Designing Audible Safety with Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System for Commercial Vehicles

Abstract

Electric and hybrid vehicles, known for their environmental benefits, also present a unique challenge because of their quiet operation. In urban settings, this lack of noise increases the potential for accidents with pedestrians who rely heavily on auditory cues. In response to this concern, Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) have been introduced and many countries, including the US and EU, have mandated the installation of Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems. These systems produce sounds to alert pedestrians of an approaching vehicle by increasing the audibility of electric and hybrid vehicles to ensure pedestrian safety [1]. In this paper, we dive deep into designing an effective AVAS for commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses. Any AVAS must conform the international regulations such as the ECE-R138 regulation by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and FMVSS 141 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), so our design adheres to guidelines set by key global bodies. This endeavour was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye. Our AVAS not only offers a variety of sound options but also includes self-diagnostic features to ensure its consistent performance. An integral part of our study was the utilization of an ASIL-B functional safety-compliant embedded MCU system to generate and manipulate psychoacoustic sounds. The regulations regarding the acoustic characteristics of AVAS sounds, such as minimum sound level, frequency spectrum, and frequency shift, have been instrumental in improving awareness of the AVAS sounds of quiet vehicles[2]. The ultimate aim is to showcase a versatile, compliant, and efficient AVAS, beneficial for the future landscape of electric and hybrid commercial vehicles