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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.

Environmental consciousness and tightening emissions legislation push the market share of electronic fuel injection within a dynamically growing world wide small engines market. Similar to automotive engines during late 1980's, this opens up opportunities for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and suppliers to jointly advance small engines performance in terms of fuel economy, emissions, and drivability. In this context, advanced combustion system analyses from automotive engine testing have been applied to a typical production motorcycle small engine. The 125cc 4-stroke, 2-valve, air-cooled, single-cylinder engine with closed-loop lambda-controlled electronic port fuel injection was investigated in original series configuration on an engine dynamometer. The test cycle fuel consumption simulation provides reasonable best case fuel economy estimates based on stationary map fuel consumption measurements.

Software-in-the-Loop (SiL) test environments are the ideal virtual platforms for enabling continuous-development, -integration, -testing -delivery or -deployment commonly referred as Continuous-X (CX) of the complex functionalities in the current automotive industry. This trend especially is contributed by several factors such as the industry wide standardization of the model exchange formats, interfaces as well as architecture definitions. The approach of frontloading software testing with SiL test environments is predominantly advocated as well as already adopted by various Automotive OEMs, thereby the demand for innovating applicable methods is increasing. However, prominent usage of the existing monolithic architecture for interaction of various elements in the SiL environment, without regarding the separation between functional and non-functional test scope, is reducing the usability and thus limiting significantly the cost saving potential of CX with SiL.

Automotive suppliers provide multi-layer trims mainly made of porous materials. They have a real expertise on the characterization and the modeling of poro-elastic materials. A dozen parameters are used to characterize the acoustical and elastical behavior of such materials. The recent vibro-acoustic simulation tools enable to take into account this type of material but require the Biot parameters as input. Several characterization methods exist and the question of reproducibility and confidence in the parameters arises. A Round Robin test was conducted on three poro-elastic material with four laboratories. Compared to other Round Robin test on the characterization of acoustical and elastical parameters of porous material, this one is more specific since the four laboratories are familiar with automotive applications. Methods and results are compared and discussed in this work.

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 deals with fleet management systems and the means to integrate new communication and computer technologies to improve transportation companies efficiency. It focuses on the integration of embedded electronic systems for communication and data management through the use of on-board computers, taking the point of view of the truck manufacturer. It introduces the idea of making the vehicle a nod of a complete communication network. After briefly presenting fleet management problematic and some of the major existing solutions, it analyzes how new technologies can be integrated and what major advantages they would bring.

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.

The demand for more security, economy, and comfort as well as for a reduced environmental impact increases the importance of electronic components for vehicles. The development of such systems is determined by the requirement of an improved functionality and co-requisite the demand for limited costs. In order to fulfil these demands and taking into consideration the increase of complexity and the melting together to a car wide web, Bosch is developing a structuring concept called CARTRONIC®. This concept is supposed to be open and neutral regarding automotive manufactures and suppliers. The analysis of vehicle control systems via this method is based on formal rules for structuring and modelling. The function-related aspect of CARTRONIC® was represented already at the SAE'98 World Congress. Furthermore the safety-related feature was introduced in more detail at the SAE'99 World Congress. The result of the analysis is an object structure of logical components with defined interfaces.

In the last decades the development of Diesel engines has made substantial progress. New, powerful and scalable injection systems have been introduced. In consequence Diesel systems are continuously gaining market share in many places of the world. Advanced direct injection engines with systems like the electronically controlled distributer pump, the unit injection system and of course the common rail system are replacing the chamber engines in all automotive applications. This is all unthinkable without the electronic management of these injection systems by means of Electronic Diesel Control units (EDC). The following presentation describes the status and some future trend of technology of EDCs with particular emphasis on functional and on software development. It also outlines the challenge of global automotive industry that requires global development and application services from its tier 1 suppliers.

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.

For many years, bearing suppliers have been using the specific pressure to evaluate the fatigue risk of conrod bearings. However, modern engines have made the bearing more sensitive to various phenomena such as the thermal expansion or the elasticity of the conrod housing. These effects modify the stresses in the bearing layers and consequently fatigue risk. In this paper, we propose a new way to determine the bearing fatigue resistance. To achieve that, we analyze the elastic and plastic behavior of the bearing along the engine life. We detail and provide the analytical relationships which determine stresses in the overlay and in the substrate of the bearing in order to analyze their fatigue resistance. Various physical loads are taken into account such as the thermal load, the hydrodynamic pressure field, the fitting load, the free spread load. A good knowledge of the relationships between those physical phenomena helps to understand the mechanical behavior of the bearing.

AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture) is a worldwide standard for automotive basic software in line with an architecture that eases exchange and transfer of application software components between platforms or companies. AUTOSAR provides the standardized architecture together with the specifications of the basics software along with the methodology for developing embedded control units for automotive applications. AUTOSAR matured over the last several years through intensive development, implementation and maintenance. Two main releases (R3.2 and R4.0) represent its current degree of maturity. AUTOSAR is driven by so called core partners: leading car manufacturers (BMW, Daimler, Ford, GM, PSA, Toyota, Volkswagen) together with the tier 1 suppliers Continental and Bosch. AUTOSAR in total has more than 150 companies (OEM, Tier X suppliers, SW and tool suppliers, and silicon suppliers) as members from all over the world.

