An Original Method to Predict Brake Feel: A Combination of Design of Experiments and Sensory Science

A brake by wire research vehicle was developed and equipped with an electrical active pedal feel emulator. With this device, the relationships between brake pedal force, pedal travel and vehicle deceleration are fully adjustable. We can tune 11 technical parameters (7 for the force/travel pedal relationship and 4 for the deceleration/travel relationship). A Plackett-Burman design of experiments was used to generate 12 unique braking laws. These laws were evaluated by a sensory descriptive analysis panel on seven criteria. Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis was used for data treatment. This analysis sorted out the most influential technical parameters on brake feel. As a result, a software application able to predict brake feel using technical parameters was implemented.