ADAPTIVE CONTROL BRAKING SYSTEM USING

LABVIEW**
1
AUTHORS: - Somil Gautam 2.Nishith Verma
1
Dept. of Electronics and Communication Engineering
2
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Shaheed Bhagat Singh College of Engineering and Technology,
Ferozepur, Punjab
GUIDE: - Shitij Arora, Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd.,
Kabir Krishan, Sonal Asgotraa

** To be Poster- presented at the World Automotive Congress 2008 (FISTIA)

CATEGORY: - STUDENT

BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTATION:-

Virtual instrumentation allows us to use mainstream computer technologies

combining it with innovative software and flexible hardware. This makes it possible
for us to develop computer based instrumentation solutions. As the concept of virtual
instrumentation is based on standard commercial technologies it easily serves the
masses. Virtual instrumentation enables students, engineers and scientists to build
powerful applications for increasing productivity and performance throughput.

PRODUCTS [1] USED:-

LabVIEW 8.2; RT & FPGA

Compact Rio Modules:
cRIO-9002 (Embedded Controller)
cRIO-9201 (Analog Input Module)
cRIO-9263 (Analog Output Module)
cRIO-9101 (4 slot chassis)
LVDT-HAS 750 (Macrosensors)
LVDT signal Conditioner: - LVC-2500 (Macrosensors) [2]
Ultrasonic Proximity Sensor-946 (Honeywell) [3]

CHALLENGE:-

Develop an automated adaptive braking System in automobiles with an effort to

increase driver’s comfortability and enhancing braking efficiency.

ABOUT THE PROBLEM

Our solution helps in increasing the comfort of the passengers of the vehicle during
braking. As we drive everyday we unconsciously learn to use the brakes in the most
optimum way in order to increase our comfort. While driving when we see a
vehicle/obstacle in front of us, we apply brakes. The brakes of course are not
slammed immediately but slowly we press the brake pedal to stop the vehicle with
the least possible jerking, providing maximum comfort to the passengers and in time
to avoid a collision. Here we try to automatically monitor the braking force required to
maximize the comfort during braking.

SOLUTION:-

We introduce an adaptive control braking system that aids the braking mechanism to
augment passenger comfort through its smart sensing and controlled braking using
NI Compactrio, LABVIEW 8.2 with RT and FPGA modules.
Firstly, we do data acquisition from the ultrasonic proximity sensors, put around the
automobile, to calculate the distance of the automobiles around it. The output DC
Voltage is fed into another channel of NI 9201 I/P module. Simultaneously the piston
movement in the master cylinder of the braking system is measured through a LVDT,
whose output AC voltage after conditioning, is fed into a NI 9201 analog input
module of the Compactrio. Now, LABVIEW monitors and analyses the data from
both these sensors and controls the modulator valve & the pump of the brake lines,
using the signal generated from NI 9263 analog output module. The pump is
synchronized to this signal which pumps out the not required brake fluid from the
system, thereby bringing about an adaptive controlled comfort braking in
Automobiles.

INTRODUCTION:-

An unaccustomed driver not always has a sound judgment of the surrounding traffic
and frequently depresses the brake pedal, causing a poor, jerky drive. Hence we
make use of an adaptive braking mechanism, which uses the concept of proximity
sensors and LVDT. Here we introduce a real time automated braking mechanism to
check the jerky cruise of the automobile.
An automobile braking process is very complex and a lot of parameters need to
evaluate for detection. The car braking system is conventionally a hydraulic system,
consisting of a master cylinder, wheel cylinders, brake line circuit, and the
combination valve. The combination valve comprises of three separate devices: the
metering valve, the pressure differential switch, and the proportionating valve which
controls the regulation of brake fluid in the circuit.

Figure 1. [4]
The brake pedal when pressed moves the piston of the master cylinder and supplies
the pressure to the hydraulic circuit, the pressure of the fluid being proportional to the
force applied to the brake pedal. The pressurized brake fluid pushes the pistons of
wheel cylinders which move out the brake pads and engage the brakes against the
rotor, the piston movement thereby commensurating the pressure in the brake lines.

The master cylinder controls the hydraulic pressure in the braking cylinder. The
hydraulic system connects the master cylinder to the brake cylinder. The hydraulic
fluid must pass through a valve and a chamber to get to the brake cylinder. When
the brakes are engaged under normal use, the valve is open, and the pressure in the
chamber is the same as the pressure in the master cylinder.

In order to obtain the real time pressure (Pi(t)) of automobile brake cylinder, (Pi(t))
must be confirmed. In the braking system with steady pressure source, the pressure
is unchanged during the braking process. The trig methods of braking can be divided
five modes such as increasing, slow increasing, retaining, slow decreasing, and
decreasing pressure. The trigging effect of braking cylinder can be described with
pressure function of different trig mode. Because the structure of modules such as
adjust switch, vitta, cylinder are immovable in a definitive automobile and the period
of pressure adjust is only scores millisecond when trig pressure is stable during
brake process, the pressure function of cylinder (Pi(t)) can be described as second-
order multinomial:

The pressure data under each adjust mode is calibrated with the master cylinder
piston movement which is measured precisely by the LVDT.

SYSTEM SETUP:-

The system setup comprises of a Compactrio with an Analog input and output
modules. This enables us in building our application in real-time with high
determinism. We also made use of LVDT for piston movement calculation and
Honeywell’s ultrasonic proximity sensors for intervehicular distance acquisition.

