With the advent of electric vehicles, you might think that the problem of noise pollution would disappear.
In fact, 80% of the noise produced by cars is generated by contact with the road and, if the road surface is deteriorated, noise pollution increases exponentially both inside and outside the vehicle. Starting from this data, Thomas Antoine, Expert Leader Noise & Vibration Technology at Groupe Renault, developed the Apache program, an innovative initiative that aims to map the state of the roads to indicate the sections that need resurfacing. This intervention has benefits not only in terms of reducing noise pollution, but also in the economic and public health fields.
Thomas Antoine, Head of Noise & Vibration Technology at Renault since 2018, he is convinced that noise pollution is a major social and environmental problem. The data speaks for itself: according to the World Health Organization, 20 million Europeans complain about noise and 8 million suffer from sleep disorders. The French agency for ecological transition Ademe estimates the social cost of road noise in Europe at 80 billion euros per year.
“The Apache Sensor demonstrates all our inventiveness. The problem of environmental noise is not just a question of the type of car or tyres, but of the interaction of the vehicle with its surroundings”, says Thomas Antoine. To combat noise inside vehicles, car manufacturers use technologies such as active noise control, already used in the Scenic E-Tech Electric model. Acoustic sensors positioned around the vehicle “listen” to the road and perceive variations in noise. When the noise increases, the sensors propagate a sound wave into the passenger compartment to dampen the acoustic spectrum, making the journey more pleasant. However, Renault has decided to go further with this technology.
The Apache Programan acronym for Auscultation du Profil Acoustique des Chaussées et de leur Efficacité énergétique (Auscultation of the Acoustic Profile of the Road Surface and its Energy Efficiency), was born from the idea of using signals generated by active noise control sensors to map the state of the roads. Apache analyses the road like the needle on a record player, making it possible to create detailed maps of the acoustic state of the road network. This data is processed to precisely identify degraded and noisy areas. “It’s a technology that not only improves the acoustics inside vehicles, but also allows local authorities to make informed decisions about road resurfacing, depending on their available budgets,” explains Antoine.
To create more complete maps, Antoine collaborated with Fadila Hrird, a geomatics expert and student at the University CY Cergy Paris. Fadila uses a custom program to create maps that integrate multiple layers of information, such as proximity to sensitive locations (schools, hospitals, retirement homes) to determine the impact of roads on residents.
“Thanks to the sensors, we collect an incredible amount of data, but it is essential to transform it into useful information. The maps must be correlated with road use, and this is where the partnership with Bruitparif is crucial,” explains Hrird. Bruitparif, the Noise Observatory of the Île de France region, provided crucial data on traffic and noise, helping to test the program in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines area. Today, the program has expanded to the whole of Île de France, with around thirty Apache-equipped vehicles driving the region’s roads. Several municipalities in France and beyond have expressed interest in the program, which has been awarded the Decibel d’or by the Conseil National du Bruit.
Antoine and Hrird’s analyses have confirmed a direct correlation between noise and CO2 emissions or the range of electric vehicles. Apache can accurately determine the environmental costs and benefits of road resurfacing by calculating the savings in emissions. It has been estimated that 1 euro invested in roads results in a saving of 17-20 euros in the social cost of noise. For example, resurfacing the Paris ring road, the busiest road in Europe, could reduce noise levels by a factor of four and save 16,000 tons of CO2 per year.
This project represents a turning point for Renault, creating new value chains and demonstrating that technology can offer tangible solutions to environmental problems. Part of a new generation of engineers, Hrird is looking forward to further applications of AI to continually improve projects like Apache.
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