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The assignment of vehicles detected by distance sensors to lanes relative to the own vehicle is an important and necessary task for future driver assistance systems like Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). The collective motion of objects driving in front of the vehicle allows a prediction of the vehicle's own driving course. The method uses not only data of the host vehicle to determine its own trajectory but as well data from a distance sensor supplying distances and angles of objects ahead of the vehicle to determine the trajectories of these objects. Algorithms were developed using an off-line simulation, which was fed with recorded data obtained from a real ACC vehicle. The results show a significant improvement in the quality of the predicted driving course compared to other methods solely based on data of the host vehicle. Particularly in situations of changing curvature, e.g. the beginning of a bend, the algorithm helps to improve the overall system performance of ACC.

The role of the software in automobile electronics is gaining increasing importance. New software technologies are needed in order to increase the efficiency of software development as well as the quality of software products. The reuse of constituents of existing systems is the central technique to raise efficiency and quality. Nevertheless, the property of a system of being suitable for reuse does not arise automatically but should be considered as a goal of software architecture design. With the help of examples of body electronics systems the following paper describes an object-oriented, tool-based software technology including mechanisms to design a reusable software architecture. The introduced software technology is used for the software development of a set of electronic control units which are networked via CAN bus. The approach covers an efficient implementation concept to convert object-oriented models into executable software for electronic control units.

Actual research results in the automotive field show that there is a big potential in increasing active and passive safety by implementing intelligent driver assisting systems. Realizing such safety related system functions requires an electronic system without mechanical or hydraulic backup to de-couple the human interface from the vehicle functions, e.g., steering and braking. Safety critical functions without mechanical backup enforce new requirements in system design. Any faulty behavior of a component within the system must not lead to a malfunction of the overall system. Consequently in the system design fault-tolerance mechanisms in real time must be introduced. Active replication of a functional node is a proper solution to guarantee this real time fault-tolerance. Redundancy management of the functional nodes can be implemented by fail-silent replicas, i.e. a node behaves correctly or does not produce any output at all.

ABS has proven to be a contribution to active safety. The introduction of traction control (TC) in 1986 and even more significantly, the introduction of vehicle dynamics control (VDC) in 1995 have been further milestones in this field. The functionality of these systems (ABS, TC, VDC) is mainly determined by the electronic control unit (ECU). A system supplier who is to provide an ECU-platform concept including a large functionality, while meeting customer specific requirements at an optimized price, needs standardization strategies. This paper describes a standardization concept for an ABS ECU, beginning with the basic ABS HW and SW design and the extension to TC and VDC. It also shows the degree of flexibility, the benefits for the vehicle manufacturer and the possible cost optimization for the system supplier.

Since its introduction in March 1995, the market demand for Vehicle Dynamic Control systems (VDC) has increased rapidly. Some car manufacturers have already announced their plans to introduce VDC on all their models. Particularly for compact and subcompact cars the system price needs to be reduced without sacrificing safety and performance. Originally designed for optimal performance with economically feasible components (sensors, hydraulics and microcontrollers) and using a unified control approach for all vehicle operating situations the system has been extended to include various drive concepts and has continuously been improved regarding performance, safety and cost. This paper describes the progress made in the development of the Bosch VDC system with regard to the design of the hydraulic system, the sensors, the electronic control unit, the control algorithm and safety.

The first generation of radar-sensor-based ACC-Systems will be available in 1998/1999 in Europe. As a first step high end car manufacturers will sell ACC as optional equipment in their top models for a significant add-on price. For this generation good performance was the most important development goal. For the future, however, small, highly integrated systems are needed which easily can be fitted into the body of small cars. High performance and low cost are essential to allow the car manufacturers to sell ACC as standard equipment. A first step in that direction is the “Sensor and Control Unit” developed by Bosch which integrates a FMCW-radar sensor and the ACC-controller in one housing. It is designed for easy manufacturing on existing equipment with standard processes. The design meets the requirements of an early phase with low production figures as well as a phase characterized by increasing numbers and decreasing prices.

