Browse Topic: Consumer preferences
Customer preference towards quieter vehicles is ever-increasing. Exhaust tailpipe noise is one of the major contributors to in-cab noise and pass-by-noise of the vehicle. This research proposes a silencer with an integrated acoustic valve to reduce exhaust tailpipe noise. Incident exhaust wave coming from the engine strikes the acoustic valve and generates reflected waves. Incident waves and reflected waves cancel out each other which results in energy loss of the exhaust gas. This loss of energy results in reduced noise at the exhaust tailpipe end. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed silencer on the vehicle, NVH (Noise, vibration, and harshness) performance of the proposed silencer was compared with the existing silencer which is without an acoustic valve. A CNG (Compressed natural gas) Bus powered by a six-in-line cylinder engine was chosen for the NVH testing. After NVH evaluation, it was found that when using the proposed silencer, overall exhaust tailpipe orifice noise
Engineers like to know what customers think about a vehicle. Now, drivers of the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E can oblige via a new system that channels select customer comments to engineers. F-150 Lightning fullsize pickup truck and Mustang Mach-E SUV owners in the U.S. can pass along opinions via a 45-second voice message after selecting “record feedback” through the settings-general menu on the infotainment touchscreen. “We want to hear the customer's voice. Ford does customer clinics and events, but this is a different way to capture customer feedback,” Donna Dickson, chief engineer of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, said in an interview with SAE Media
Optimal Vehicle Dynamics is one of the key metrics that all Vehicle Manufacturers strive to achieve. The metrics vary from customer to customer and vehicle to vehicle. The vehicle dynamics represent the DNA of the car and the manufacturer. The challenge with the current state of pre-autonomy always is to achieve the state of vehicle dynamics that delivers stability/safety yet the responsiveness needed. In addition, there are always tradeoffs between ride/NVH and handling, where vehicle manufacturers end up sacrificing one for the other. The paper establishes the baseline of electrification advantages to address the past vehicle dynamics challenges and then discusses how the traditional vehicle dynamics design and metrics will evolve as the vehicle architecture migrates from mechanization/electrification to level 4/5 Autonomy. Customer preferences and demands will change with Autonomy
The automotive industry is going through one of its greatest restructuring, the migration from internal combustion engines to electric powered / internet connected vehicles. Adapting to a new consumer who is increasingly demanding and selective may be one of the greatest challenges of this generation, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) have been struggling to keep offering a diversified variety of features to their customers while also maintaining its quality standards. The vehicles leave the factory with an embedded SIM Card and a telematics module, which is an electronic unit to enable communication between the car, data center. Connected vehicles generate tens of gigabytes of data per hour that have the potential to be transformed into valuable information for companies, especially regarding the behavior and desires of drivers. One of the techniques used to gather quality feedback from the customers is the NPS it consists of open questions focused on top-of-mind feedback. Here
During the early phase of vehicle development, one of the key design attributes to consider is the inner comfort for occupants. Internal spaciousness is the pillar that is responsible for user’s comfort and make into customer comfort needs in engineer metrics. Therefore, it is one of the key requirements to be considered during the vehicle design. Certain internal vehicle characteristics such as the size of shoulder room and the knee clearance are engineer metrics that influence the occupants’ perception for comfort. One specific characteristic influencing satisfaction is the headroom, which is the subject of this paper. The objective of this project is to analyze the relationship between the second row’s vehicle headroom with the occupant’s satisfaction under real world driving conditions, based on research, statistical data analysis and dynamic clinics
During the early phase of vehicle development, one of the key design attributes to consider are the interior storages for occupants. Internal storage is the pillar that is responsible for user’s comfort and make into customer comfort needs in engineer metrics. Therefore, it is one of the key requirements to be considered during the vehicle design. The vehicle has some interior storages, like storages on door trim, floor console and IP and to define the best solution for the customer, engineering team has certain internal vehicle characteristics such as the volume and size of storage are engineer metrics that influence the perception of comfort for occupants. One specific characteristic influencing satisfaction is the glove box volume, which is the subject of this paper. The objective of this project is to analyze the relationship between the glove box volume with the occupant’s satisfaction under real world driving conditions, based on research, statistical data analysis and dynamic
