Automated Drive Trains For Long-Haul Transport

The development of goods transport demands reliable conveyance at high average speeds. Automated drive trains satisfy these requirements. Further developments in engines, gearboxes and clutches have made it possible to present a fully automated drive train, the individual components of which are regulated by a vehicle computer (VC). Work normally performed by the driver is now done by the VC. The driver passes his requirements on to the VC by means of the accelerator and brake pedals, while the type of operation can be selected in advance by the flick of a switch. In the selection of gears the gearshift strategy takes into account the operational status of the vehicle, vehicle-specific data stored to the VC and the engine map. Operational reliability is achieved by diagnosis of faults, an emergency driving function and redundancy in the design of the most important sensors. The reliability of the various components of the drive train is assured by the electronic system associated with each one. The VC can be programmed to deal with different operating conditions. The correctness of the concept has been confirmed by measurement.