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Truck & Off-Highway Engineering, October 2017, Volume 25, Number 5. Truck & Off-Highway
Engineering (ISSN 2475-6148) is published in February, April, June, August, October, December
by Tech Briefs Media Group, An SAE International Company, 261 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1901, New
York, NY 10016 and printed in Mechanicsburg, PA. Copyright 2017 SAE International. Annual
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ISSN 2475-6148 (print)
Audited by
EDITORIAL
Ryan Gehm
+1.908.300.2539
Editor-in-Chief
dstygar@techbriefs.com
Ryan.Gehm@sae.org
Midwest/Great Lakes:
Lindsay Brooke
IN, MI, WI, IA, IL, MN
Senior Editor
Chris Kennedy
Lindsay.Brooke@sae.org
+1.847.498.4520, x3008
Jennifer Shuttleworth ckennedy@techbriefs.com
Associate Editor
Deep learning how to drive
Midwest/Central Canada:
Jennifer.Shuttleworth@sae.org
KS, KY, MO, NE, ND, SD, ON, MB
Lisa Arrigo Bob Casey
Custom Electronic +1.847.223.5225
Learning to drive as a teen is a rite of pas- type of processors, to get to [SAE] Level Products Editor bobc@techbriefs.com
Lisa.Arrigo@sae.org
sage, my own experiences indelibly 4 or Level 5 [automation]. Rocky Mountain States/NM:
CO, ID, MT, UT, WY, NM
marked in my brain. But the brain learn- The tech company has its own test Contributors Tim Powers
+1.973.409.4762
ing to drive in the future wont be blow- car called BB8yes, in honor of the Star Stuart Birch tpowers@techbriefs.com
European Editor
ing out sixteen candles, if Nvidia has its Wars droidthats been trained to drive Southern CA, AZ, NV:
Jack Yamaguchi Tom Boris
way. Deep learninga programming by watching a human driver. Huynh Asia Editor +1.949.715.7779
model that builds a neural net, basically showed a video clip of BB8 descending Steven Ashley, Matthew Borst,
tomboris@techbriefs.com
a self-adaptive algorithm that acts like a a steep, winding street. With tradi- Kami Buchholz, Dan Carney,
Terry Costlow, Richard Gardner,
Northern CA, WA, OR,
Western Canada:
human brain after being trained by data tional software, you would basically Bruce Morey, Linda Trego, Craig Pitcher
Paul Weissler +1.408.778.0300
is the perfect solution for self-driving ve- write algorithms: detect the sign, detect cpitcher@techbriefs.com
hicles, according to Tri Huynh, Nvidias the lanes, dont hit this, dont hit that. DESIGN
Senior Manager of Business Development What weve done is mounted a camera International
Lois Erlacher
Europe Central & Eastern:
Autonomous Vehicles. inside looking at the person, some sen- Creative Director
Sven Anacker
sors looking at the steering angle, and a Ray Carlson Britta Steinberg
Associate Art Director +49.202.27169.11
camera outside looking at the environ- sa@intermediapartners.de
steinberg@intermediapartners.de
ment. Its learning just like how youd SALES & Europe Western:
teach your kids how to drive; theres no
MARKETING Chris Shaw
+44.1270.522130
additional software detecting the curb, Joe Pramberger chris.shaw@chrisshawmedia.co.uk
the bush, etc. Publisher China:
joe@techbriefs.com
Deep learning and AI are being used Alan Ao
+86.21.6140.8920
Debbie Rothwell
for non-self-driving situations, toofor Marketing Director alan.ao@sae.org
drothwell@techbriefs.com
example, employing AI as essentially an Japan:
Shigenori Nagatomo
Martha Tress
active safety element in vehicles. In a Recruitment Sales Manager +81.3.3661.6138
Nagatomo-pbi@gol.com
scenario shown on screen at COMVEC +1.724.772.7155
Martha.Tress@sae.org South Korea:
17, the driver doesnt see a truck about Eun-Tae Kim
Xavier AI supercomputer for self-driving vehicles. +82-2-564-3971/2
to run a red light. As she begins to ac- REGIONAL ksae1@ksae.org
celerate through the intersection, her SALES
One of the hardest computer sci- car sees whats about to occur and pre- Integrated Media
North America Consultants
ence problems is self-driving, he said vents the accident. This is a great ap-
New England/Eastern Canada:
during a Sept. 18 session at SAE plication for deep learning and AI, for ME, VT, NH, MA, RI, QC Angelo Danza
+1.973.874.0271
Ed Marecki
COMVEC 17 on Vehicle Architectures for safety in the vehicle, he said. +1.401.351.0274 adanza@techbriefs.com
Connectivity and Processing. The The other use case involves California- emarecki@techbriefs.com Patrick Harvey
CT: +1.973.409.4686
things you have to detect on the road, based Blue River Technology, a preci- Stan Greenfield pharvey@techbriefs.com
and make the right decision, is a nearly sion-agriculture tech company that uses +1.203.938.2418
greenco@optonline.net
Todd Holtz
+1.973.545.2566
impossible software problem; you can Nvidia technology for its advanced Mid-Atlantic/Southeast/TX: tholtz@techbriefs.com
never write enough software to detect spraying equipment. They put cameras MD, DC, VA, WV, KY, TN, NC, SC, Rick Rosenberg
GA, FL, AL, MS, LA, AR, OK, TX +1.973.545.2565
everything you see out there. and our computers on the tractor and Ray Tompkins rrosenberg@techbriefs.com
+1.281.313.1004
Rather, Nvidia is building a supercom- theyre using deep learning algorithms rayt@techbriefs.com Scott Williams
puter inside the vehicle. This processor, to detect what are weeds and [deter- +1.973.545.2464
swilliams@techbriefs.com
called Xavier, was developed at a cost of mine] how and when to use pesticide,
$1 billion, according to Huynh, and its Huynh said. The result is a reduction of
strict purpose is to drive a vehicle. Weve chemical usage by 90%. Blue River was SUBSCRIPTIONS
+1.800.869.6882
taken all weve learned for the past four just acquired in early September by SOHE@kmpsgroup.com
years on AI [artificial intelligence] and Deere & Company for $305 million.
