Characterization and Development of the Ideal Pedal Force, Pedal Travel, and Response Time in the Brake System for the Translation of the Voice of the Customer to Engineering Specifications

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that braking is one of the most important factors in customer satisfaction and a key factor in the voice of the customer (VOC). The VOC has to be translated into engineering specifications in due course and various methods have been developed. Current engineering specifications utilize only a few discrete points on the pedal force (PF), pedal travel (PT), and response time (RT) curves owing to the multi-dimensional nature of these curves, and thus may not represent the entire curves well. Principal component analysis (PCA) is applied in order to analyse the entire shapes of the three curves and to identify the underlying variation modes. Then, buyer satisfaction scores from a mail survey are regressed on the variation modes. Finally, the ideal shapes of the PF, PT, and RT curves are developed for the sport segment, the coupé and sedan segment, and the truck segment to aid new brake system and vehicle design. Translating the VOC from marketing research into engineering specifications is a critical step and PCA is a valuable tool for this translation.