This paper presents the conceptual model and the fundamental mechanisms for software development in the context of the Brite-EuRam project Safety Related Fault Tolerant Systems in Vehicles (nick-named X-By-Wire). The objective of the X-By-Wire project is to achieve a framework for the introduction of safety related fault tolerant electronic systems without mechanical backup in vehicles. To achieve the required level of fault-tolerance, an X-By-Wire system must be designed as a distributed system comprising a number of fault-tolerant units connected by a reliable real-time communication system. For the communication system, the time-triggered TTP/C real-time communication protocol was selected. TTP/C provides fault-tolerance message transfer, state synchronization, reliable detection of node failures, a global time base, and a distributed membership service. Redundancy is used for masking failures of individual processor nodes and hardware peripherals.

The car industry has reached a point where electronic systems, which were so far essentially autonomous, begin to grow together to a Car-Wide Web. The main driving force is the demand for more safety, security, and comfort implemented economically. Already various parties are working on control networks. In the long run, vehicle motion and dynamic systems, safety, security, comfort as well as mobile multimedia systems will integrate and reach out for the vision of accident-free, comfortable, and well-informed driving. As a foundation for a Car-Wide Web, Bosch is developing an open architecture called CARTRONIC. The essence of CARTRONIC is to define structuring rules, modeling rules and patterns for total, integrated control of vehicles. The rules and patterns allow the mapping of high-level functions onto several physical implementations, for instance one logical description of functional connections could be created for cars with different equipment packages.

This paper describes the new Engine Management System (EMS) ME7. Torque and A/F demands for modern EMS result from both, internal functions (i.e. engine start, idle speed control, catalyst heating) and external systems (i.e. driver's request, transmission or vehicle dynamic control). With ME7 these demands are processed to the optimized actions of the actuators by a centrally coordinated torque and A/F management. The design of the functions is physically based to provide optimum portability and minimum calibration time. Examples are given for the physical manifold pressure model and the cylinder charge control of ME7 with electronic throttle control. The real time operating system „ERCOS” and a layer based software architecture enable the implementation of these functions in a flexible family of products for current and future systems.

This paper describes the architecture and the implementation of a software for the communication between networked in-vehicle ECUs. The communication software is based upon a real-time multitasking operating system. The operating system and the communication software form an application-independent platform for the implementation of distributed ECU software. The software architecture consists of several communication layers and a station management module. The communication layers provide network driver, data transfer services and an application interface that is independent of the used network protocol. The station management module is responsible for configuration and initialization of the communication controller, error detection during operation and error handling. The modula r structure of the architecture supports the simple adaptation of the software to different bus systems and communication controllers.

This paper describes the concept of the operating system ERCOS (Embedded Real-time Control Operating System). ERCOS has been specially designed to meet the functionality and performance requirements in the area of automotive applications. The ever increasing functional requirements for modern electronic control units are introducing considerable complexity in the area of software development. It is well known that real-time operating systems provide powerful means to handle complex functions under real-time constraints. Past experience, however, has shown that the efficiency and flexibility of operating systems was very often inadequate for automotive applications. To overcome these insufficiencies the operating system ERCOS has been designed with dedicated support for automotive requirements. This has been achieved by supplementing the run-time part of the operating system by powerful off-line tools.

Electronic control systems for automatic transmissions have been gaming acceptance in recent years Besides the various types of sensors already in use [for speed, temperature, pressure etc], electro-hydraulic actuators and electronic control units [ECU] are also major constituents of modern control systems Former designs utilized discrete components which were wired together In the interim, actuator modules have been developed for use in new transmission designs As well as presenting actuator concepts, this paper describes a highly integrated and advanced control module This module consists of hydraulic actuators, pilot-solenoid values and an electronic control unit which has been realized in multi-layer hybrid technology

This paper is based on the experiences with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems at BOSCH. Necessary components (especially range sensor, curve sensors, actuators and display) are described, roughly specified, and their respective strength and weaknesses are addressed. The system overview contains the basic structure, the main control strategy and the concept for driver-ACC interaction. Afterwards the principal as well as the current technical limits of ACC systems are discussed. The consequences on traffic flow, safety and driver behavior are emphasized. As an outlook, development trends for extended functionality are given for the next generation of driver assistance systems.