self-driving and put it into one chip, he For self-driving vehicles, AI will pro-
said. To give you some idea of its perfor- vide a base level of performance out of
REPRINTS
Jill Kaletha
mance, this processor can do 30 trillion the box, according to Huynh, but it may +1.574.347.4211
jkaletha@mossbergco.com
operations per second at 30 wattsthats need more time to learn your behavior.
about the same performance of 180 Only our good driving behaviors, I
MacBook Pros. This is what we think its hope.
NVIDIA
Robert L. Ireland
Vice President Aerospace
Carla Bailo
Vice President Automotive
Landon Sproull
Vice President
Commercial Vehicle
Pierre Alegre
Treasurer
Automotive engineers may have thought that of the exhaust, including the exhaust manifold, David L. Schutt, PhD
after a century or more, the problems of han- thus reducing heat transfer from the hot exhaust Chief Executive Officer
dling heat in all parts of the powertrain had gas to the outer containment to help maintain Gregory L. Bradley, Esq.
been solved. But another is emerging that par- exhaust gas temperatures. This would also poten- Secretary
ticularly affects commercial vehicles (CVs) and tially have a significant impact on cold-start and
off-highway equipment: keeping exhaust heat the time taken for systems to warm up. It should Haoran Hu, PhD
only where it is wanted. also cut the operating temperature of the con-
The new challenge affects exhaust systems tainment structure, reducing the thermal de- Alain P. Jablonowski
and involves a combination of the auto indus- mands on the material and allowing more eco-
James R. Keller
trys decades-old conflicting demands: effi- nomic choices.
ciency, legislation, packaging and cost. Even the metal clamps holding the exhaust Donald Nilson
Terry Graham, managing director of thermal system can be a major source of heat loss. To
management specialist Zircotec Group, warns overcome this, Zircotec is working with a sup- Eric Tech
that expected upcoming global emissions plier on ceramic coatings options to reduce this
standards will require improvements to the effect, revealed Graham. Gareth Williams, PhD
engine, catalyst and DPF (diesel particulate Safety legislation already limits external tem- Todd Zarfos
filter), each of which is likely to increase ex- peratures. Apart from flammability, the exhaust
haust gas temperature. on a CV is more exposed to pedestrians. The SAE Sections
But there is an added challenge, said Graham: maximum external temperature, currently as and Affiliate Activities
SAE International offers educational and
Its a desire to keep heat in the exhaust to main- high as 480C (896F) on some components, networking opportunities at the grassroots
tain turbocharger efficiency and response. could be mandated down to just 70C (158F), level through more than 80 sections
around the world. Sections are currently
Zircotec believes that internal temperatures in believes Graham. located in Belarus, Canada, Colombia,
some cases will rise from 500C to levels in ex- The traditional solution would be to add Ecuador, Egypt, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy,
Malaysia, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Taiwan,
cess of 700C. In some instances, obtaining high- insulation around the affected areas, but con- U.K., Ukraine, U.S., and Venezuela. SAE
er performance from catalysts and filters may ventional materials would typically need to be also operates affiliates in Brazil and India.
More information about sections, along
require an increase in size, putting pressure on up to 70 mm thick to achieve the thermal bar- with a complete listing and links, can be
found at www.sae.org/sections.
overall packaging as hot exhaust system compo- rier performance required, he said. There just
nents encroach on other systems that could po- isnt the room for such a thickness in many ap-
tentially be vulnerable to heat damage. plications without re-routing the exhaust line
and introducing knock-on effects that would
Reducing heat transmission compromise other systems and overall packag-
ZIRCOTEC
So Zircotec is now looking at ways of reducing ing, to say nothing of the cost involved.
heat transmission throughout the entire structure On modern vehicles, heat management is
Prototypes have been produced, with rently achieves up to about 7.5 mpg,
the Zircotec ceramic-based material while the electric Nikola One truck has an
used and applied by a manifold supplier. equivalent fuel economy of 13-15 mpg.
