technology for enjoyment the art of...

Ford Technology Newsbrief 04-2010

Ford has introduced a powerful 265 watt premium in-car entertainment system on new S-MAX and Galaxy which delivers exceptional sound quality right across the acoustic spectrum. It’s one of a raft of new Ford technologies coming on stream in 2010 and this is the story of its development

The art of noise

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) – “Four Seasons” (Concerto No. 2, “Summer”, 3rd movement, Presto) : “You can pick out the positioning of each instrument. It really does feel as if you are there”

Feel the difference

TECHNOLOGY FOR ENJOYMENT

Premium Sound System · Blind Spot Information System · Quickclear

2 Ford Technology Newsbrief 04-2010

Premium Sound System

The GoalFord wAS determiNed to rAiSe the quAlity bAr with its new premium in-car entertainment system so the development work was carried out in-house at the company’s engineering facility in Merkenich, Germany.

A 120-strong team of electrical experts, led by Alan Norton, was tasked with delivering a product which will enhance several future generation Fords, starting with the 2010 Galaxy and S-MAX.

The team’s target was to create a mobile audio file hi-fi listening room capable of delivering exceptionally clear, consistent sound with zero distortion, even at volume.

“To really enjoy music inside a car you need it to be loud but loud enough in a way that it isn’t actually straining,” says Norton. “Our objective here was effortless sound. We weren’t aiming for a bass-breaking street set-up. The goal was to produce a system which delivers real, true reproduction of sound.”

PrePArAtioNCar interiors are an acoustic engineer’s night-mare. Shiny surfaces such as glass, instrument panels and leather trim reflect sound waves whereas soft materials such as fabric and carpets absorb them.

Before the team could start work on the new Ford Premium Sound System, they first had to capture an acoustic fingerprint of the new S-MAX and Galaxy interiors. To do this they used an ultra sensitive measuring device – a dummy called Hermina!

“I incorrectly called her Herman until someone pointed out she was probably a she and not a he so now we call her Hermina instead,” says Norton. “She’s a bit like a crash-test dummy but more acoustically representative. We can place her anywhere inside the vehicle.”

Hermina’s reproduction ‘ears’ house a myriad of microphones which accurately measure sound levels and the direction that the sound comes

from. This data is then fed into a computer and analysed using Ford software to create an audio response profile.

“We can place Hermina in any vehicle and get an acoustic fingerprint of that car, adds Norton. “Once we have the profile we can fine-tune the audio system to make up for any acoustic short-comings in a particular vehicle.”

ComPoNeNtSFord’s new premium in-car entertainment system features up to 13 speakers depending on the vehicle (11 in the new S-MAX for instance) and a nine channel digital amplifier, but not all the components are new. Rather than start from scratch, Norton’s team first looked at existing Ford products around the world to find the best possible parts.

The team retained Sony-made door speakers from the S-MAX and Galaxy, custom-designed a 17-litre housing for a sub-woofer sourced from the US and then utilized cutting-edge digital technology to achieve optimal sound quality.

There’s a Sony tweeter and woofer in each corner of the vehicle, the all important floor-mounted subwoofer and, for the first time, two additional speakers mounted in the centre of the dashboard. A powerful amplifier with Digital Signal Processing (DSP) drives the speakers and the system is controlled through Ford’s high-end, touch-screen navigation system.

Alan Norton (standing left) and some colleagues of the Ford Soundlab team in merkenich: Create a mobile hi-fi listening room capable of delivering exceptionally clear, consistent sound with zero distortion

Getting acoustic fingerprints of S-mAX and Galaxy: “Incorrectly called her Herman”



Configuration/ Performance data: • 8 channels amplifier with an overall output power of 265 Watt

• 2 x 25 Watt front tweeter channel• 2 x 25 Watt front woofer channel• 1 x 25 Watt center channel• 2 x 25 Watt rear channels (tweeter and woofer combined)• 1 x 90 Watt subwoofer

• subwoofer (under left front seat) • Ford Touchscreen DVD Navigation system with external power

amplifier (no diversity antenna)

Description:

Premium Sound System delivers High-Fidelity sound performance based on an 8 channels amplifier, speaker upgrade and subwoofer system.

