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A master's thesis from Aalborg University
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Detection and Ratings of Automative Impulsive Events

Author

Term

4. term

Publication year

2012

Submitted on

Pages

87

Abstract

Korte, pludselige lyde (impulser) kan virke irriterende i produkter, og ingeniører arbejder derfor på at opdage og begrænse dem for at forbedre lydkvaliteten, som er en del af den samlede produktkvalitet. I bilindustrien håndteres dette ofte inden for NVH (støj, vibrationer og hårdhed), hvor man forsøger at finde og fjerne Buzz, Squeak og Rattle (BSR) – summen, knirken og raslen. Mange automatiske metoder bruger tærskler, der er bundet til et absolut lydniveau, som ofte er fastsat ud fra subjektive vurderinger eller manuelt. I dette projekt afprøves en algoritme, der beregner, hvor impulsiv en lyd er, uden at afhænge af den samlede lydstyrke eller et forud fastsat niveau. Syntetisk genererede lydprøver bestående af impulser blandet med støj blev både analyseret af algoritmen og bedømt af forsøgspersoner i en lytteprøve. Litteraturen beskriver ikke tilsvarende subjektive undersøgelser med disse parametre, hvilket motiverede studiet. Målet var at se, om der var sammenhæng mellem de objektive algoritmemål og menneskers vurderinger. Der blev ikke fundet en signifikant korrelation. Fremtidigt arbejde omfatter at justere algoritmens indstillinger for at undersøge, om en bedre overensstemmelse med lytternes vurderinger kan opnås.

Sudden, short sounds (impulses) can be annoying in products, so engineers work to detect and reduce them to improve sound quality, which is part of overall product quality. In vehicles, this is addressed in NVH engineering (noise, vibration, and harshness), where teams aim to detect and eliminate Buzz, Squeak, and Rattle (BSR). Many automated methods use detection thresholds tied to an absolute sound level, often set by subjective judgment or manually. This project tests an algorithm that estimates how impulsive a sound is without relying on overall loudness or a preset absolute level. Synthetic audio samples—impulses mixed with noise—were analyzed by the algorithm and also rated by listeners in a subjective test. Because similar subjective studies with these parameters are not described in the literature, this scenario was explored. The goal was to determine whether the algorithm’s objective scores align with human perception. No significant correlation was found. Future work will tune the algorithm’s settings to see if closer agreement with listener ratings can be achieved.

[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]