Essais & Simulations n°142

ESSAIS ET MODÉLISATION

ESSAIS ET MODÉLISATION CASE STUDY Simulation Applications Help Shape the Design of Car Audio Systems Building and applying simulation applications improves internal process workflows in developing audio systems for cars that surpass customer and consumer expectations. Today’s luxury car market is entering uncharted territory in its ability to meet customer preferences. Vehicles are designed to offer the ultimate driving and riding experience: massaging seats; heated steering wheels; stylish interiors; roomy cabins; and, of course, electronic entertainment. Over the past decade, the importance of the audio and multimedia system in cars has grown significantly, because the car has become an elemental component of many end consumers’ lifestyles. Research suggests that the car is the number one place where people listen to music, while their expectation is to get the same high-quality listening experience they are accustomed to from their home audio system. However, designing such car audio systems presents some challenges. From a system-engineering point of view, the various hard and soft surfaces that characterize the interior design, providing style and comfort, interfere with sound, as reflections or sound absorption occur. The even bigger challenge, though, is that the consumer expects new applications, new features, and new listening experiences in a car to be released in a similar frequency as that of new features becoming available for smartphones. However, the development cycles for consumer electronics (sometimes not even six months) are much shorter than for a car (five to six years). Harman International, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, uses simulation software and builds applications that improve workflows, speed up product development, and help push the boundaries of what is possible for in-car audio technology. PROVIDING A PERSONALIZED IN-VEHICLE AUDIO EXPERIENCE Every day, consumers spend a lot of time in their cars, commuting to work or driving around in urban areas. For many, the car is not just a means of transportation for getting from point A to B. They want to enjoy their ride to the fullest, getting a sense of freedom, adventure, and even escaping for a moment from their everyday routine. To create this experience, a seamless integration between the consumer’s devices and the vehicle is important, as well as the offered in-vehicle technologies. For instance, the different car displays, applications, and the audio system must work together in harmony. “Today’s consumers are demanding personalized solutions and experiences at home, on the go, and in the car,” says François Malbos, principal engineer for Car Audio at Harman’s Automotive Division. “A luxury vehicle offers more technology, more speakers, and more sophisticated audio capabilities. On compact vehicles, personalized features are more limited, and there might be less technology integrated. The larger and more capable the system is, the more complex and sophisticated it gets, so the interfaces must be simple and intuitive to use but also scalable.” It was not too long ago that a vehicle’s value was measured by its mechanical performance and driving dynamics. With the emerging popularity of shared mobility and in-vehicle technology, value is now being measured by experience-per-mile rather than revolutions-per-minute. With more than seven decades at the forefront of introducing breakthrough developments in the audio industry, Harman is driving this shift to the experiences-permile paradigm, taking a consumer-centric approach in offering personalized audio experiences. One example is Harman’s Virtual Venues technology, which acoustically transports the listener into world-famous music venues — concert halls, stadiums, a cozy jazz club, or a sound studio — by reproducing the sound of this particular venue based on its acoustic fingerprint. Harman’s Premium Communication Solutions, to name another example, leverages the latest advancements in smart audio and acoustical signal processing to personalize the sonic environment and provide clear, frustration-free communication for all vehicle occupants — whether it is with a voice assistant, someone on the other end of a phone call, or between passengers. Enhanced voice command capabilities also increase traffic safety by allowing drivers to keep their eyes on the road and their hands at the wheel when using their telephone or infotainment screens. To balance the broad range of personalized features being built 26 I ESSAIS & SIMULATIONS • N°142 • octobre-novembre-décembre 2020

ESSAIS ET MODÉLISATION Figure 1. Left: Door stiffness analysis. Right: Car cabin simulation for different speaker placements; shown here, a door woofer on the driver’s side. into luxury vehicles, the team of acoustics and simulation experts at Harman accounts for different components, acoustics, and unique configurations early on in the design system process (Figure 1). One way that these engineers “think outside the cabin” is by designing a car around the audio system, not the other way around. This helps the team adapt to customization requests at a moment’s notice. There are also several factors influencing the acoustics of a car cabin; for example, the choice of trim level, which often involves changes in the interior design or different materials being used. The tuning of the system has to compensate for such changes in the design to not compromise the sound quality. Aspects like the stiffness of a car door can change the car’s acoustics, which is also something that the engineers need to factor in. Banc d’essais haute-fréquence pour support moteur Banc de tests permettant de mesurer la raideur dynamique et le facteur de perte de supports élastomères, avec une plage de fréquence allant de 50 Hz à 3 000 Hz, et une précharge pouvant être comprise entre 0 et 5 000 N. Solution clé-en-main bénéficiant de notre expérience en expertise et en conception de banc d’essais. www.ahlersheinel.de © Fraunhofer LBF, Darmstadt m+p international Sarl 5, rue du Chant des Oiseaux 78360 Montesson Tél. : +33 130 157874 sales.fr@mpihome.com www.mpihome.com ESSAIS & SIMULATIONS • N°142 • octobre-novembre-décembre 2020 I27