Reducing weight from components and systems is a major trend in passenger vehicles to boost fuel efficiency and driving range - it's not a strategy typically associated with construction machinery and stationary applications. Liebherr Components contends that such off-highway applications also can benefit from utilizing lighter-weight components and has spent years developing the expertise and production capabilities to add them to its hydraulics portfolio. Liebherr recently revealed “hybrid” hydraulic cylinders - components made of steel but wrapped in carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) - that can be up to 50% lighter than traditional all-steel cylinders. Depending on the application and customer preference, the weight savings can increase operating speeds, allow larger attachments and booms, and raise payloads - or, as in road-going vehicles, reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption during operation, the company said
Automated-driving and ADAS functionalities continue to influence some of the latest cabin safety and materials trends. Evolving market realities have OEMs and automated-driving system developers adjusting once-aggressive timelines for deploying high-level driving automation. But new materials and safety technology for vehicle interiors continue to be influenced by advancing AV and ADAS functionalities. Regardless of how much driving automation is at play, vehicle cabins are evolving because of the possibilities - and challenges - automation and ADAS present. An array of launching or soon-to-arrive safety features, driver-information technology and materials innovations don't need AV applications as a reason for being, however. Drew Winter, Informa Tech Automotive's principal analyst - Cockpit of the Future, said that some of the feature and safety requirements of electric-vehicle and younger-demographic customers align with the technology directions for AVs and ADAS. New sustainable
The automotive industry is facing new emission regulations, changing customer preferences and technology disruptions. All have in common, that external aerodynamics plays a crucial role to achieve emission limits, reduce fuel consumption and extend electric driving range. Probably the most challenging components in terms of numerical aerodynamic drag prediction are the wheels. Their contribution to the overall pressure distribution is significant, and the flow topology around the wheels is extremely complicated. Furthermore, deltas between different rim designs can be very small, normally in the range of only a few drag counts. Therefore, highly accurate numerical methods are needed to predict rim rankings and deltas. This paper presents experimental results of four different production rim designs, mounted to a modified production car. An accurate representation of the loaded, deformed tire geometry is used in all calculations for comparable conditions between wind tunnel and CFD
The need to develop genuine ceramic composites for PV applications arose to overcome the challenges associated with traditional semi-metallic pads. The main focus is to achieve better performance, low noise, better pad and rotor wear, and low dust compared to semi- metallic pads. In general, brake pads convert kinetic energy to thermal energy through friction, and operating temperature in semi-metallic brake pads is higher due to the presence of steel having high thermal conductivity. Over the last decade, the customer preference has moved over to ceramic pads due to light coloured pad surface, low rotor and pad wear and low dust compared to semi-metallic pads. The traditional steel has been replaced by Aramid, engineered ceramic fibre, potassium titanate (TISMO D), lapinus fibre (RB 250) to impart similar/better performance. The current work investigates the characterisation of genuine ceramic and semi-metallic composites. Three genuine ceramic and one semi-met composite have been
With the development of autonomous driving technology, automated buses have begun trial operations in many cities around the world, and marketization has become an important issue. In order to explore the influencing factors of the public's willingness to use automated buses, two rounds of surveys were conducted. Firstly, the importance of the attributes of automated buses was studied, based on which questionnaires on willingness to use automated buses were designed. Using data from 266 questionnaires collected, a logistic regression model was established. Model results show that demographic variables and historical travel behavior characteristics will have a significant impact. Women are less willing to choose automated buses than men, and older people aged above 50 are more likely to use the mode. People who often use regular buses to travel have higher willingness to choose automated buses than people using other modes. Among people using other modes including private cars, subways