Terry Graham, managing director of Zircotec, says Graham says early trials, and associated Most long-haul trucks end up using more
aspects of upcoming emissions standards are likely test results, are very promising. than three times more fuel than the
to result in an increase in exhaust gas temperature. Stuart Birch trucks initial cost, with some operators
units with integrated sensors dSPACE provides tailor-made test benches for each use case.
Put your systems to the test under extreme conditions, with forces and torques from
measurement data or real-time vehicle dynamics simulations. Benet from our know-how
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Our scalable systems range from small rotary test benches for ofce use, to large test
Callout 1: front radiator assembly; 2: electric steering/gearbox; 3: power electronics; 4: 320-kWh lithium-ion battery pack; 5: battery chiller and air-brake
tanks; 6: 300-kW fuel-cell stack; 7: hydrogen fueling system; 8: rear gearbox housing/independent suspension; 9: lightweight standard-duty fifth wheel.
Lease Program model that includes free cents in daily value per load, Milton said. as ensuring convenient access to fuel
hydrogen fuelmeans operators will see The weight reduction is attributed to that means, Milton asserted, the (elec-
an operating cost thats half that of a elimination of the engine, transmission tric vehicle) range anxiety that used to
conventional Class 8. and other heavy driveline components, be a huge issue is no longer there.
Also helping to reduce total operating although the Nikola One also uses Bill Visnic
POWERTRAIN
transmissions specify, a spokesperson road. This location also should provide domestic line-haul market. The company
saidwhile providing extended mainte- easier movement back and forth from now boasts a completely integrated pro-
nance intervals. Other features include a the seat to the sleeper area. prietary powertrain with improved fuel
maintenance-free organic clutch, which The column-mounted shifter takes economy and driver ergonomics.
reportedly has better control than the the ergonomics of the Models 579 and Matthew Borst
2017 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, BUILT FOR IT, their respective logos, Caterpillar Yellow, the Power Edge
trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.
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Cummins unveiled a fully operational, all-electric
CUMMINS
exploring potential partnerships to de- At the event, Cummins also displayed duty diesel engine in 2022.
velop leading technology in energy its latest near-zero natural gas engine Ryan Gehm
As manufacturers continue
to drive out cost and meet a
worldwide patchwork of regulatory
frameworks, the tools for developing those
Details of a spray flame
engines are advancing. From showcase in a compression ignition
prototypes to advanced analytical techniques, engine with intricate structures and
regions of low and high temperatures,
suppliers are helping the cause. simulated using high-performance computing
by Bruce Morey and Tabulated Flamelet Model, or TFM.
I
t is an exciting time for commercial engine designers, said components flexibly to take advantage of hybrid tech-
Michael Franke, director, light-duty diesel and commercial nologies for some applications, while using the same
engines for FEV. The U.S. Tier 4 Final emissions regulation core engine for many other applications.
forced developers to deliver compliance in a shorter-than- To help the industry understand the possibilities,
normal design cycle. Now that the industry has had an opportunity to FEV offers its proprietary ITES system, a solution to
optimize Tier 4 Final products, the focus has shifted to longer-term integrate turbo-compounding, electrification and su-
objectives in meeting end-user expectations and responding to com- percharging. FEV has developed modular engine and
petition, according to Franke. powertrain architectures to meet customized applica-
With the excitement are some cautions, especially in the small- tion requirements, while enabling cost-optimized so-
engine segment. While this engine segment was always very cost lutions through a high degree of component sharing
sensitive, we now see foreign manufacturers [trying] to enter the U.S. and component similarity across a wide range of ap-
with low-cost products, explained Franke. China and India are pro- plications, he said.
gressing quickly with implementing China VI and Bharat-VI for on-
highway applications. These new OEMs can adapt those technolo-
gies to meet off-highway Tier 4 emissions, allowing them to offer
Modularity from systems
off-highway solutions in the U.S. and Europe. engineering
The newer Stage V regulations in Europe will also offer challenges, A modular approach to engine design is required,
especially for engines greater than 37 kW. Stage V specifies particu- agrees Thaddaeus Delebinski, business unit director
late number limits not present in U.S. regulations, and Franke pre- for diesel systems at IAV. In addition to the diversity of
dicts engine makers will need to use particulate filters to meet it. applications and regulations in off-highway, there is
Integrating filters in the limited space of off-highway machinery is also the growing diversity of fuels, with natural gas, for
ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
challenging, perhaps requiring SCR (selective catalytic reduction) example, becoming more important than ever. But
coated filters. He also notes the challenge in Stage V for engines be- only a limited number of units are sold, he explained.
low 37 kW meeting new HC+NOx limits, perhaps requiring EGR (ex- Cost can easily get out of hand without maximum
haust gas recirculation) and DOC (diesel oxidation catalyst). commonality between engines in low-volume produc-
One of the more interesting opportunities for meeting the chal- tion. An engine maker needs a modular approach for
lenges is hybridization of various sorts, though any benefits are de- different applications and markets.
