US-12626547-B2 - Method of generating virtual tire slip sound in vehicle

US12626547B2US 12626547 B2US12626547 B2US 12626547B2US-12626547-B2

Abstract

A method of generating a tire slip sound is capable of producing a virtual tire slip sound in a driving situation in which tire slip may occur during vehicle driving. The method includes collecting vehicle driving information while a vehicle is traveling; determining a characteristic of a virtual tire slip sound based on the collected vehicle driving information; generating and outputting a tire slip signal for generating and outputting the virtual tire slip sound according to the determined characteristic; and operating sound equipment of the vehicle according to the tire slip signal output from the controller to generate and output the virtual tire slip sound according to a vehicle driving state.

Inventors

Ki Chang Kim
Jin Sung Lee
Dong Chul Park
Tae Kun Yun
Sang Jin Hong

Assignees

HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
KIA CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240628
Priority Date: 20201231

Claims (10)

1 . A method of generating a virtual tire slip sound in a vehicle, the method comprising: collecting, by a controller, vehicle driving information while the vehicle is traveling; determining, by the controller, a characteristic of the virtual tire slip sound based on the collected vehicle driving information; generating and outputting, by the controller, a tire slip signal for generating and outputting the virtual tire slip sound according to the determined characteristic; operating sound equipment of the vehicle according to the tire slip signal output from the controller to generate and output the virtual tire slip sound according to a vehicle driving state; and correcting, by a sound generator, a sound volume or a sound pitch of a reference sound source of the virtual tire slip sound using the tire slip signal output from the controller and then processing the corrected reference sound source to generate and output a sound signal, wherein the controller determines the characteristic of the virtual tire slip sound for each wheel of the vehicle, generates and outputs the tire slip signal for each wheel according to the determined characteristic of the virtual tire slip sound for each wheel, and operates the sound equipment to output the virtual tire slip sound for each wheel through a speaker, provided in a direction in which each wheel is located, according to the tire slip signal for each wheel, and wherein, as a value of a slip angle of the each wheel becomes larger, the sound volume and the sound pitch of the virtual tire slip sound are set to larger values.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle driving information includes a steering wheel angle according to a steering wheel operation of a driver, and the slip angle and a slip rate of a wheel.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein in determining the characteristic of the virtual tire slip sound, the controller determines a lateral tire force and a longitudinal tire force of the wheel from the slip angle and the slip rate of the wheel of the vehicle driving information and determines the characteristic of the virtual tire slip sound using vehicle driving information further including the determined lateral tire force and the longitudinal tire force.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the characteristic of the virtual tire slip sound includes a sound generation timing at which the virtual tire slip sound is output through the sound equipment.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the controller determines a timing, at which a condition in which the detected steering wheel angle is greater than or equal to a preset reference angle is satisfied and a condition in which both of the determined lateral tire force and the determined longitudinal tire force are greater than or equal to a preset reference value is satisfied, as the sound generation timing.
6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the characteristic of the virtual tire slip sound further includes at least one of the sound volume of the virtual tire slip sound or the sound pitch indicating a height of the virtual tire slip sound.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein in the controller, the sound volume and the sound pitch of the virtual tire slip sound are determined as values according to the determined lateral tire force by setting data in which a correlation between the lateral tire force and the sound volume is set in advance, and setting data in which a correlation between the lateral tire force and the sound pitch is set in advance.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein in setting the data, as a value of the lateral tire force becomes larger, the sound volume and the sound pitch of the virtual tire slip sound are set to larger values.
9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein in the controller, the sound volume and the sound pitch of the virtual tire slip sound are determined as values according to the determined slip angle of the wheel by setting data in which a correlation between the slip angle of the wheel and the volume is set in advance, and setting data in which a correlation between the slip angle of the wheel and the sound pitch is set in advance.
10 . The method of claim 3 , wherein: the vehicle driving information further includes a pressure and a temperature of a tire of the wheel; and the controller corrects the characteristic of the virtual tire slip sound, which is determined using the vehicle driving information further including the lateral tire force and the longitudinal tire force, based on tire pressure and temperature information of the vehicle, and generates the tire slip signal using the corrected characteristic of the virtual tire slip sound.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/411,518, filed on Aug. 25, 2021, which claims under 35 U.S.C. § 119 (a) the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0189483 filed on Dec. 31, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND (a) Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a method of generating a tire slip sound, which is capable of producing a virtual tire slip sound in a vehicle in a driving situation in which tire slip may occur during vehicle driving. (b) Description of the Related Art As is known, an electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that utilizes a motor as a power source. A drive system of the EV includes a battery configured to supply electric power for driving the motor, an inverter connected to the battery and configured to drive and control the motor, the motor connected to the battery through the inverter and configured to charge or discharge the battery as a vehicle driving source, and a reduction gear configured to reduce a rotating force of the motor and transmit the reduced rotating force to a driving wheel. In particular, when the motor is driven, the inverter serves to convert a direct current (DC) supplied from the battery into an alternating current (AC) and apply the AC current to the motor through a power cable, and when the motor is regenerated, the inverter serves to convert an AC current generated by the motor into a DC current and then supply the DC current to the battery, thereby charging the battery. Unlike an existing internal combustion engine vehicle, in a conventional EV, a multi-stage transmission is not used, and in place of the multi-stage transmission, a reduction gear using a fixed gear ratio is disposed between the motor and the driving wheel. This is because, unlike the internal combustion engine which has a wide range of an energy efficiency distribution according to an operating point and is capable of providing a high torque in only a high-speed range, the motor has a relatively small difference in efficiency with respect to an operating point, and it is possible to implement a low speed and high torque with only a characteristic of the motor alone. In addition, in a vehicle equipped with the existing internal combustion engine drive system, an acceleration mechanism such as a torque converter or a clutch is required due to a characteristic of the internal combustion engine which cannot be driven at a low speed, but in a driving system of the EV, since the motor has a characteristic of being easily driven at a low speed, an acceleration mechanism may be omitted. In the EV, due to the characteristic of the driving system, an inherent vibration characteristic generated due to a torsional damper or a dual mass flywheel, which is used in the driving system of the internal combustion engine vehicle, cannot occur. As a result of these mechanical differences, unlike the internal combustion engine vehicle, the EV can provide smooth driving without interruption in driving ability due to gear shift. Since the driving system of the EV generates power by driving the motor with electric power of the battery instead of generating electric power by burning fuel like the conventional internal combustion engine vehicle, unlike a torque of an internal combustion engine, a torque of the EV has a characteristic which is generally precise and smooth and has fast reactivity. Such a characteristic acts as a positive aspect of the EV. However, the absence of an internal combustion engine, a transmission, and a clutch may produce boredom in a driver who is desirous of driving fun. In the case of a high-performance vehicle field, various effects generated due to noise, physical vibration, and thermodynamic actions of the internal combustion engine may be considered important emotionally. One among components which are difficult to provide in the EV due to its characteristic is a sound generated when a high-performance vehicle is traveling. For example, there is a tire slip sound that may frequently occur during driving due to a driving characteristic in the high-performance vehicle. Thus, there is a need for a method of producing a virtual tire slip sound in an EV to allow a driver to feel as if the driver is driving a high-performance internal combustion engine vehicle. SUMMARY In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of generating a tire slip sound in a vehicle, which is capable of producing a virtual tire slip sound in a driving situation in which a tire slip may occur during vehicle driving. Objectives of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described objectives, and other objectives of the present disclosure, which are not mentioned, can be understood by the following description and also will be apparently understood through embodiments of the present disclosure. Further, the objectives of the present disclosure can be implement