This Information Report provides recommendations for alphanumeric messages that are supplied to the vehicle by external (e.g., RDS, satellite radio) or internal (e.g., infotainment system) sources while the vehicle is in-motion. Information/design recommendations contained in this report apply to OEM (embedded) and aftermarket systems. Ergonomic issues with regard to display characteristics (e.g., viewing angle, brightness, contrast, font design, etc.) should review ISO 15008
Although Electric Vehicles (EVs) are now a viable option for many automotive consumers, EV consideration and sales continue to lag. We analyzed the data from a survey of 1,095 North American vehicle owners and examined their current knowledge and expectations about EV functionality and operation. Forty-six percent of our sample are EV owners and 54% are owners of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Thirty-eight percent of our sample are automotive professionals (work in the auto industry in engineering or marketing, etc., at OEMs, suppliers, dealerships, etc.). Our findings indicate that most ICE owners - including our auto industry professionals -- hold a variety of erroneous and exaggerated negative views and expectations about EVs - especially regarding their functionality. These negative expectations and beliefs are refuted by the actual driving and ownership experiences of EV owners. What automotive professionals think about EVs is important because they are a major source
Lane Keeping Assistance System (LKAS) is a typical lateral driver assistance system with low acceptance. One of the main reasons is that fixed parameters cannot satisfy individual differences. So LKAS adaptive to driver characteristics needs to be designed. Driver Steering Override (DSO) process is an important process of LKAS. It happens when contradiction between driver’s intention and system behavior occurs. As feeling of overriding will affect the overall experience of using LKAS, the design of DSO characteristics is worthy of attention. This research provided an adaptive design scheme aiming at DSO characteristics for LKAS by building Driver Preference Model (DPM) based on simulator test data from preliminary experiments. The DPM was to represent the relationship between driver characteristics indices and driver preferred system characteristics indices. So that new drivers’ preference can be predicted by DPM based on their own daily driving data with LKAS switched off. The inputs
Magna provided a glimpse into its vision for the future of configurable cabin spaces with a life-size transforming seating demo at its booth during January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Driven by consumer research, the seating-system concept is designed to provide flexible and collaborative configurations aimed at an autonomous vehicle (AV) future. “Magna's seating innovation is driven by the belief that while the vehicle occupant experience will be very different with the introduction of mobility and autonomy, the functional basics will remain the same: passengers want convenience, flexibility and comfort,” Mike Bisson, president of Magna Seating, told Automotive Engineering ahead of CES. “This approach has essentially helped us create seats that adjust to the consumer, instead of having the consumer adjust to seats
Understanding customer expectations is critical to satisfying customers. Holding customer clinics is one approach to set winning targets for the engineering functional measures to drive customer satisfaction. In these clinics, customers are asked to operate and interact with vehicle systems or subsystems such as doors, lift gates, shifters, and seat adjusters, and then rate their experience. From this customer evaluation data, engineers can create customer loss or preference functions. These functions let engineers set appropriate targets by balancing risks and benefits. Statistical methods such as cumulative customer loss function are regularly applied for such analyses. In this paper, a new approach based on the Taguchi method is proposed and developed. It is referred to as Taguchi Customer Loss Function (TCLF). The “Taguchi Quality Loss Function (TQLF)” methodology has been used primarily to improve quality from a manufacturing standpoint, giving engineers a way to understand how
The tire is the vital element in vehicle dynamics, as its contact patch transmits all forces and moments to the ground (accelerating, braking, cornering, rolling).Over the recent decades tire development for passenger cars has been continuously improved and optimized in order to achieve a good overall vehicle performance in R&H that is in balance with all other tire performances (Wear, Durability, NVH, RR, Miles). This general development process has to be suitable for various vehicle types from regular passenger cars over eco-friendly hybrid or electric vehicles to high performance sport cars. The balance between Ride and Handling performance is further adjusted to local customer preferences that are usually distinguished by markets (US, EU, Asia). The tire development process, which is embedded in the overall vehicle development, is usually realized in a mutual collaboration between OEM and tire supplier. This process starts with the definition of tire performance targets, which are