pendent on the application, said Franke. The future requires modu- Delebinski believes the key is an overall systems en-
lar engine architectures that allow the installation of electrified gineering approach to achieve that commonality. IAV
to deliver robust datasets and reduce the time for test- Dassault stresses in its pitch the need to emulate and understand
ing and validation, he said. This could potentially be the user experience, in fact terming its platform of applications as the
even more important if real-world testing migrates from 3DExperience. To understand the requirements of the engine means
its imminent introduction on-highway to off-highway, starting with the user experience while sitting in the cab and simulat-
providing an opportunity for even more data collection. ing the whole machine. This total view of cost and ownership includes
common access to CAD designs, mechanical simulations, controls and engines have not disappeared or even become worse.
systems simulations, as well as manufacturing disciplines such as cast- A good example is provided by Michael DeJack, senior
ing and assembly. technical specialist for AVLresolving low-cycle fa-
The goal is to both reduce engineering cost while producing higher tigue. Like others, AVL employs a blend of commercial
quality designs that meet performance, operating cost, and manufac- tools and its own know-how to solve many a devilish
turing cost objectives. Our customers are telling us we need to reduce problem like this.
the number of prototypesthat is where simulation comes in, he said. Durability is challenged as never before. Newer
FROM LEFT: IAV; AVL
Dassault Systemes
V6 solutions use
requirements,
functional, logical and
physical (RFLP) models
to capture an integrated
systems engineering
view of any product.
Interacting in real time,
it provides traceability
backwards in any
simulation. The top left
screen shows whole
system; requirements
are displayed in the
bottom left; top right is
the logical architecture;
and bottom right is the
functional architecture.
from low-cycle heating and cooling of engines from Breakthrough in direct simulation of combustion
start-up to shut-down, in contrast to high-cycle fa-
tigue from operating the engine. One of the more difficult things to simulate are the fine details of
Like all of engineering, the solution involves trade- injections and in-cylinder combustion, though engineering them well
offs. You could use different materials to gain has an enormous impact on emissions and fuel economy. These de-
strength, but with a trade-off in thermal conductivity. tails are computationally intensive, according to Dr. Sibendu Som,
That may require moving the coolant jacket closer to group leader and principal computational scientist for Argonne
the flame face and designing thinner walls, he said. National Laboratory (ANL). That is why the high-performance super-
Material options include cast iron, compacted graphite computing center at ANL remains an important resource for engine
iron (CGI), and ductile iron. However, their evaluations developers, including heavy duty and off-highway.
are not easy, since this involves complicated finite ele- ANL partners include on- and off-highway clients that build truck
ment models with complex material behavior. and locomotive engines. ANL helped develop optimal thermal barrier
If the devil is in the details, the solution might be in coatings using advanced heat transfer models and injector designs
the data. They use the popular non-linear finite ele- with precision spray models, for example.
ment simulation program, Abaqus from Dassault One of the more challenging phenomenon to simulate is the chemi-
Systemes. Thermal-mechanical fatigue drives high cal kinetics of in-cylinder combustion. Fuels like gasoline or diesel are
visco-plasticity in the material which we simulate with typically composed of 3000 to 5000 individual chemical species,
more advanced material models using Z-Mat by which go through hundreds of reactions while burning. Too compli-
Northwest Numerics. We have developed and cali- cated to simulate to date, engineers typically create a model fuel of 70
brated a library of advanced material models using or 80 species to replace the complex real fuel. While good enough to
this Z-Mat capability. After modeling the plasticity, model heat release rates and pressure rise, these are not good enough
AVL developed damage models to simulate time to to model particulate formation, or sootan especially important topic
failure due to thermal-mechanical fatigue. today as the health hazards of soot are better understood.
Low-cycle fatigue analysis is only one part of their That limitation has been eliminated with the development of a new
extensive iCAE tool box that AVL built around model that ANL calls Tabulated Flamelet Model, or TFM. This is useful
Abaqus and other commercial tools. It is actually a in both modeling soot better and in capturing low-temperature com-
DASSAULT SYSTEMES
knowledge database where we have detailed work- bustion characteristics, which remains important to OEMs.
flows for hundreds of analysis tasks, with access to Our new technique requires only 20% more computational time to
AVLs material database, scripts, analysis results, and model the full chemical mechanism of a real fuel, composed of up to
other codes like AVL Fire for CFD and AVL Excite for 5000 species, said Som. It could prove an important breakthrough
dynamics, he said. in advancing the fidelity of combustion simulations.
SYNCRO
1.7 and 2.2 liter
Engineers
are adding
sensors, more
powerful micros
and faster
networks as
they automate TARDEC is using
COTS components to
tasks and pave simplify integration
of sensors that
the way to pave the way to
autonomy. autonomous military
mobility systems.
by Terry Costlow
T
he race to add digital capabilities to military vehicles is chal- Standards make it easier to put a sensor array on a
lenging engineers as they strive to create sophisticated sys- vehicle. But when several cameras, radar and other
tems that can be altered and upgraded without issues. systems are all streaming in high volumes of data, it
Networking and architectural strategies rely on standards can be challenging for controllers to process data in
that help keep costs under control while giving warfighters more au- real time. These controllers must also deal with data
tomated features and functions. that comes in different formats and various data rates.
