Difficulties That Arise In Transportation Design

Vehicular electronics is an important aspect of transportation design engineering. Buses, trucks, motorcycle, and of course cars all have multiple components that interact concurrently to provide data and power throughout any vehicle. Modern vehicles use real-time data to operator and perform properly. These systems include steering, braking, HVAC, engine management, and much more. Designing for these systems takes great attention to detail as many developers have concurrent forms of engineering that require multiple parties to design and manufacture the components separately. Lets use take a look at some of the operations an automotive engineer has to deal with and when setting up and designing electronic placement and how this can be improved upon.

Overview of Electronics Interior and Exterior

External automotive electrical system is general related to two types. There are systems dedicated to functionality and those for safety. Functionality systems are those that allow the vehicle to run properly during drive.

· Ignition System (Ignition Coil, Coil Packs, Spark Plugs and Wires)

· Engine Management (Fuel Injection, Cooling System, Throttle Control,etc)

· Transmission Electronics (Automatic Gear Shifting)

· Chassis Electronics ( ABS, TCS, EBD, ESP)

· Driver Assistance Electronics (Wipers, Adjustable Mirror, Indicating Lights)

Modern vehicles have a sensor for everything from the tire pressure in your wheels to the voltage in your battery. Internal electronics are those usually for passenger comfort, drive assistance, and entertainment purposes. The radio, HVAC controls, dashboard, and driver controls are all included in this category. If anyone has driven a vehicle then these components are familiar. The short story is that the age of mechanical systems is growings into a distant fairytale and modern vehicles require a large amount of effect to make these electronic systems operate properly. Let’s take a look at some of the issues that engineers and manufactures face when connecting these device together.

Limited Space and Clearance

With the surge in fuel economic vehicles the need for lightweight and high gas mileage vehicles are in demand. Companies are become more and more competitive in having light vehicles that require minimum fuel demand. This usually means that components and vehicle structures are growing more compact and internal storage space for component placement is being limited.

Electronic systems are being placed based either on a standard location (lights, wipers) or the availability of a location (batteries and relay boxes). These systems are required to operate concurrently, or independently,  and are connected to others through a common power source. Having wires running through the entirety of the vehicle is common and can prove challenging for electrical engineers.

In a practical sense, there are four common types of clearance issues for wiring.

· Clearance for Installation

· Clearance for Wiring

· Clearance for Operation

· Clearance for Service

Let us go a little deeper into the clearances encountered in modern vehicles and the questions that need to be asked when designing for them.

Clearance for Installation

This boils down to a matter of space. Is there enough room for the component where you want it to go? Are there any obstructions? Can the doors, hood, and other movable bodies operate through their designed range of motion, without interference?  Do the components have to be installed before or after another one to avoid interference during installation?

Clearance for Wiring

Once the component is installed, can you get the associated wiring to it? Is there enough room for the wiring connectors? Is there enough room for maintenance to be performed? Is there enough room for the wiring harness after connectors are installed? Is there space for wiring harness bends?

Clearance for Operation

If the component is a switch or knob, can you reach it from a normal driving position? Will adjacent component cause interference when trying to operate such component? Can it be operated when the driver is wearing gloves? Do operations of components interfere with others?

Clearance for Service

If a component eventually fails, is it possible to replace it? Is there space around the component to make adjustments? Is there space to unplug the wire connectors for testing reasons?

Clearance Needs Consideration

There is a lot of thought when designating connector and wiring harness location. Making sure that placement does not interfere with other designs is important, as well as the functionality the device. Serviceability, maintenance, and personal interaction all have their proper place in component location.

Environmental Impact

Vehicles produce large amounts of heat and can damage wiring and components if care is not taken during design placement. It is not news that a vehicle must function with the aid of the engine management system lying underneath the hood. Sensors for the brakes, suspension, and transmission experience immense amount of motion that can break wiring and components with minimal load. Designing systems to accommodate these scenarios is crucial for keeping the system in tact.

Thermal Engine Generation

Heat generated from the motor can melt through insulation and plastic connectors in seconds with direct contact. The temperature of an engine can easily exceed the melting temperature of plastic connectors. Designing for component location for a safe distance from the engine is crucial, especially since wiring space is limited underneath the hood. Mounting location for connectors need to almost exist in a semi static state. Where wiring motion is limited by mounting ties installed on components, or locations, that experience minimal engine heat transfer.

Component Failure Through Mechanical Motion

“The wheels on the bus go round and round”, this phrase is not simple a line from a children's song, but hold true merit in rotational motion produced by the vehicle's wheels. Sensors are positioned near, or inside, the rim of the wheel to determine the rotational speed that informs the drive of vehicular speed. These little fragile devices need to be positioned to avoid collision and cause damage the sensor.

Damping system use to be purely mechanical and functioned without the need for electronic assistance. Today, spring-damper systems are utilizing dynamic feedback from road conditions that the vehicular sensors monitor and change damping based on personal settings and driving conditions. The damping system requires a large range of travel for the components and wiring to move through. Appropriate wire length, part interference, and quality design are required to maintain system integrity and avoid damaged components.

How Can We Make This Easier For Engineers

Zuken is at the top of the automotive market when it comes to development and integration of vehicular components, from electrical to mechanical engineering. E3.series is an engineering platform that offers features that merges the two disciplines into one common program. Integrating vehicular mechanical design with electrical systems to produce a model with the best of both worlds. The automated design process aids in designing and modeling better vehicles. Design projects contain data from schematic to harness creation to bill of materials and production format. Instantaneous object oriented architecture ensures that all design elements, attributes, and changes are immediately reflected through to production.

E3.Cable Design and Documentation

E3.cable is used for designing and documenting cable plans and harness layouts. Individual conductors are combined together in the design to develop new cables and harnesses. Shielding and twisted-pairs structures can be added to the cables and automatically reported in the schematic design. 

E3.3D Routing Bridge

To help strive for the best in show design, Zuken has developed links between E3.series and all major MCAD (mechanical CAD) vendors, allowing the creation of fully integrated design model. Using the E3.3D Routing Bridge, schematic and connection information from E3.series can be interfaced to all major MCAD systems. Features including:

· Transfer Component Information to MCAD (connectors, pins, splices)

· Transfer to-from Data to MCAD

· Check for Collision, or clash, detection in MCAD

· Check for Wire Bend Radius

· Automatically Calculate Length of Wires and Segments in MCAD

· Automatic Creation of Manufacturing Documentation in E3.Formboard

There is no need to change your current solid modeling platform as it can be easily integrated with:

· CATIA V5

· Solidworks

· PTC Creo (Pro/Engineering)

· Autodesk Inventor

· Siemens NX

· Solid Edge

· NX I-deas