BACKGROUND VEHICLE DYNAMICS AND CONTROL
How WABCO Electronic System Innovations Contribute to Improved Road Safety
In the global commercial vehicles industry, European truck makers and their customers are still setting the pace for electronic innovations. Today, a typical European truck-trailer combination is equipped with an increasing array of complex and essential electronic control systems such as ABS (Anti-locking Braking System), automatic traction control (ATC) and electronic braking systems (EBS), stability control systems besides driveline controls. WABCO pioneered commercial vehicle ESC (Electronic Stability Control) in 2001 as an optional function added to Electronic Braking System (EBS) thus setting WABCO’s successful milestone in commercial vehicle safety. A new up-coming EU legislation, mandating Electronic Stability Control (ESC) to be fitted on new commercial vehicles starting in 2010, will lead to a significantly higher penetration of this system within the next years.
The system protects against roll-over, skidding, spinning and jack-knifing and thus contributes to commercial vehicle safety in times of still growing traffic density and related road hazards.
Electronics Revolution
And there are more electronic innovations to come: In 2004, WABCO launched intelligent Adaptive Cruise Controls (ACC) for heavy duty trucks, which represents the next step towards a new milestone in commercial vehicle electronics: a revolutionary Emergency Braking System (AEB) is currently being developed by the WABCO engineers. Like all WABCO products these systems in addition to contributing to vehicle and traffic safety and supporting the driver, help to achieve a reduction in overall costs over vehicle lifetime.
At first step into this future was set by the launch of the new On Guard System in North America beginning this year. Based on previously developed ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) radar sensor technology ACC the system was extended to a collision mitigation system.
To provide fleet and aftermarket customers with support in decoding the electronic complexity, WABCO offers a growing range of efficient, supportive tools and services, such as state of the art diagnostic systems and an extensive training-programme, the WABCO University. Offering revolutionary technology is only one side of the medal. Sharing ideas, knowledge and expertise with customers including manufacturers, fleets and workshops will be the features of the leading suppliers in the commercial vehicle industry.