Many mainstream ground vehicles havent seen the focus given Different sensor phenomenologies have their own
drones and aircraft, but terrestrial vehicles are catching up. More sen- failure modes, and it helps to fuse the sensors for more
sors, networks and advanced microcontrollers are being deployed to robust understanding of the environment, said David
help warfighters better understand situations and respond quickly. Simon, Lead Systems Architect, Autonomy, at Lockheed
Automated systems handle some tasks so humans can focus on their Martin Missiles and Fire Control. Higher performing
roles, paving the way to autonomous mobility. sensors require additional computing. The computing
The need to configure ground vehicles for specialized tasks is driv- architectures utilizing massively parallel CPUs are a very
ing a shift to standards and commercial off the shelf (COTS) tech- good fit for processing large amounts of sensor data.
nologies that pave the way to plug-and-play modules. COTS has Several developers use smart sensors that do some
been discussed for years, but its impact is still just beginning to processing before data is sent to the controller, the
transform many higher volume vehicles. experts say. That reduces the amount of processing
We are encouraging use of open standard interfaces for a new power needed in controllers. This is important be-
system development. This will allow ground vehicle system to use cause powerful multicore processors and the software
latest sensor technology assuming it complies with the open inter- that drives them are often far more expensive than
face standard, said Alex Kade, Chief Architect, Ground Vehicle the simple processors commonly used in sensors. In
Robotics, at the U.S. Army TARDEC. In addition, pre-processing high volume vehicles, cost can often be a critical fac-
much of the sensor information within the sensing system signifi- tor. That means many designs for these vehicles use
TARDEC
cantly reduces the burden that the central-autonomy and vehicle- networked modules instead of rack mounted boards.
management ECUs have to deal with. Trucks are very cost-sensitive, so theyre not likely
Constant development and testing are under way at TARDECs Ground Systems
to use boards and backplanes, said David Jedynak,
Research Center in Warren, MI.
CTO at Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions. If a single-
board computer is $8, you still need $2-$10 for a back-
plane. Its more cost effective to buy a black box; we
make standalone computers with I/O that cost $8. On
larger vehicles, boards and backplanes give you a lot
of opportunities to repair and replace boards. For
trucks, which usually have only one computer, users Design must be
will want a box approach, Jedynak said. flexible so equipment
These cost concerns ripple down to the smallest like a mine-clearing
components. Military requirements have long been rake can be added
more stringent than automotive requisites, but that to vehicle systems.
may change as safety and reliability demands push
automotive requirements toward military levels.
Standardized connectors are always desirable, but
we also need to consider the lifecycle requirements of
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: CURTISS-WRIGHT; TARDEC; LOCKHEED MARTIN
Multi-role cores
Advances in microcontrollers impact
several facets of military development
programs. The rapid increase in comput-
ing cores lets engineers dedicate cores
to specific tasks. That makes it easier to
run virtual machines, so different operat-
ing systems can be used. Multicore chips
also keep power consumption to man-
ageable levels.
Processors like Intels Xeon have 12
processor cores and power consump-
tion similar to something thats put in a
laptop, said Mike Southworth, Product
Manager at Curtiss-Wright Defense
Solutions. That number of cores opens
the possibility of using virtual machines
that run on separate cores.
Power budgets grow in importance
as vehicles add more electronic func-
tions. Power budgets can be critical
when vehicles are being upgraded with
advanced systems. Conventional batter-
ies and wiring systems may have to give
way to higher voltages to meet growing
demands.
We have been able to integrate re-
quired sensors, by-wire kit, and com-
puter into existing Army trucks without
impacting its baseline power demands,
but this will be a constant balance be-
tween upgrading sensing, actuation,
computing power vs. component effi-
ciency improvements, Kade said.
Eventually, we may need to beef up
the electrical system, but as our ve-
hicles become more and more electri-
TARDEC
must also keep input from multiple sensors whats going on. That makes it simpler to vehicle can automatically focus in on the loca-
synchronized so data is processed in the respond quickly to attacks. When systems tion. Now, the shot detection is a siloed sys-
proper order. More networks will use some share data, all entities on the network get a tem, battle command is on another system
form of time triggering. more holistic view of whats happening. and the turret is often controlled by a human.
