The eVADER project has developed a prototype of an intelligent alert system for electric and hybrid cars. This system detects pedestrians and other vulnerable road users at risk of collision and directs a warning sound specifically at them.
The sound is optimised to be clearly audible to the targeted individuals, but barely perceptible to other road users. “We only warn the person in danger,” says project coordinator Juan J. García of Applus IDIADA in Spain.
The optimal sound volume is determined for each warning and depends on the level of background noise, ensuring that the alert is loud enough, but no louder than it needs to be. The timbre of the sound was optimised for the best possible compromise between high detectability and low noise pollution.
