Siemens electronics at Frankfurt motor show: No matter how you
call it, revolution or invasion... it
No matter how you call it, every car change brings us new
systems and functions.
No matter what you do, this trend will keep growing too, thanks
to the electronics revolution in the car industry, or as some
like to call it, the electronics invasion.
Funnily enough, we all point far more to the electronic
glitches, to the famous dead-computer blue screen, than to the
enormous time-, cost- and life-saving systems we are getting
cheaper and cheaper, from those daily criticised electronics.
We all forget too easily the mechanical and hydraulic failures
we used to have a few decades ago, as drivers or as kids in
dad's or mum's car.
Despite the usual moaning about electronics and computers
glitches, who is ready to get rid of his/her computer, or car
electronics, and get back to the Spartan rides and filing
cabinets?
Who can imagine any customer asking for a traditional engine
instead of an electronically managed one, with all the latter's
power and torque advantages; weight, noise, vibration,
consumption and pollution reduction; longer and longer service
intervals; neater presentation under the hood...
If electronics were so incorrigibly flawed, how come the markets
did not revert yet to the full mechanical-hydraulic systems,
away from electronics? Aren't we living in supply-and-demand
markets?
Of course, the supply is only offering more and more
electronically controlled systems. But if there was really a
significant market for "electrophobic" cars, how come no car
maker grabbed such an opportunity?
Since the eighties, we started the electronic x-by-wire march,
where x can represent drive (drive-by-wire), steering
(steer-by-wire), braking (brake-by-wire), or any system based on
sensors collecting data (speed, temperature, pressure, force...)
and software analysing it and sending the appropriate electronic
"orders" to actuators executing them, by mechanical means at the
end.
This era started gently, with electronic engine management
systems integrating the drive-by-wire, or simply put, the
electronic connection between the gas pedal and the injection
system (instead of the cable). Then came the gradual integration
of ABS, traction control, ESP, hill descent and hill climb
control, arriving today to the automatic brake discs drying and
pressure building according to driving conditions, lane change
warning, etc...
One thing is certain: we will always need a "hardware", like a
brake pad and a disc to stop the wheel, even if we replace the
hydraulic pipes and the brake booster by some electronic devices.
The same applies to the steering-by-wire. Even when we will get
rid of the mechanical link between the steering (or a joystick
or whatever we steer the car with) and the wheels, we will
always need some "hardware" to push mechanically the wheels
right or left, and son on. Hence the word mechatronics.
A lot has been written, and even more will be written about the
electronics revolution. All manufacturers, and especially
suppliers are working on more system integration through
electronics. ABS, TC, ESP and many more sophisticated functions
are being integrated in one major system, with sub-systems
controlling more functions, making every sensor work for several
"bosses", avoiding duplication.
One of the major players in this field, Siemens VDO Automotive
is displaying several pioneering technologies at the 61st
Frankfurt motor show (15-25 September). Except for the MS 2100
portable navigation system, which is launched to the market, the
other technologies give us a clearer view about completely new
systems promised for production with the next few years.
Since Siemens VDO Automotive is tempting us, let's have a look
at our next cars contents.
For a brief presentation on each of these technologies, click at
the following:
http://www.motiontrends.com/2005/m09eng/siemens/brakes/electronic
wedgebrake.shtml
http://www.motiontrends.com/2005/m09eng/siemens/modularcockpit/mo
dularcockpit.shtml
http://www.motiontrends.com/2005/m09eng/siemens/driverassist/driv
erassistancenetwork.shtml
http://www.motiontrends.com/2005/m09eng/siemens/hybridcar/hybrid.
shtml
http://www.motiontrends.com/2005/m09eng/siemens/navigationsystem/
daytonms2100.shtml