Modules with processors and networking Instead of having 10 discrete systems, you Terry Costlow
P
assenger cars and light-duty trucks are not optimize their designs for comparable (or better) performance at a
alone in the quest to shed pounds in an all- reduced weight. Details of the three finalists are highlighted here.
out effort to meet stricter fuel efficiency re-
quirements. Lightweighting is cited by the
U.S. EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety
Lost foam enables optimized goalpost bracket
Administration (NHTSA) as a key strategy to help me- Mack Trucks recently introduced a new torque rod bracket for the
dium and heavy trucks and trailers meet the first rear axlei.e., a goalpost bracketon its vocational vehicles such as
phase and Phase 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) and fuel the Granite, representing a 42% weight savings compared to the pre-
efficiency standards. Cutting weight from trucks offers vious part. The new bracket, made of cast ductile iron like its prede-
the bonus of potentially increasing payload capacity. cessor, enables easier installation, contributes to increased payload
Altair and the Center for Automotive Research capability, and greatly reduces cost by creating an as-cast part that
(CAR) recently recognized vehicle mass-reduction in- is optimized. The company explains how its design solution achieved
novations for the fifth consecutive year, bestowing these marks:
Enlighten Awards on four winners (read: articles.sae. To achieve this goal, we used software to create a structure that
org/15545/). Though the top honors went to automo- maintained load on the bolt at or below the current loading while at-
tive companies, the awards are open to the commer- tempting to equalize the loading as much as possible. That is the rea-
BOTH IMAGES: MACK TRUCKS
cial vehicle segmentand this year saw three finalists son for the [unique] shape around the bolt face. By directing the load
sharing their lightweighting work related to medium where we wanted, we were able to achieve a better overall distribution
and heavy truck applications. than the part it replaces. As a result, the stress concentrations are actu-
While none of these technologies is particularly ally lower than the original part in most places and under most load-
earth-shattering, they do illustrate the industrys ef- ings, but always less than peak stress of the original part. By putting
fortsas with their automotive brethrento continually material only where it is needed, we have actually improved the life of
evaluate every system and component of the vehicle to the part as well.
An optimized
Greater movement capability due to better part clearance is yet on/off fan
another benefit of the new design. drive from
Mack engineers used Altairs OptiStruct in this project to not only BorgWarner
show us the most weight-reduced result, but also to use the bolt Thermal
loading as the main constraint rather than the stiffness. This caused Systems saves
some unconventional shapes to emerge, the company noted. 1.6 kg (3.5 lb)
The result is a very open mesh with many through holes. As a green compared to the
sand casting, this would be nearly impossible to produce cost effec- baseline system
on the 2017
tively, but by using the lost foam method, with no machining, we were
Freightliner M2
able to produce very clean consistent parts that have no sharp edges with Cummins
from the tooling. This allowed for maximum weight reduction. ISL platform.
This type of solution could easily be employed in any load-bear-
ing structure, according to Mack, but is excellent in this type of
application, as the loading is purely axial with a slight rotational
input from the bushing.
We are there
Navistars SuperTruck II explores composites, WiFi to cut weight when custom
Lightweighting was one strategy pursued by
SuperTruck teams during the first phase of the
solutions are
U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored initia-
tive to improve heavy-truck freight efficiency required.
by 50%. For example, the International
Catalist features a hybrid front suspension
that leverages lightweight alloys with compos-
ite materials, reducing weight and enabling an First Sensor develops and
electronic ride height management system manufactures customized OEM
that provides dynamic ride height and pitch pressure sensors for integration
control for improved aerodynamics.
Typically, air-ride front suspensions are
into motor vehicles, special
very heavy, theyre very soft to drivebut vehicles and mobile machines.
A hybrid front suspension on the
weve integrated a composite leaf spring and
International Catalist SuperTruck leverages
an air spring into one suspension, explained
lightweight alloys and composite materials.
Dean Oppermann, chief engineer for ad-
vanced vehicles and the SuperTruck program
at Navistar. Weve been able to do it in a way composite surfaces were manufactured by a
that reduces weight of the system, maintains third-party low-volume composite compo-
our ride height control, but also offers more nent manufacturer.
stability with the leaf spring-type suspension. The continued reduction of raw material
costs and manufacturing costs of complex
composite components, coupled with the
requirement for complex aerodynamic ge-
ometries to support GHG regulations, could
make composites a viable alternative to
conventional materials for low-volume ap-
plications, he said.
Navistars emphasis on lightweighting
continues unabated with its SuperTruck II
program, which got under way late last year.
Engineers are investigating WiFi technology
for activating/deactivating features in the
The Catalist makes extensive use of carbon- vehicle, according to Oppermann.
fiber panels, in the upper body, roof headers, One of the wasted weight attributes of a
back panel and dash panel. truck is we carry harnesses that we call 150%
content. These harnesses support every fea-
Designed and developed by ture that we sell for our products even though
Hendrickson, the Catalist hybrid front sus- the feature may not be requested by our cus-
pension is approximately 40 lb (18 kg) light- tomers, he explained. Wireless and intel-
er than a conventional steel leaf suspen- ligent power distribution modules allow sup-
sionwith same load rating, he said. The hy- port of all content with a small common har-
brid suspension using a steel ness. This technology can re-
leaf, called AIRTEK, is ready for
production now. This produc-
Wireless sult in a 25- to 50-lb reduction
in wire length/complexity as
tion suspension is currently technology well as simplified routing and
being updated with an elec- presents a clipping strategies.
