Tech Briefs
Racing toward safety
 All CART racecars this season are equipped with Delphi's ADR 2, a crash-hardened system that senses and records key vehicle parameters—such as wheel speed, throttle position, steering angle, yaw rate, three axes of acceleration—just prior to, during, and just after an accident. |
Delphi Corp.'s Accident Data Recorder (ADR) 2 is the basis for a partnership with Ford Motor Co. and the CART (Championship Auto Racing Team) to improve safety levels in racing. The ADR 2 is a rugged system that senses and records key vehicle parameters at 1000 samples/s just prior to, during, and after an accident. Recorded data is retrieved from the ADR 2 via a high-speed data link to a PC to be analyzed and used to improve racecar and track safety. According to John Valentine, Ford Racing Chief Engineer, Ford is using the recorder to study human tolerance to high-g impact in the CART FedEx Championship Series.
The ADR 2 includes a suite of Microsoft Windows-compatible data-analysis software to record data from external sensors such as Delphi's earpiece sensor system, which uses small sensors integrated into the left and right sides of the radio earpiece worn by the driver. The system uses six accelerometers—one for each of the three axes on each side—to measure head acceleration. Researchers then combine the data from the earpiece system with vehicle-operation measurements to provide a clearer picture of what happens during an accident.
The ADR 2's advantage over earlier-generation ADRs is its ability to record more than just the car's crash impact data from its internal sensors. It will also record selected parameters from each racecar's onboard data-acquisition system, including speed, throttle, steering angle, and lap number to provide additional crash information. The ADR 2 is lighter by 40% and smaller by 45% compared to Delphi's ADR 1. It features an internal uninterruptible power supply that allows it to operate in the event of vehicle power loss.
- Jean L. Broge
Pedestrian safety via Ford
 Ford is researching pedestrian safety at its Aachen Research Center in Germany, and the results will be shared among the companies in the Ford group. |
As pedestrian safety becomes an increasingly important aspect of car design, Ford has released details of some of the work being undertaken at its Aachen Research Center in Germany. Results of this work will be shared with other companies in the Ford group, including Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, and Aston Martin. Mazda will also benefit.
A "pop-up" hood, together with modified bumper and headlamps, has been fitted to a Ford Focus to help absorb energy and reduce leg injuries. Sensors detect contact with a pedestrian via the bumper or leading edge of the hood. The hood is then moved backwards and raised at its trailing edge using either spring pressure or pyrotechnically via gas injectors. According to Ford, the system will not activate in a car-to-car impact and is inoperative when the vehicle is parked. The bumper incorporates multi-density foams and a structural undertray, which Ford says has been designed to support the legs of a pedestrian, reduce impact forces, and decrease the risk of serious leg and knee injuries. The headlamp surround has been redesigned using a deformable housing, which pushes the headlamps back into the body of the car, again to reduce the risk of serious injury.
- Stuart Birch
3M manages glare
 3M has developed Vikuiti, a line of products that reduces the glare and reflections of automotive flat-panel displays through microreplication and multi-layer-film technologies.  |
Vikuiti is a line of display-enhancement products that 3M developed for vehicular flat-panel liquid-crystal displays (LCD). Display glare is caused by both glare from external light sources and reflections from external surfaces.
The product line includes two techniques to increase brightness. The microreplicated prismatic technology used in Vikuiti Prism Films manages the angle of light, compressing it and directing it toward the on-axis viewer. Vikuiti Reflective Polarizers use proprietary multi-layer film technology to manage the polarization of light. In this case, light that is normally absorbed by the polarizer on the back of the LCD is reflected back into the display, where it is recycled, increasing the brightness and maintaining the viewing angle of the display.
Glare from external light sources are reduced via Vikuiti Light Control Film, which consists of a micro-louver construction and allows controlled viewing angles while blocking ambient light and enhancing contrast. Vikuiti Anti-Reflection Film is a thin, scratch-resistant flexible polyester film that manages reflections from external surfaces.
3M is also developing touch screens and electronics under the MicroTouch brand. TouchSurround extends the touch-sensitive area of a screen beyond the display dimensions to allow for specialized design options and mechanical button replacement.
- Jean L. Broge
Braking for business
 Brake calipers are tested for critical performance parameters on a rotor test stand at Akebono's Farmington Hills, MI, technical center. |
Nowhere else in the world are full-size pickup trucks and SUVs as popular as in the U.S. "There aren't a lot of people in Japan driving Ford Expedition-size vehicles at 85 mph to work in the morning," said Bill Hilbrandt, Vice President of Engineering for Akebono Corp. of North America in Farmington Hills, MI, a supplier of friction materials and brake products.
At its inception a few years ago, the North American arm of Japan's Akebono Brake Industry Co., Ltd. functioned as an applications-engineering base. When company management realized the applications-engineering approach might not fully serve the North American customer base, the focus shifted.
"We have very different market demands (in North America), and you really cannot adequately address the (needs) by just selling what sells in Japan," said Hilbrandt. "It has actually evolved to where this is the lead R&D site for advanced mechanical products for the company worldwide."
 Akebono provides a full range of foundation brake assemblies, including disc brake calipers and drum brakes. |
The Michigan technical hub also leads the company in paving a path for using aluminum brake calipers. "Aluminum brakes have a much higher acceptance amongst vehicle manufacturers in North America than in Japan. Therefore, the lead aluminum brake site for the company for the last several years has been here," said Hilbrandt. "Japanese OEMs are starting to show a higher interest in aluminum brakes, so Japan is applications engineering for them what we originally designed here."
The North American group—encompassing manufacturing (four plants in Kentucky), computer-aided engineering, and NVH teams—is working to alter present-day production disc brake technology. "I can't and won't say that we have that 'next thunderous thing' that's going to replace all the brakes as we know them today, but that is part of our mission and part of our thought process," said Hilbrandt. "What we're talking about is how to achieve the structural requirements by a fundamentally different means."
Akebono engineers are developing a brake that likely will not have a recognizable casting to provide most of the unit's structure. "I'm not saying castings won't be used, but it can't be just a simple re-work of casting technology as we know it today," Hilbrandt said.
 Two basic characteristic test stands allow for complete caliper tests for pressure, displacement, deflection, and seal retraction. |
Metallic and non-metallic materials, nontraditional structures, and a nontraditional parts arrangement represent the prime technical underpinnings of the D50 project, the company's internal designation for the futuristic caliper and drum brake program.
"All the proposals we have right now reduce mass," said Hilbrandt, "and we will not accept an NVH degradation." The D50 project—expected to reduce the cost per brake by $10—does involve participation from Japan, especially in the context of suppliers. Production applications of D50 are expected for a MY07 vehicle.
The Farmington Hills research and development center will house a mix of 21 brake and chassis corner/noise dynamometers by 2003, and plans are underway to double existing lab space in the coming months. Akebono's customer list includes Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.
- Kami Buchholz
