The automotive industry has been increasingly researching and working on improving vehicle and passenger safety over the years. Following countries such as the United States and European Union, the Brazilian government has been publishing many resolutions with the objective of improving the safety of their fleet. With the publication of resolution 312 from CONTRAN (National Traffic Counsel), on April 3rd, 2009, the installation of ABS (Anti-lock Brake System) feature has become mandatory for all car and truck models to be sold in Brazil, following a staggered implementation starting on January 1st, 2010. The ABS system adds to the vehicle's current brake system, not allowing the wheels to lock during braking, which helps preserve the vehicle's stability and improve its safety, thus avoiding accidents. The technology, which is already available in a few car models, is not yet developed for the heavy trucks applications in this market. The aim of this article is to present the implementation of the ABS system on an existing heavy truck line-up for the Brazilian market.
This work presents the background of ABS regulation and demonstrates the physical modifications involved in implementing the ABS system to the proposed truck line up. It also summarizes and all validations and performance testing that was completed, presenting a comparison between the ABS-equipped vehicles and the current non-ABS vehicles.