As technology becomes increasingly mobile and information becomes more readily available, consumer demand for immediate answers continues to rise. This demand is coupled with the concurrent growth of health-conscious consumer attitudes. Mobile apps that report traffic delays, artificial intelligence software that listens to and interprets commands, and wearable electronics that track activity and sleeping patterns — these programs are all geared toward consumers who are invested in gaining rapid information that they can use to make everyday decisions
In today’s automotive scenario, noise vibration and harshness (NVH) has become a synonym for quality perception. This paper evaluates the problem of vibration and noise experienced in M2 category 40 seat bus and suggests the counter measures. Severe vibration is experienced on the bus floor, predominantly towards rear part of the bus. Vibration along with acoustic boom occurs prominently in 4th gear wide open throttle operating condition between 1300-1600 rpm of the engine. This paper focuses on reducing NVH levels by working on the transfer path with little modifications on power-train. Preliminary torsional measurements conducted on powertrain indicated high torsional excitation in the driveline during the problematic rpm zone. Further, Operational Deflection Shape (ODS) analysis revealed that the transfer path to the cabin is rear differential unit and suspension links. The dominant frequencies were identified along the transfer path and suitable modifications were done. A reduction
Automotive industry is witnessing a significant growth in the number of Electronic Control Units (ECUs) and its features owing to the focused inclination towards customer preference, comfort, safety, environmental friendliness and governmental regulations. The software components are booming as the pivotal to cater to the technology-driven trends such as diverse mobility, autonomous driving, electrification, and connectivity. This necessitates exhaustive testing to ensure quality of the system as any unpredictable failures may impose severe financial and market risk on the OEM. The industry has largely supplemented Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing to manual testing considering the testing constraints posed by the latter. Automation trends complement the demand for quick yet exhaustive testing prior to the market launch. This paper discusses the level of automation adopted by the industry for efficient testing using HIL systems and focusses on the key challenges associated with the
This recommended practice describes a process for testing the comprehension of static (i.e., fixed or non-dynamic) symbols for all ground vehicles, for both OEM and aftermarket products. With advancing display technology, it is now possible to display dynamic symbols (e.g., a spinning beach ball to show that a process is ongoing, or a diagram showing energy distribution in hybrid vehicles). Such graphics are outside of the scope of this recommended practice, though extensions of this process may be useful for testing them. However, several symbols which occupy the same space on a display may change state without movement (e.g. play/pause button); these are within the scope of this recommended practice. The process described in this recommended practice includes criteria that are used to identify how well the perceived meaning matches the intended meaning for a representative sample of drivers. The data from this process are analyzed to determine the drivers’ comprehension of the symbol
North American customer perception of Quality has changed over time and has shifted from Quality, Dependability, and Reliability (QDR) to Interior Sensory Quality (ISQ). ISQ is defined as the harmony of characteristics that combine to make an emotional connection to the vehicles’ interior. Vehicles need to correctly appeal to customers emotional side through providing class-leading ISQ. Hypotheses for specific interior areas were developed in order to identify key ISQ strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. These hypotheses were then tested at customer clinics held across the country. The key goals were to understand customer judgment of ISQ execution, understand customer ISQ priority, and understand customer preference of detailed component areas
Predictive velocity control can be used to enable efficient driving regarding fuel efficiency and driving time. Commonly, velocity optimization algorithms only take static information, like road slope and curvature, into account and neglect dynamic information, like traffic lights and other traffic participants, although the information is available through sensors or could be made available by vehicle-tovehicle or vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. Thus, static optimization algorithms do not provide optimal solutions in dynamic environments, caused by driver or assistance systems intervention. Because the incorporation of dynamic information increases the complexity of the problem to find an optimal control policy, its use in real-time applications is often prohibited. An algorithm is presented which allows a fast computation of all optimal speed profiles with regard to time and fuel consumption. The algorithm iteratively computes possible velocity profiles of the vehicle from
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