Chipping away at drivetrain challenges

Chips, sensors, controllers, software all combine to help engineers improve efficiency.

Drivetrains are undergoing a significant change as electronic controls manage more operations, helping equipment makers improve operating efficiency. As engineers increase precision with control modules, they are adding more sensors and adopting microcontrollers that have higher speeds and more memory.

Many of these changes are being driven by the push to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. But the conversion to electronic controls stretches much further, impacting oil pumps and software while forcing drivetrain engineers to extend their definition of noise to include electromagnetic interference.