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India contributed to 11% of the global road accidents and was ranked 1st among road deaths according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) report 2018. Indian National Highways (NH) is a meagre 5% of the country’s road network but accounts for 55% of the road accidents and 61% of the road deaths. Majority of the freight traffic is ferried by Commercial Vehicles (CV) or trucks along these highways and this in turn increases the probability of them being involved in a road accident. The country’s economy is forecasted to thrive in the coming years and hence the requirement of CVs is aligned to international categorisation in the supply chain and shall play a pivotal role. In the year 2019, 13,532 road deaths were associated with CV occupants. The trucking industry is an unorganized sector wherein the illegal overloading of vehicles and over-the-limit driving hours pose a serious threat to road users.

Today's ABS sytems for commercial vehicles and trailers reflect specific solutions for individual vehicle model wiring and control features. In addition, the chassis mounting requirements for trailer applications uses a separate sealed housing for the relay and other sensitive components. A logical progression of design development resulted in the new ABS 6S/4K open system with the ability of being adaptable to specific vehicle control requirements. A variety of different component arrangements can be accommodated. Accordingly, it does not require a standard wiring harness. Wiring is left optional for the specific vehicle configuration. The housing may be frame mounted without any special protection and therefore can cover both trailer and tractor applications. The housing is designed to provide necessary protection from water and dirt. The electronic senses the peripheral component configuration via a simple “learning” procedure.

An electronic control of throttle angle is required for safety systems like traction control (ASR) and for advanced engine management systems with regard to further improvements of driving comfort and fuel economy. For applications, in which only ASR is required, two versions of a new traction control actuator (TCA) have been developed. Their function is based on controlling the effective length of the bowden cable between the accelerator pedal and the throttle. Besides retaining the mechanical linkage to the throttle, the concept has no need for a pedal position sensor, which is necessary for a drive-by-wire system. Design and performance of both actuators are described and their individual advantages are compared. Moreover, the communication of the system with ASR and its behaviour with regard to vehicle dynamics are illustrated.

The paper begins with an overview of the history of ABS for commercial vehicles followed by a brief description of the technology of the BOSCH ABS at the time it went into mass production in 1981. Subsequently it describes the field experiences with ABS including the experiences of drivers and operators. These experiences are reflected in the equipment which BOSCH offers today. Additional functions such as ASR (traction control) have been integrated. The paper provides an overview of the functions available today and their implementation. The paper concludes with a discussion on potential continued developments and an attempt to describe the systems which will be required by the mid 9os.

Since introduction of safety belts in the 70s and airbags in the early 80s, these passive safety technologies have become standard in many markets. Remarkable improvement in passive safety, efforts to alter driver behaviour and infrastructural programmes have led to substantial reductions of fatalities in many regions, although the absolute number of highway fatalities increased e.g. in the USA in 2002 to the highest level since 1990. Electronic Stability Control (ESC) as an active safety technology assists the driver to keep the vehicle on the intended track and thereby actively prevents accidents. In 1995 Bosch was the first supplier to introduce ESC for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, where it is marketed as ESP® - Electronic Stability Program. Since then, Bosch has produced more than 30 million systems worldwide. Many studies have now confirmed that ESC can prevent a vehicle from skidding or rolling over in nearly all driving situations.

This paper presents the Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC) for commercial vehicles developed by BOSCH. The underlying physical concept is discussed in the second section after a short introduction. The third section shows the computer simulation used in the development process. Section four describes the controller structure of the VDC system. In Section five the use and effectiveness of VDC for commercial vehicles is shown in different critical driving situations. This is done by using measured data collected during testing (lane change, circular track) and it demonstrates that the safety improvements achieved for passenger cars are also possible for commercial vehicles.

Closed loop vehicle control comprising of the driver, the vehicle and the environment is now achieved by the automatic wheel slip control combination of ABS and ASR. To improve directional control during acceleration, the Robert Bosch Corporation has introduced five ASR-Systems into series production. In one system, the electronic control unit works exclusively with the engine management system to assure directional control. In two other systems, brake intervention works in concert with throttle intervention. For this task, it was necessary to develop different highly sophisticated hydraulic units. The other systems improve traction by controlling limited slip differentials. The safety concept for all five systems includes two redundant micro controllers which crosscheck and compare input and output signals. A Traction Control System can be achieved through a number of torque intervention methods.

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.

The reduction of nitrous oxides in the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines using a urea water solution is gaining more and more importance. While maintaining the future exhaust gas emission regulations, like the Euro 6 for passenger cars and the Euro 5 for commercial vehicles, urea dosing allows the engine management to be modified to improve fuel economy as well. The system manufacturer Robert Bosch has started early to develop the necessary dosing systems for the urea water solution. More than 300.000 Units have been delivered in 2007 for heavy duty applications. Typical dosing quantities for those systems are in the range of 0.01 l/h for passenger car systems and up to 10 l/h for commercial vehicles. During the first years of development and application of urea dosing systems, instantaneous flow measuring devices were used, which were not operating fully satisfactory.