This paper shows that the functional integration of Electronic Throttle Control (ETC) into the engine control strategy allows improvements of emissions and fuel economy without making compromises in respect of driveability. A cost effective way for realizing ETC is the integration of the control electronics into the engine control unit (ECU). The paper describes the consequences of such an integration for the ECU hardware and software. Special attention is given to the ETC related safety aspects. Another chapter discusses different technologies for the throttle actuator drive. This is followed by a brief description of a suitable control strategy for a throttle actuator. Finally the paper gives also an overview about current status and development trends of accelerator pedal sensors necessary for ETC.

The transition from the multi-component ABS2 design to the one housing concept of ABS5.0 represented a significant step in improving the ABS unit. ABS5.3 is the successor of ABS5.0 to achieve a highly compact, light weight inexpensive design, for the broad use of ABS in all passenger cars and light trucks. New technologies applied are the staking technique for hydraulic components, the use of microhybrid electronics design and solenoid coils being integrated within the attached electronic control unit. The unit can be manufactured in global alliance achieved by simultaneous engineering, applying CAD, FE-analysis, flow calculation and simulation, noise analysis and quality assurance which includes FMEA, error simulation, durability tests and the dry testing concept. The ABS5.3 design can be easily expanded to Traction Control (ASR).

The vast majority of automotive electronic control systems utilize printed circuit board technology. Hybrid substrate technology is successfully applied to smaller high volume systems for applications with high demands with respect to temperature range and vibration. In the past few years, the introduction of microcontroller based systems in hybrid technology has succeeded for high volume applications with limited model variety, as for example antiskid (ABS) systems. The newly developed microhybrid technology alleviates the shortcomings of standard hybrid technology regarding complexity, design flexibility and cost of production. This paper discusses two microhybrid systems, an engine management system mounted onto the engine and an antiskid ECU attached to the hydraulic unit.

Serial communication by means of CAN is being used more and more for data transfer between in-vehicle control units to link components of the drive train, body electronics and mobile communication electronics. In order to design distributed electronic systems, software engineers today must not only develop the application software but also supply the communication software to handle the communication hardware, thereby reinventing the wheel with each new application software package. This procedure is inefficient as it leads to hardly reusable special solutions. To avoid incompatibilities between the modules of a distributed system a lot of additional coordination work must be done during the design phase. As a consequence, each new software package is faced with additional costs for the indispensible tests of the communication software. This paper describes a network architecture that has been designed for CAN systems.

In 1978, Bosch was the first supplier on the market to offer full-function antilock braking systems. In 1993, six years will have passed since Bosch delivered the first traction control system for passenger cars. In the meantime, a considerable amount of experience has been gained through ongoing development and testing. This experience enabled us to define the requirements for directional stability, optimum control strategy, maximum usage of the entire spectrum of drive torque intervention possibilities, and optimized hydraulics for automatic brake intervention. The result is Bosch ABS/ASR5, which in now being introduced to the market. This new ABS/ASR family is designed in modules, which offers high flexibility in function and assembly. Systems are available with traction improvement, or with optimized directional stability and traction. Each version is adapted to the needs of the vehicle drive layout, and adaptable to customer requirements.

Traction control (ASR) is the logical ongoing development of the antilock braking system (ABS). Due to the high costs involved though, the widespread practice of reducing the engine power by electronic throttle control (or electronic enginepower control) has up to now prevented ASR from becoming as widely proliferated as ABS. A promising method has now been developed in which fuel-injection suppression at individual cylinders is used as a low-price actuator for a budget-priced ASR. First of all, an overview of the possibilities for influencing wheel-torque by means of intervention at the engine and/or brake as a means of reducing driven wheel slip is presented. Then, the system, the control strategy, and the demands on the electronic engine-management system with sequential fuel injection are discussed. The system's possibilities and its limitations are indicated, and fears of damaging effects on the catalytic converter are eliminated.

To achieve the future emissions regulations with low particulate and Nox levels, both the engine combustion system and the fuel injection equipment will have to be improved. For the fuel injection equipment, high injection pressure and variable injection timing as a function of engine speed, load, and temperature are of great importance. BOSCH is developing two different solutions: electronically controlled unit injector and single cylinder pump systems, high-pressure inline pumps with control sleeve and electronic control. This paper describes: the unit injector and its high-pressure solenoid valve the requirements for the mounting of the unit injector in the engine the low-pressure system the electronic control unit and the metering strategy