Other areas for light-
tronic ride height control valve
to productionize the pitch con-
lightweighting weighting under investigation
trol that has been demonstrated opportunity in Navistars SuperTruck II proj-
on the Catalist property,
Oppermann shared.
through ect include interior trim
through design and material
economically
BOTH IMAGES: NAVISTAR
greater reliability. A turbocharger and water-cooling system were added, duces drive-by noise by 50%. Thats important on
along with an electrical waste gate valve to further improve reliability roadways that are near houses, or when its used
and performance. Electronic controls are also being redesigned. around farm animals.
into its strategies. That fuel is more popular in the U.S. than methane.
Propane is part of our plan, Lambro said. One-third of the farms
in North America already have propane on the farm.
Its not just the engine thats been redesigned on the concept trac-
tor. Fuel tanks made with composite materials were altered to fit
smoothly into a design with wrap-around bodywork.
We designed the tank using composite layers, creating a tubular
structure thats easier to fit on the vehicle than a cylindrical tank,
Lennon said. Its just as easy to refuel as with diesel and it takes
about the same amount of time.
Windows were designed to provide 360-degree visibility, with a 20%
increase in the glazed area compared to a standard tractor. The pan-
oramic design offers an unobstructed view of the loader at all times.
The FPT engine is significantly different from diesels, with Connectivity is supported by an integrated Precision Land Management
specialized heads and proprietary electronic controls. receiver thats mounted on a floating glass domed roof.
Collaborating on sustainability
Field testing of the LX1 prototype begin in
late 2016. Volvo CE partnered with its
Volvo Construction Equipment part- machine architecture including a new customer Waste Management, which car-
nered with Waste Management (WM), design of the lifting unit. ried out the field tests, along with
the California Energy Commission and Decoupling all of its systems allowed CALSTART, which conducted emission
CALSTART to put its LX1 prototype elec- for the physical architecture of the ma- tests on the machine, and the California
tric hybrid wheel loader to the test: field chine to change. And thats one of the Energy Commission, which helped fund
test, that is. The company showcased big points thats different about this the LX1 project. Since the end of 2016, the
the LX1 at a media event in July at WMs wheel loader vs. the conventional and LX1 has performed hundreds of hours of
Redwood Landfill in Novato, CA. even some of the hybrid wheel loaders real work in two applications at Waste
Made up of 98% new parts, the LX1 that are on the market today, Scott Management facilities in California.
prototype series hybrid has a funda- Young, Volvo CEs Director of The target set for this project was a
mentally new machine design. It incor- Electromobility, told media at the event. 35% fuel efficiency improvement.
porates a driveline that consists of elec- The electric motors drive each of the Testing began at the Redwood
tric-drive motors mounted at the wheels and by having each of those Landfill and Recycling Center, a green
wheels, electric-driven hydraulics, a four wheels drive independently, Volvo waste composting site in the northern
battery energy storage system, a sig- CE was able to change the frame of part of California. Both fuel efficiency
nificantly smaller diesel engine and new the machine. and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
With its electrically driven hydraulic tests were conducted at the facility, and
system, Young explained we were able the results so far show an average im-
to get more efficiency out of each of provement of 50% in fuel efficiency,
the subsystems. which is equal to a reduction of 35% in
The LX1 prototype features a 3.6-L fuel consumption and GHG emissions.
diesel engine compared to the 13-L on The second test site was the Moreno
the baseline machine, the Volvo L150 Valley Transfer Station, which is a waste
wheel loader. A machine that would transfer site in southern California. The
do the work of this machine, Young LX1 achieved an average fuel efficiency
said, it would generally have an 11 or improvement of around 45%. Official
13 [liter engine]. results were to be provided to the
The LX1s wheel hub motors allow California Energy Commission and
the loading unit to be brought back CALSTART in September 2017.
farther into the machine, so that a In addition, there was a huge reduc-
FROM TOP: VOLVO CE; JENNIFER SHUTTLEWORTH
smaller machine can do the work of a tion in noise pollution compared to its
larger machine (one size larger, accord- conventional counterparts, according to
ing to Volvo CE). Decoupling offers Volvo CE.
flexibility in terms of where things can The LX1 was also tested in Sweden
be placed. Theyre not mechanically and achieved similar results to those at
coupled together [so] we get modular- the WM field test sites. In addition to
ity, he explained. And that modularity checking the LX1s efficiency in a real-
we see as something to really scale life application, Volvo CE also sought
Electric drive motors are mounted at each well not only for the wheel loader, but operator feedback. Its fantastic to get
of the wheels and help the four wheels drive for other products. this operator feedback to feed our fu-
independently, allowing Volvo CE to change the That higher efficiency offers ease to ture development projects [to] our en-
frame of the machine. tune the machine to the operator gineers in Sweden, Young said.
The LX1 hybrid loader includes a new design of the lifting unit. It can both
lift and tilt at the same time, unlike in the conventional machine, Volvo CE
test engineer Mikael Skantz told TOHE during a test ride in the LX1.
The target of this project was 35% improvement in energy efficiency and to loader fit both operations very well with just a few tweakings
quantify the greenhouse gas emissions effects of this reduction, said Volvo of the software, Meese said.