Marketing information:

• Premium Sound System will be launched with CD340 MCA and is available in combination with Sony CD Radio and Ford Touchscreen DVD Navigation system

• A lot of competitor offer similar system in the C- and CD non premium segment.

Front rightFron

t lef

tR

ear l

eft R

ear right

Centre speaker


Setting up sound equipment; analyzing the acoustic fingerprint data: “DSP allows us mathematically to modify sound so fast, you don’t know it is happening.”

• 8 channels amplifier with an overall output power of 265 Watt

• 2 x 25 Watt front tweeter channel

• 2 x 25 Watt front woofer channel

• 1 x 25 Watt center channel

• 2 x 25 Watt rear channels (tweeter and woofer combined)

• 1 x 90 Watt subwoofer

• subwoofer (under left front seat)

• Ford Touchscreen DVD Navigation system with external power amplifier (no diversity antenna)


“The main visual difference you notice when you get into the car is the centre mounted speaker on the dashboard, which is actually two speakers,” says Norton. “These are very important because they allow us to create a sound stage but we also need digital signal processing to do this.

“In the old days we had analogue amplifiers, but with our new DSP system we actually break the signal into digital components. We can control the time it takes between the music originally being played and when it meets your ear. We are talking milliseconds. We can bring depth to the sound and also change the position of things relative to each other to make it three dimensional. DSP allows us mathematically to modify sound so fast, you don’t know it is happening.”

PACkAGiNGA key feature of the new entertainment system is its massive sub-woofer, which delivers sounds so low you can feel them without hearing them. The subwoofer fitted to new Galaxy and S-MAX is housed in a 17-litre enclosure squeezed into the car without compromising passenger or luggage space. That was a challenge to the team.

“The sub-woofer is integral to this system,” explains Norton. “It’s the first time we’ve used a sub of this size in a European Ford model and you can’t just stick it anywhere. In a car,the speakers are typically mounted in the door and you can only put so much energy into them before the door starts to shake and vibrate.”

To get round this problem, Norton and his team shoehorned the sub-woofer into a cavity beneath the left front seat. It’s a neat solution which doesn’t impact on passenger leg room.

“The sub-woofer isn’t there to make you shake,” adds Norton. “By having the sub in the floor in a nice solid position with the carpet surrounding it, we can generate very low frequencies without causing any side effects or vibrations.

Finding space for the digital amplifier also caused considerable head scratching. “We man-aged to tuck it away just above your knees in the front,” says Norton. “Like the sub-woofer, you can’t see it, but it is there and it’s doing a very important job.”



Feel the differenceThe Premium Sound System in the new S-MAX and Galaxy is the first of its kind to be created in-house by Ford and has resulted from,thousands of hours of meticulous and painstak-ing development work. It has been tested in temperatures ranging from - 40 to + 80 degrees centigrade and is the most powerful audio product ever fitted to a Ford of Europe vehicle.

To demonstrate the system’s capability and grinning like any hi-fi enthusiast, Norton inserts his favourite CD containing eight specially selected tracks. There’s Vivaldi’s 3rd movement of summer, a live version of The Eagles’ classic “Hotel Califor-nia”, Jennifer Warnes’ “The Hunter”, a drum solo, a barber-shop song, some jazz and two blues numbers.

“Of course you wouldn’t do this if you were driving, but just close your eyes,” he suggests. “You really get the impression you are standing near the stage. When Hotel California starts, you can hear the skins on the drums resonating. It makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. That’s when I knew we had got there.

“With Vivaldi’s 3rd, you can pick out the positioning of each instrument. The objective was to get a system which is like sitting in a concert hall, as if you were at a concert and yes, I think we’ve achieved that. It really does feel as if you are there.”

SPeAkerS eXPlAiNedThere are three types of speaker in the S-MAX and Galaxy Premium Sound System – tweeters, woofers and the subwoof-er. Tweeters handle high frequency sounds and high tones, such as the squeakiness of a woman’s voice, the ting of a triangle or the tizz of a cymbal. Woofers are basically bass speakers. Rather like a bass drum, they produce the low tones you can often feel as well as hear, from a rhythm guitar for instance. The subwoofer takes care of very low frequency sounds which you don’t necessarily hear immediately but you can feel.

