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The Electro Gyro-Cator allows a driver to monitor his progress, plot and follow courses to a destination, select alternate routes, and drive more safely on unfamiliar roads or at night. Employing a sealed helium gas-rate gyro, the Electro Gyro-Cator offers visual display (CRT display) of a car's present location, direction and route, with overlay maps for fast, simple route selection and monitoring. The primary elements of the unit include trip and direction sensors, a 16-Bit central processing unit, a CRT display screen and a collection of transparent overlay maps fitted to the screen.

An essential feature of the Audi Quattro permanent four-wheel drive system is in the inter-axle differential located on the hollow output shaft in the gearbox: the drive is taken from this differential forward to the front differential through the inside of the hollow shaft, and rearward to a propellor shaft driving the rear differential. The major advantages in everyday driving include improved traction and a reduced tendency toward throttle induced changes of attitude. The greater traction allows not only better progress in difficult road conditions; it also gives better acceleration in difficult traffic situations, such as when joining a busy main road. The more easily predictable handling response to throttle changes means that Quattro vehicles have better tracking stability. Altogether, the active safety and "roadability" are considerably improved.

This paper presents an overview of the evolution & revolution of automotive E/E architectures and how we at Bosch, envision the technology in the future. It provides information on the bottlenecks for current E/E architectures and drivers for their evolution. Functionalities such as automated driving, connectivity and cyber-security have gained increasing importance over the past few years. The importance of these functionalities will continue to grow as these cutting-edge technologies mature and market acceptance increases. Implementation of these functionalities in mainstream vehicles will demand a paradigm shift in E/E architectures with respect to in-vehicle communication networks, power networks, connectivity, safety and security. This paper expounds on these points at a system level.

An advanced low heat rejection engine concept has successfully completed a 100 hour endurance test. The combustion chamber components were insulated with thermal barrier coatings. The engine components included a titanium piston, titanium headface plate, titanium cylinder liner insert, M2 steel valve guides and monolithic zirconia valve seat inserts. The tribological system was composed of a ceramic chrome oxide coated cylinder liner, chrome carbide coated piston rings and an advanced polyolester class lubricant. The top piston compression ring Included a novel design feature to provide self-cleaning of ring groove lubricant deposits to prevent ring face scuffing. The prototype test engine demonstrated 52 percent reduction in radiator heat rejection with reduced intake air aftercooling and strategic forced oil cooling.

Two Cummins B5.9L engines were fueled with 100% biodiesel in excess of 48 months by the Agricultural Engineering Department at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The engines used to power Dodge pickups. The engine lubricating oil was sampled at 1000 mile intervals for analysis. Statistical analysis of the engine lubricating oil indicated that the wear metal levels in the lubricating oil were normal. A reduction in power was noted when the engines were tested using a chassis dynamometer. The 1991 pickup has been driven 110,451 km and the 1992 pickup has been driven approximately 177,022 km. The pickups averaged 6.9 km/L. Engine fuel efficiency and material compatibility issues are addressed in the paper.

The trend towards battery voltage vacuum fluorescent displays continues the technological advances in design and construction of VFD's, as they are applied to the automobile environment. With the ever increasing use of electronic displays for electronically tuned radios (ETR's), compact disc (CD) players, and other entertainment systems, advances in battery voltage displays and their associated drive circuitry have become a necessity. With the inherent advantages of low voltage operation and high information density, VFD's will continue to dominate the automobile audio markets. This paper will discuss battery voltage displays, the basic circuitry necessary to operate a vacuum fluorescent display, and comment on the “off the shelf” controller and driver circuitry available.

A drivetrain model incorporating detailed crankshaft and drivetrain dynamics has been incorporated into an unsteady gas dynamic computer simulation of a single-cylinder two-stroke engine. This study examines the change in predicted engine performance caused by relaxing the conventional assumption of constant crankshaft velocity, and a comparison of results is presented. Relaxing the assumption changed the predicted brake mean effective pressures by over 10%. Experimental validation of the simulation involved mounting an engine to a test bed and driving an inertia wheel through a fully characterized drivetrain. A high-speed data acquisition system measured signals from a position encoder mounted on the crankshaft and from a non-contact torque transducer. The time and position data were used to calculate instantaneous crankshaft speed, and these results were compared to the predicted profiles. Simulation results and experimental measurements are presented and discussed.

This paper summarizes the techniques and guidelines which were used to reduce the driver perceived noise level of a 145-210 HP series of agricultural tractors. Graphs of case study test results and comments on subjective noise quality are provided to guide the acoustic novice through the complexities of the vehicle sound environment in a methodical problem solving format.

The experience accumulated with a prototype 1000 HP diesel electric tractor since 1969 is described. The new 1500 HP V220 diesel electric tractors are described along with some of the initial operation of these two units. Experience with the initial 1000 HP unit and the two 1500 HP tractors confirm the necessity of additional testing and experimentation to refine the design to get greater productivity with reduced operator fatigue. The unpredictability of the load and operating surface are major problems that present a real challenge to the engineer.

A Microprocessor Data Acquisition System has been designed to be cab-mounted in vehicles or used in laboratories to acquire up to 16 channels of test data. This data may be acquired as time-at-level histograms in one or two dimensions with min-max-mean data recovery, time histories, or peaks and valleys stored on digital tape. The system includes a microcomputer-based Playback/Support Box that simplifies playback of data tapes for computer analysis or stand-alone data plotting using a graphics terminal.