Since 1996 a 2nd Generation EBS has been available in Europe as an advanced brake system offering a variety of advantages to the OEM as well as to the truck and fleet owner. EBS enhances vehicle safety and improves the braking performance to a “passenger car like” braking feel, allowing less experienced drivers better vehicle handling. The brake lining wear control and retarder integration allow the reduction of operational costs. The safety enhancements achieved by EBS in conjunction with disc brakes, are rewarded by European truck insurance companies by lower insurance fees. The importance of EBS will still gain significantly through the developments in process. EBS is the platform for ESP and ACC, which will be a major contributer to better integration of trucks in dense traffic flow.

During the acquisition phase brake system supplier have to make predictions on a system's thermal behavior based on very few reliable parameters. Increasing system knowledge requires the usage of different calculation models along with the progress of the project. Adaptive modeling is used in order to integrate test results from first prototypes or benchmark vehicles. Since changes in the brake force distribution have a great impact on the simulation results fading conditions of the linings have to be integrated as well. The principle of co-simulation is used in order to use the actual brake force distribution of the system.

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.

Since the brake colloquium in 2004 the role of climatic conditions and their relations to noise occurrence, sound pressure level and friction coefficient level is widely discussed in the US and European working groups on brake noise. A systematic study has been started to investigate the influence of relative humidity, absolute humidity and temperature on brake noise and the corresponding friction coefficient level. In this study an enormous effort was taken to keep the influences of the brake parameters, e.g. lining material, Eigenfrequencies and dimensions of the different components as small as possible to investigate the climatic influence only. Strategic humidity and temperature levels were tested according to the Mollier-Entropy-Enthalpy-Diagram which are corresponding to the seasons in the various international regions. A regression analysis evaluates the correlation and the influence of each parameter to noise and friction coefficient level.

The ongoing changes in the development of new power trains and the requirements due to driver assistance systems and autonomous driving could be the enabler for completely new brake system configurations. The shift in the brake load collective has to be included in the systems requirements for electric vehicles. Many alternative concepts for hydraulic brake systems, even for decentralized configurations, can be found in the literature. For a decentralized system with all state of the art safety functionalities included, four actuators are necessary. Therefore, the single brake module should be as cost-effective as possible. Previous papers introduced systems which are for example based on plunger-like concepts, which are very expensive and heavy due to the needed gearing and design. In this paper a comparison between a state of the art hydraulic brake system using an electromechanical brake booster, and a completely new decentralized hydraulic brake concept is presented.

This address presents the ongoing development of the commercial-vehicle braking system, over and beyond ABS/ASR, towards a brake by wire system (electronically controlled braking system ELB) with pressure-regulating circuit and additional functions. Following the discussion and selection of various concepts, we will present different versions with individual and combined components for the towing vehicle and for the trailer. The safety concept of a pneumatic back-up circuit will be dealt with, as well as the communication through data bus (CAN) both within the braking system itself and with other vehicle systems. The improvement possibilities inherent in ELB will be detailed, with the emphasis on increasing road and traffic safety, on reducing operating costs, and on future vehicle-guidance functions.

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.

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).

In spite of improvements in passive safety and efforts to alter driver behavior, the absolute number of highway fatalities in 2002 increased to the highest level since 1990 in the US. ESP is an active safety technology that assists the driver to keep the vehicle on the intended path and thereby helps to prevent accidents. ESP is especially effective in keeping the vehicle on the road and mitigating rollover accidents which account for over 1/3 of all fatalities in single vehicle accidents. In 1995 Bosch was the first supplier to introduce electronic stability control (ESC) for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan. Since then, Bosch has produced more than 10 million systems worldwide which are marketed as ESP - Electronic Stability Program. In this report Bosch will present ESP contributions to active safety and the required adaptations to support four wheel driven vehicles and to mitigate rollover situations.

The antiskid systems which have been on the market for some time are characterized by the fact that they are separate from the brake power-assist unit and are positioned between the master cylinder and the wheel brakes (separate configuration). At present, integrated antiskid systems are also being prepared for launching on the market. In these systems the hydraulic brake power-assist unit performs the functions of brake boosting and partly also of ABS pressure modulation. The principles of ABS pressure modulation in separate and integrated antiskid systems are compared and questions concerning safety are discussed. With the separate ABS (plunger system, return system) the brake circuits are closed, i.e. when braking and also during ABS operation the volume of brake fluid between the master cylinders and the wheel brake cylinders is closed and separated from the energy supply of the hydraulic brake power-assist unit.

Modern agricultural tractors are equipped with a hitch control system. These may be mechanical-hydraulic, hydraulic-hydraulic, or electronic-hydraulic. With the variety of design options open to the tractor manufacturer, it is important to select the system which best fits the manufacturer and end user. This paper presents a comprehensive comparison of each system. Robert Bosch has had many years experience in the design and manufacture of components for hitch systems, and hopes to help designers choose the approach best suited for them.