, vibration energy ‘hotspots’/’quiet spots’ distribution and hence noise source location on the structures.
Perception Enhancement for Automotive Steering Systems – Prof. Joseph Giacomin, Director of the Human Centred Design Institute, Brunel University
Automotive steering systems have become more intelligent and make many more decisions, thus a greater degree of communication with the driver is necessary in order to keep the driver informed and happy about the state of the automobile. In recent years research has identified the most critical frequency bands and most critical scaling factors for vibratory (haptic) feedback, but the “dictionary” of the key cognitive cues is still relatively incomplete. Individual vibratory transients (bumps) often provide an unmistakable cognitive cue which informs the driver of a specific physical event or situation, in exactly the same way as a word from a spoken language or a symbol of mathematical notation.
The EIS successfully ran an event at University of Warwick in 2012 entitled ‘Techniques for Delivering a Positive Emotional Response to Products and Environments’. This sound quality workshop followed on from the 2012 seminar and the latest technological tools will be on show in the exhibition area.
Programme
9-9.20am Arrival and Coffee
9.20-9.30am Welcome and Opening Comments
9.30-10.30am Workshop Session 1
10.30 – 11am Coffee
11.00-12pm Workshop Session 2
12.00-1pm Workshop Session 3
1-2.30pm Lunch and Exhibition
2.30-4pm Workshop Session 4
4pm Closing Comments
4.30pm Depart