Flexibility, oil resistance, and the need for heat resistance to 150°C-plus temperatures have traditionally limited automotive design engineers to two options - thermoset rubber or heat-shielding conventional thermoplastic elastomers (TPE). Both of these options present limitations in part design, the ability to consolidate the number of components in a part of assembly, and on total cost. This paper presents a class of high-performance, flexible thermoplastic elastomers based on dynamically vulcanized polyacrylate (ACM) elastomer dispersed in a continuous matrix of polyamide (PA) thermoplastic. These materials are capable of sustained heat resistance to 150°C and short-term heat resistance to 175°C, without requiring heat shielding. Recent advancements in blow molding and functional testing of the PA//ACM TPEs for automotive air management (ducts) and underhood sealing applications will be shown.

CHEVROLET has made its new air-suspension system easily interchangeable in production line assembly with standard full-coil suspension by adopting a 4-link-type rear suspension with short and long arms. A feature of the system is the mounting of the leveling valves within the air-spring assemblies. These valves correct riding height continually at a moderate rate, regardless of whether the springs are leveling or operating in ride motion. The system provides constant frequency ride—ride comfort remains the same whether the car is occupied by the driver alone or is fully loaded.

An air cushion restraint system has been available to the public on certain model passenger cars since January 1974. In response to this opportunity to obtain field experience, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has established a nationwide reporting network and investigative capability for accidents involving air-bag equipped cars. The reporting criteria for accidents require that the car be towed as a result of the accident, or that a front-seat occupant was injured, or that bag deployment occurred. The principal objective is to obtain the injury-reducing effectiveness of this restraint system in the total accident environment. This environment encompasses “towaway” accidents resulting in bag deployment and non-deployment. Definitive results are expected at the conclusion of the study. This paper summarizes the experience during the first year of the program, during which time the rate of accident occurrence was far less than originally expected.

This paper describes Programmed Ride Control (PRC), the automatic adjustable shock absorber system designed and patented by Ford Motor Company. The system utilizes low shock absorber damping under normal driving conditions to provide soft boulevard ride, automatically switching to firm damping when required for improved handling. The system's microprocessor control module “learns” where the straight ahead steering wheel position is, allowing the system to respond to absolute steering wheel angle. A closed loop control strategy is used to improve system reliability and to notify the driver in the event of a system malfunction. Fast acting rotary solenoids control the damping rate of the shock absorbers.

This paper presents the Chrysler 1991 Model Mini-Van All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) System. The AWD system is an enhanced traction system requiring no driver input or additional driving skills. It is transparent to the driver in that there is no perceived operating and/or handling difference relative to a front wheel driven vehicle. The system is aimed at safety and security in driving under all conditions. The paper further describes the design and development of the AWD vehicle system.

Motor thermal management of electric vehicles (EVs) is becoming more significant due to its close relations to vehicle aerodynamic performance and power consumption, while computer aided engineering (CAE) plays an important role in its development. A 1D-3D coupled model is established to characterize transient thermal performance of the motor in an electric vehicle on a high performance computer (HPC) platform. The 1D motor thermal management model is integrated with the 1D powertrain model, and a 3D thermal model is established for the motor, while online data exchange is realized between the 1D and 3D models. The 1D model gives boundaries such as inlet coolant temperature, mass flowrate and motor heat generation to the 3D model, while the 3D model gives back boundaries such as heat transfer to coolant simultaneously. Transient simulations are performed for the 140kph(20°C) driving cycle, and the model is calibrated with experimental data.

In certain types of city bus service some automatic transmission fluids can fail in less than 10,000 miles. In order to provide satisfactory transmission performance for longer mileage, improved fluids are required. An investigation was undertaken to obtain improved fluids. Fifteen different fluid formulations were evaluated in 30 city buses operated in normal service for more than 2,000,000 miles. It was determined that fluids fail because of frictional deterioration and oxidation. Based on these evaluations, only two fluids were found to be satisfactory for more than 40,000 miles; one additional fluid was satisfactory for more than 30,000 miles. The remaining 12 fluids failed in less than 20,000 miles.

A sheet of laser light from a frequency tripled Nd-YAG laser approximately 200μm thick is shone through the combustion chamber of a single cylinder, direct injection internal combustion engine. The injected decane contains exciplex—forming dopants which produce spectrally separated fluorescence from the liquid and vapor phases. The fluorescence signal is collected through a quartz window in the cylinder head and is imaged onto a diode array camera. The camera is interfaced to a microcomputer for data acquisition and processing. The laser and camera are synchronized with the crankshaft of the engine so that 2—D images of the liquid and vapor phase fuel distributions can be obtained at different times during the engine cycle. Results are presented at 600, 1200 and 1800 rpm, and from the beginning to just after the end of injection. The liquid fuel traverses the cylinder in a straight line in the form of a narrow cone, but does not reach the far wall in the plane of the laser sheet.

The environment is one of the most important issues currently facing the world and the automobile industry is required to respond with eco-cars. To meet this requirement, the hybrid vehicle is one of the most optimal solutions. The hybrid system automatically stops engine idling (idling stop), or stops the engine during deceleration to recover energy. The engine stop however creates a problem concerning the vehicle's climate control system. Because the conventional climate control system incorporates a compressor driven by engine belt, there is almost no cooling performance while the engine is stopped. Until now, when a driver needed more cooling comfort the engine has been switched back on as a compromise measure. To realize cabin comfort that is consistent with fuel saving, a 2-way driven compressor has been developed that can be driven both by engine belt while the engine is running and by electric motor when the engine is stopped.

This is a report of a workshop held in mid-August of 2002 at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, to explore what it takes to make a decision regarding environmental systems in the US. The participants in the workshop represented federal government, industry, non-governmental organizations and academia. During the two and a half day workshop, discussions were held on the policy drivers, the strategies and tactics (through a SWOT analysis), the decisions the automotive industry is facing today and the tools available to support decision making.