The electronically-governed diesel distributor injection pump, with the proven sleeve control of injection quantity, has been in production at Bosch since 1987. Long-term development resulted in a solenoid-valve controlled injection pump. The function and component assemblies, consisting of the injection pump, solenoid valve and control unit, provide an even more flexible injection system. Of particular advantage with this type of system are the high dynamics of the fuel quantity, matching of each individual injection and the exact pump-specific fuel quantity compensation at numerous map points. Further advantages are the selection of timing and fuel injection rate independent of each other, as well as the ability to provide the correct timing even at cranking speeds. The entire system, with emphasis on the injection pump and the solenoid valve, are described for IDI engines in this paper.

An extensive research program involving the French passenger car and heavy-duty (HD) vehicles manufacturers, sponsored by ADEME and realized by IFP, aimed to characterize in terms of size and composition the particulate emitted by the different engine technologies currently or soon available. The impact of engine settings and fuel composition was also studied. Numerous information was collected in this HD study revealing that fuel composition and particularly non-conventional fuels and engine settings strongly impact the particulate concentration and size distribution. Nucleation is likely to occur when there is less adsorption matter, for instance when post-injection is used or EGR is removed. Particulate composition, particularly PAH and sulfates content, is weakly bound to the size. Mineral elements distribution depends on their origin, lubrication oil or engine wear.

The usage of Electronic Diesel Control is increasing with todays stringent emissions regulations. This requirement also necessitates that such systems be versatile to meet the needs of the engine/vehicle manufacturer. EGR, start of injection, and fuel delivery can be electronically controlled. Depending on the design goals of the manufacturer any one or two of these can be controlled for partial and all of them for full Electronic Diesel Control. The development and application process has several critical areas. These include, development of the sensors, application of the different subsystems, failure warning and failure mode operation. All of these must be combined if design goals are to be met. As the capabilities of electronics increase it follows that electronic vehicle systems will also improve. Today impressive results have been achieved with systems that are in full or pilot production.

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.

Current vehicle concepts necessitate the multiple measurement of several variables required by separate electronic systems in the motor vehicle. There is the need to make sensors bus capable by the incorporation of electronic components in new definition concepts, in other words to make them multiply usable. Such bus concepts are at the present time taking concrete shape. The step of introducing electronics - especially digital - to the measuring point may simultaneously be used to considerably improve utilization of the information content of sensor structures using means of indivdual, digital correction to a greater level than has until now been technically possible. There remains the demand for high stability and reproducibility of the sensor properties over time. These signal preprocessing and information condensation processes on the spot also satisfy the need to relieve the central control units.

Despite the tough environmental conditions facing electronic systems in commercial vehicles, electronics is gaining ground also in these applications. In the drive sector it improves the operation of the main and auxiliary drives, upgrades fuel efficiency and reduces emission pollutant levels. It enhances safety by preventing wheel spinning in braking and acceleration. Electronic displays reduce the number of single indications otherwise needed, thus making for more clarity in information for the driver and facilitating the driver's task. Self-diagnosing and integrated emergency operation (“limp home”) capabilities are to ensure availability, a factor of special importance in commercial vehicles. A data interface standardized as widely as possible would allow add-on systems to be coupled easily and flexibly.

The new generation of drive-by-wire systems currently under development has demanding requirements on the electronic architecture. Functions such as brake-by-wire or steer-by-wire require continued operation even in the presence of component failures. The electronic architecture must therefore provide fault-tolerance and real-time response. This in turn requires the operating system and the communication layer to be predictable, dependable and composable. It is well known that this properties are best supported by a time-triggered approach. A consortium consisting of German and French car manufacturers and suppliers, which aims at becoming a working group within the OSEK/VDX initiative, the OSEKtime consortium, is currently defining a specification for a time-triggered operating system and a fault-tolerant communication layer.1 The operating system and the communication layer are based on applicable interfaces of the OSEK/VDX standard.

In order to design vehicles with diminished gCO2/km emissions level, car manufacturers aim at reducing the weight of their vehicles. One of the solutions advocated by the automotive industry consists in the replacement of metallic parts by lighter systems made of polymer reinforced composites. Unfortunately, the numerical simulations set to evaluate the vibratory and acoustic performances of systems made of this kind of materials are often not sufficiently effective and robust so that convincing test/simulation correlations are rarely met. Indeed, for polymer-based materials, numerous parameters affect the vibroacoustic behavior. On the one hand, it is well known that the viscoelastic properties (Storage -Young- and dissipative moduli) of polymers depend on the temperature, loading frequency and sometimes the humidity content.