Theory Behind a Novel Method for the Quantification of Subjective Ride Comfort Phenomena

In the automotive development process objective criteria are commonly used to evaluate the full vehicle ride comfort of vehicles. Based on these characteristics, vehicle concepts can be evaluated and compared at an early stage without using physical prototypes. Usually, these characteristics are determined in subjective studies using real vehicles. However, limitations in the implementation of vehicle variants, the controllability of external influences and longer intervals between the individual assessments have a negative impact on the quality of results using these approaches. Therefore, this paper presents an improved method to transfer the subjective perception and evaluation of ride comfort phenomena to objective characteristics. The corresponding procedure is shown on the basis of a one-dimensional, periodic phenomenon that is transferred to a frequency-dependent weighting function. In this process, a 6-degree of freedom driving simulator is used to overcome the limitations given by the use of real vehicles. A set of signals is generated, which differ in frequency and amplitude within the expected range of the investigated phenomenon. In the study, participants compare signals in pairs and evaluate which of the signals triggers a stronger perception of the analyzed subjective phenomenon. The resulting decisions are processed using the Elo rating method. The Elo scores are then grouped using the k-means algorithm and converted into weighting functions. This generally applicable method enables the derivation of high-resolution evaluation curves for subjective ride comfort phenomena in the frequency domain. Using the driving simulator increases the precision and robustness due to controlled test conditions. By consistently applying the results of this method in the development process, the number of prototypes for subjective evaluation can be reduced and thus resources can be saved.