In The News

Bose Branches Out From Acoustics

Premier audio manufacturer Bose has turned to a new product line of prime interest to truckers, though it has nothing to do with stirring sounds: Bose's new offering is a super seat suspension.

At first sight it's a curious diversification for the company famous for loudspeakers, but the seat suspension technology draws heavily on the basic mathematics and design talent that have made noise cancelling headphones such a must-have product for frequent flyers. Think of the seat suspension as a vibration-cancelling technology.

Instead of the usual air spring and shock absorber of the conventional air-ride suspension seat, the Bose Ride System uses a super-fast acting, active electromechanical actuator to cancel out the vibrations that find their way to a truck driver even when a suspension seat is specified.

Specifically, Bose has identified and all but eliminated the vibrations frequencies that excite sympathetic vibrations in the human body. They are in the region of one to 30 cycles per second (Hz) and are responsible for some unpleasant whole-body vibrations that cause discomfort, fatigue and even loss of cognitive recognition. Particularly distressing vibrations are at around 4Hz where the body's main organs reverberate, causing that familiar discomfort in stomach, liver and kidneys and much of the flabby tissue. Again, at 20Hz, the vibration excites the eyes, causing a recently discovered phenomenon where the loss of a continual steady image causes the brain to reconstruct the image many times a second, failing to recognize changes in the image that a steady image easily registers. Most drivers - and managers - do not even know this effect exists except that they may not recognize or read road signs or changing traffic patterns as readily as they could if they were not being subjected to these vibrations.

Also identified as problems from whole body vibration are back problems and stiff, sore necks from having to support the head as the body is pitched around by these relatively low-frequency but large-amplitude vibrations.

The end result is more comfortable, less fatigued and healthier drivers, says Bose Chief Engineer Mike Rosen.

The Common Thread

But those wins don't come easy. Principal Engineer Jim Parison has been working on the project for 15 years and has drawn heavily on the extensive research and development resources of Bose, resources that have brought products used by auto manufacturers and the military as well as those noise cancelling headsets and the top-quality audio components. As Parison says, the common thread is the same basic math that underlines the R&D of the very different products.

The Bose Ride System uses extremely fast-acting actuator technology, driven by a computer with a microprocessor of similar power to an engine ECU's. To act fast and react to a driver who may be 350 pounds, the system draws a large power of 3500 Watts (around 50 hp) but the innovative design uses the actuator as both a forcing device and as a regenerative generator which, with some energy storage built into the assembly means most of this energy stays within the seat base. The actual current draw in most circumstances is only around 4 amps or about the same as a 50-Watt light bulb.

The system recognizes incoming inputs then acts very quickly - less than 1,000th of a second - to cancel out the frequencies just above 1Hz up to 30Hz while lower frequencies - which follow the profile of the road as it slowly rises and falls - are still fed to the driver in seat motion. The result is that only a fraction of the vibration spectrum from one to 30Hz - about 10 percent - finds its way through to the seat and the driver.

The system has been refined and packaged down so that the components - including an air spring that supports the driver's weight and provides an air-spring fallback if the system should fail or lose power - all fit within the seat skirt. The seat base and seat assembly bolts up to the standard floor mountings. The seat looks extremely comfortable and stylish and is supplied by a conventional truck-seat manufacturer, though Bose doesn't say who. Switches are mounted to the seat which features all the premium features including armrests.

Put to the Test

In a demonstration at the Bose headquarters in Framingham, Mass., the seat proved very effective in side-by-side comparisons on a vibration rig. The washboard-type road input could be distinctly felt in the air seat, and holding out an arm as one would to, for instance, adjust the radio, showed that familiar inability to control the motion of the hand and fingers. In the Bose Ride System seat, though, one could barely feel the significant vibration, and it all seemed supremely smooth until your hands were back on the steering wheel, when the extent of the vibration could be experienced and understood.

In fleet testing, some 77 drivers have experienced the Bose Ride System for four months or more at a stretch, and overwhelmingly they preferred the seat. Only 16 percent said they didn't like the seat, half of these being "low-rider" drivers who like to dump the air and lower the seat to the floor for the cool look. Only about 8 percent had real complaints about the motion of the seat with 84 percent strongly in favor of it.

In driver interviews shown at the launch, drivers spoke of being much less fatigued at the wheel. This lower fatigue and back pain symptoms were noticed when driving the truck and toward the end of a shift when drivers said they still felt fresh and less prone to making mistakes. Significantly, many said that at the end of a trip, where previously they needed a day or so to recover, they were ready to deal with family and round-the-house chores much more readily.

A Ballpark Figure

The seat assembly will undoubtedly be premium priced. Mike Rosen said that compared to a conventional air seat, there was at least 10 times the component content but indicated that the premium would be nothing of the same order. Pricing, especially in the early days of the product introduction would be highly negotiable depending on the partnerships established in introducing the seat assembly to the market. Distribution would be direct from Bose in the early stages, so fleet customers would have to order trucks without seats and fit either at the dealer, a certified installer or in the fleet shop using suitably trained technicians. There's nothing particularly difficult in the installation as it uses the standard air and 12-volt supply of a conventional seat. However, since the seat belts are involved in the install there are safety concerns that have to be addressed by qualified installers.

When pressed for at least a ballpark figure for the price, Rosen said it would be well under $10,000 and they were working with fleets to establish pricing. Bose believes there is a strong business case for the seat, but says it will take a leap of faith on the part of a fleet to establish realistic return-on-investment numbers.

Perhaps now is not the time, with drivers hanging on to jobs. But when the driver shortage returns with improving business - as it inevitably must - this might be just the ticket to hold on to the good drivers. Even at $10,000 if the seat can save two driver turns because of comfort or health benefits it could easily pay for itself. And if a driver avoids a fatigue accident, the price is almost irrelevant.

It will take a leap of faith, but fleets can know one thing for sure. The quality for which Bose is known is built into the seats and the million-mile, maintenance-free durability and reliability should be beyond question.

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