Charting the Electronics Path
Here's a look at how changes in electronics are affecting vehicles.
by Kami Buchholz, Detroit Editor
DaimlerChrysler's electronic draw-bar demonstration.
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Automotive electronics power advanced vehicles, process driver commands, permit in-vehicle entertainment, and protect occupants. The electronics application list touches virtually every aspect of a vehicle, and as such, electronics are ushering in a new generation of data-processing automobiles.
This year, General Motors' electric vehicle EV1 became an even more energy-efficient production vehicle via electronic upgrades. "The first generation has three interconnected boxes in the power electronics bay. Up-integration permitted locating everything in one new (aluminum) box that's significantly smaller, lighter, and less expensive," explains Peter Savagian, Chief Engineer for GM Advanced Technology Vehicles' traction and thermal systems.
Electronic circuits (formally in an accessory power module) and a power steering control module now join the main power electronics bay. Another change puts field orientation control electronics as a replacement to the previous analog hardware. The bias control assembly — electronic circuits translating vehicle information into motor control signals — uses half the previous circuit board space as many discrete components were combined and replaced by a microprocessor and a digital signal processor. "All together we trimmed 14.6 kg (30 lb) of mass, and we were able to position more circuits within a smaller power electronics bay thanks to up-integration aided by the rapid advancement of electronics technology during the past two years," notes Savagian. The second-generation power electronics bay is half the cost, half the size, and has one-third fewer parts than the first generation. Work is under way on the third-generation power electronics bay.
Rapid advances in electronics integration receive a major boost from new software programs. "The use of design and test simulation in electronics enables a development program to unfold much faster — days or weeks, rather than months or years. And there's a tremendous cost savings because they (designers/engineers) can get it right early in the development cycle," says Dennis Virag, President of Ann Arbor, MI-based Automotive Consulting Group, Inc., strategic consultants to suppliers and automakers including Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and GM.
Analogy, Inc. of Beaverton, OR, recently unveiled the auto industry's first multi-language software design tool. VeriasHDL combines analog, digital, mechanical, and hydraulic analyses in developing and testing mechatronic (combination of mechanical and electric/electronic components) systems. VeriasHDL is the first simulator for the new Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standard VHDL-AMS language. And VeriasHDL is the first single-kernel, multi-language simulation. (The Analogy-created software provides interoperability with future model libraries and co-simulation with hardware description languages like Verilog, VHDL, Verilog-AMS, MAST, Spice, and VHDL-AMS.)
Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) integration for mechanical applications took more than 20 years. Mechatronics component and systems integration, however, is on a faster track. "New language standards are a start in the right direction — standards that everyone can work with and reduce the number of software tools needed. The payoff," notes Doug Lundin, Analogy's Vice President of Marketing, "is substantial. It reduces the number of software tools required for systems analysis. It cuts training time and cost while eliminating the hassle and expense of multi-simulator co-simulation."