“The engineering challenge is to make all three of these speakers work together efficiently,” says Norton. “One of the test pieces we use is a piano being played right from the bottom to top note. It’s a whole scale. You’ve got it right if you can play from the lowest note right up to the top and it all comes out at the same loudness. If it goes up and down getting louder and quieter, then there are misbalances between the three speakers and when you play it won’t sound like the real thing. Get the right balance though and you will get a good sound.”

Father of four, Alan Norton joined Ford Motor Company in 1990, but cut his electrical engineering teeth as a teenager working on a radio station in London.

Today, when he’s not at work in Ford’s Merkenich Technical Centre near Cologne, Norton enjoys playing and listening to music and renovating properties.

Here are 10 more facts about the man:

First record bought? “Probably something like Status Quo’s ‘Rocking All Over The World’”!

First gig or concert? “I think it may have been Barclay James Harvest. It was a long time ago.”

Last gig or concert? “Haydn’s Creation Symphony”

First car? “An orange MK 2 Escort.”

Current car? “A new Ford Galaxy.”

Dream Car? “An Aston Martin DB9.”

Music currently in car? “It’s on my hard drive. There’s a good mix of classical and rock. Genesis, a lot of Pink Floyd, some jamming stuff too.”

Favourite piece of music? “Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’. I can play it on the guitar. I’m learning it on the piano at the moment.”

Instruments played? “I’ve got two acoustic guitars, a grand piano and an electric bass. I can amuse myself and one or two other people with them!”

Centre mounted speaker housing two speakers: “These are very important because they allow us to create a sound stage”

Subwoofer under the left front-seat: “You can’t see it, but it is there and it’s doing a very important job”

Alan Norton – European upper body electronics and global HMI manager


Blind Spot Information System

At the core of the system are two sophisticated multi-beam radars hidden in each outer corner of the rear bumper.

As soon as the vehicle reaches 6 mph (around 10km/h) or more, these radars automatically activate and monitor the blind spot zone on each side of the vehicle. This zone extends from the wing mirror back, to around three metres behind the rear bumper, and crossways about three metres beyond either side of the car.

If a vehicle enters this blind spot zone the radar illumi-nates an LED indicator light on the relevant side view mirror to warn the driver. Because Ford’s Blind Spot Information System operates at low speeds it is particularly effective in congested urban conditions and stop-start driving on busy motorways where many collisions occur.

How it works …

Ford iS uSiNG AdVANCed rAdAr teChNoloGy to make overtaking and lane-changing safer in its vehicles, with a new feature called Blind Spot Information System. It’s available in the new Galaxy and S-MAX and is a first for Ford of Europe.

This high-tech safety device detects vehicles hidden in a driver’s blind spot and alerts them by illuminating an LED warning light on the side view door mirror.

“In busy traffic, it’s very easy to lose sight of vehicles when they move into your blind spot,” explains Dr Torsten Wey, Ford’s driver assistance technologies supervisor. “With its highly visible warning light, this system warns a driver to think twice before switching lanes or changing direction without checking their blind spot, hopefully helping to prevent a collision or a near miss.”

The new 2010 Ford S-MAX and Galaxy are the first Ford models to feature the Blind Spot Information System, but the technology will also appear in other future Ford vehicles including the next-generation Ford C-MAX and Focus.

Blind Spot Information System solves blind spot problem

radar-observed blind spot zone: Extends from the door mirror to around three metres behind the rear bumper

TECHNOLOGY FOR SAFETY


Quickclear

thAt it wAS tweNty-FiVe yeArS AGo Ford first introduced its unique ‘Quickclear’ windscreen technology in Europe, making frosty starts a far simpler task for its customers.

Quickclear was first seen on the Ford Scorpio and is now available on almost all of the company’s European models.

The system uses a mesh of very thin heating wires embedded between two layers of windscreen glass and offers rapid de-fogging and de-icing at the press of a button, without compromising visibility.

It is amazingly simple, easy to operate and much appreciated by Ford customers everywhere!

(Quickclear is not available on Ford Ranger.)

Technology: Did you know?

COMING NEXT MONTH

Ford Speed Limiter technology explained

Focus on LED interior and exterior lighting

How Shift Indicator can save you money

Ford Technology Newsbrief04-2010

Published by Ford of europe, Communications and Public Affairs · Contact: Don Hume, [email protected]

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