CEs Scott Young, pictured with the LX1 at partner Waste Managements
Redwood Landfill in Novato, CA. The results showed the prototype delivers The future for hybrid technology at Volvo CE
around 50% improvement in fuel efficiency during customer field testing.
As far as exploring hybrid technology beyond wheel loaders,
Young told Truck & Off-Highway Engineering that Volvo CE
According to John Meese, WMs Senior Director Heavy sees an opportunity across all product lines we have today,
Equipment, being able to use available new technologies as a but we are exploring things specifically in the haulers, excava-
company can improve our services to our end userour cus- tors and wheel loaders at this time.
tomersthrough our operations being enhanced. This was a To make hybrids more attractive compared to conventional
project we thought would work for us. technology, Volvo CEs Kent Meyers, Director, Advanced
BOTH IMAGES: JENNIFER SHUTTLEWORTH
Each of the WM facilities had different needs from the wheel Engineering Project Management, said, probably one of the
loader. At the Redwood Landfill, we wanted that machine to be biggest things is making it cost effective. Take this machine, its
as nimble as possible, Meese said. The electric drive that this got a lot of new technology98% of it is new. But I think get-
gives uswe go from standing still to max operating, say speed, ting something like this to a price point that the general popula-
very, very quickly. tion can afford, and is willing to pay for, is going to be one of
He explained that Volvo CE was able to tweak the opera- the key hurdles.
tion of the hydraulics to suit what the operator needed. In While it remains to be seen whether the LX1 will make it
Redwood, there is a need for the bucket to fill or go up or from a research project to production, the enthusiasm about
dump faster, but thats not necessary in Moreno; things might the machine and its future potential was apparent in Novato.
need to be slowed down there. The design capabilities of this Jennifer Shuttleworth
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Level 3 automation not culate the number of sensors [shown on a Bosch graphic], its 24
different sensors for front, rear, left and right observation of the
attractive for trucks trucks surroundings, and thats not considering the trailer which
would need sensors as well. So that is a significant investment.
In his opening keynote address at SAE COMVEC 17 on Sept. What does the future E/E architecture look like?
18, Dr. Johannes-Joerg Rueger, President, Commercial Vehicle Electronics is the backbone for the whole functionality.
and Off-Road, Robert Bosch GmbH, noted that a fully autono- Clearly, we need to think about how the structure of the elec-
mous vehicle would have approximately 100 million lines of tronics will look, and to build the whole architecture towards
codeabout six times that for the flight software of a Boeing what is needed in say 7 to 8 years from now. If everybody
787 Dreamliner. Apparently [automation] is easier in the air develops his own little functionality by himself, and does not
than on the road, he quipped. His point was cleargetting to think about the big picture [but only] whats needed for the
fully autonomous commercial vehicles is an extremely com- next 2 or 3 years, it probably will need to be thrown away in 3
plex undertaking. years and redeveloped. Nobody can afford that with the vol-
Rueger addressed a standing room-only crowd to kick off the umes we have. Even for passenger car, thats not really a
event, sharing his thoughts on the trends, benefits and solutions good idea; for commercial vehicles, certainly not. It is essen-
related to advanced driver assistance (ADAS) for on-highway tial to think now about the E/E architecture of the future.
vehicles and automation in both on- and off-highway operations. Thats why weve put a lot of effort into understanding what
is needed and doing studies with our customers to come to a
Is automation more important for CVs than passenger cars? common understandingIn general, Im not a big fan of pro-
Commercial vehicles play maybe even a more important role in prietary systems and a closed architecture. Im a fan of an
automation [than passenger cars]. Analyzing data from architecture which is open in a way that gives the possibility
Germany, more than 50% of accidents with casualties caused by of different parties to develop their specific content. Given the
heavy-duty trucks can be avoided with technology which cur- complexity we are talking about, I believe its the only option.
rently is availablefunctionalities like emergency braking and
lane departure warningand another almost 40% with driver- Whats happening on the off-road side?
assistance functions which will come to market in the next cou- Not surprisingly, the same automation principles and technolo-
ple of years. [In addition to] addressing road safety, no acci- gies apply for off-road operations as for on-road, because its
dents mean uptime...For passenger cars its a question of con- always about visualization of the environment, classification of
venience; its nice if you dont need to have your hands on the objects, reactions to those obstacles, and automation, which is
steering wheel and have leeway to do something else. But the the distinguishing factor. When we talk about off-road opera-
money lies in the commercial vehicle sector. If a truck could tions, it is typically not just the driving which is automated but
eventually go from A to B safely without any driver, it would the operation of the machine itself, and potentially thats even
SAE INTERNATIONAL
address road safety on the one hand and the driver shortage on more important. The same basic sensor set, which is camera-
the other, and particularly driver costs and logistic costs in total. based, radar-based, maybe ultrasonic depending on the appli-
We are talking about [SAE] Level 4 and Level 5 automation, cation, can be applied to off-road operations.
where you really have autonomous trucks. For Level 3 a whole Ryan Gehm
redundant sensor set and electronics are already needed; if then Read more about off-road automation at articles.sae.org/15636/.
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