Design of Acoustical Vehicle Alerting System for Trucks (DAVAST)

Important results from the project

** Denna text är maskinöversatt ** In order to assess road safety for unprotected road users, the DAVAST project has investigated how well vehicles with electric and combustion engines are heard at low speeds, which there are few studies about when it comes to trucks. The goal was to investigate how well and at what distances people perceive approaching vehicles, as well as the ability to classify the sounds as recordings from heavy vehicles and cars respectively.

Expected long term effects

** Denna text är maskinöversatt ** The results show differences when trucks are detected if they are powered by electricity or have a combustion engine. There are big and significant differences when trucks are detected if they are powered by electricity or have a combustion engine. The electric trucks are only detected when they are closer to the listener and in the area where the driver does not have time to react and stop the truck, but trucks with combustion engines are heard earlier outside the safety margin. Passenger cars are usually perceived within the safety margin.

Approach and implementation

** Denna text är maskinöversatt ** The project has carried out recordings of various vehicle sounds and sounds from urban environments. From the recordings, listening tests have been designed and 51 people have performed these. The listening test mixes city noise and vehicle noise to create realistic scenarios. The analysis is based on whether the vehicles are detected and classified outside the necessary safety distance, i.e. a longer distance than it takes for drivers to react and brake the vehicles to a standstill.