In the setup, a linear variable differential transformer measures the piston movement
of the master cylinder and generates an output of voltage or current. The output
signal generated is conditioned using a LVDT signal Conditioner: - LVC-2500 and
then feeding it into cRIO-9201 (Analog Input Module) voltage of a Compactrio. This
voltage data acquired is calibrated with the piston movement in Labview.
A LVDT sensor principle is that there is no electrical contact across the transducer
position sensing element which for the user of the sensor means clean data, infinite
resolution and a very long life, thereby enabling it to be used in an automobile

In order to detect the intervehicular traffic we introduce the concept of ultrasonic

proximity sensors. Besides having a detection range of 20 meters, this Ultrasonic
Proximity Sensor-946 (Honeywell) has an inbuilt waveform generator of 30 kHz.
On detection, these sensors produce a DC voltage inversely proportional to distance
of the vehicle from it, by programmatically introducing a negative slope for voltage
output. This voltage produced is fed into the Compactrio 9201 (Analog Input Module)
to be monitored in LabVIEW

The braking action is now controlled by comparing the real time pressure data and
the distantial data from the proximity sensors in the program module made in
LabVIEW. On comparison, a voltage signal is fed out from the cRIO-9263 (Analog
Output Module) of the Compactrio which informs the ECU of the automobile to
control the pump, thereby causing the depressurization action. The figure 2 shows
the actual setup the break.

Figure 2 [5]

The controlling action is provided by a control valve which determines the pressure
in the cavity in front of the actuator by controlling what (the pump or the reservoir) is
connected to the actuator. The greater pressure in front of the actuator causes it to
slide back. This closes the valve between the master cylinder and the chamber. The
shaft which connects the actuator to the valve has a variable cross-sectional area.
As the actuator slides back, the amount of volume the hydraulic fluid can occupy in
the chamber increases. This decreases the pressure of the hydraulic fluid and
disengages the brakes which have been pushed unnecessarily.

Figure 3 [5]
The control valve of brake is controlled by an Electronic Control Unit (ECU). On
some systems the valve has three main positions:

• In position one, the valve is open, the pressure from the master cylinder is
passed right through the brake
• In position two, the valve blocks the line, isolating the brake from the master
cylinder.
• In position three, the valve releases some of the pressure from the brake.

Since the valve is able to release the pressure from the brakes, there has to be
some way to put that pressure back. That is what the pump does; when a valve
reduces the pressure in a line, the pump is there to get the pressure backup. This
pump is controlled by the ECU controller of the car.

Figure 4

When the real time data from the proximity sensors changes with the imminent inter-
vehicular distance, the control valve returns to its original position. The cavity in front
of the actuator is now in communication with the reservoir and not the pump, so the
pressure lessens and the spring-loaded actuator returns to its original location. This
opens the valve connecting the master cylinder to the braking cylinder, and normal
operation of the brakes commences. Hence the real time data from the two different
circuits are kept quite in analysis by the ECU to achieve the maximum jerk free
braking.
SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION:-

Figure 5

We make use of LabVIEW RT and LabVIEW FPGA in our system development.

Depending upon the measurements from the LVDT and Proximity sensors, we can
easily visualize the three braking conditions on the front panel. We can also measure
the pressure in the brake lines, which is calibrated with the output voltage of the
sensors. Data logging is also possible on spreadsheet in order to use these
measurements for future references. Hence, LabVIEW monitors data from the
proximity sensors and the LVDT Transducer. After monitoring and comparing data
from both these sensors, it generates a control signal through the Compactrio analog
output module to actuate the pressurization action of the Pump. This enables us to
develop a Real-time data acquisition system that is highly deterministic and possess
standalone characteristics.

THEORY AND RESULTS:-

The braking pressure is a function of the master cylinder piston movement. The
braking pressure was studied for the depressed condition of the brake pedal and it is
generally seen that the normal braking requires just a 3/4th of the brake pedal
depressing. Only in emergency conditions the pedal is depressed fully and pressure
beyond 30 bar is generated in the brake lines.
To give an overview, Adaptive Control Braking will activate if the following criteria are
met:

• Brake pressure in the master brake cylinder is over the threshold pressure but
less than the pressure at 3/4th depressing (30 bar) and the intervehicular
distance is beyond the range of ultrasonic sensors.
• brake pressure build-up is greater than 6000 bar/second
• vehicle is not traveling in reverse

The pressure generation curve is a parabolic shape, increasing with the piston
movement (or the pedal depressed).

Graph 1

Piston Movement (mm) Pressure (bars)

2.000000 0.13333333
4.000000 0.53333333
6.000000 1.20000000
8.000000 2.13333333
10.000000 3.33333333
12.000000 4.80000000
14.000000 6.53333333
16.000000 8.53333333
18.000000 10.80000000
20.000000 13.33333333
22.000000 16.13333333
24.000000 19.20000000
26.000000 22.53333333
28.000000 26.13333333
30.000000 30.00000000

Table 1
According to our contention, the pressure been generated in brake lines is not
always the pressure required, because much of it is due to the unnecessary
pressure applied to the brake pedal. So the required pressure statistics are governed
by the real time distance data been acquired from the Ultrasonic Proximity sensors.
If the upcoming vehicle is beyond the range of proximity sensors, i.e. 20 meters, it
pertains that much of the braking pressure been generated is not required. So we fix
a ratio of pressure that has to be released by the pump, for a defined piston
movement. This has been shown in the graph given below.

Graph 2

When the vehicle comes into the 20 meter range, the proximity sensors then start up
with their function and keep sending the voltage signals to the Analog input module
of the Compact Rio in proportion to the inter vehicular distance.

If the case turns out to be requiring emergency stoppage of the vehicle, it can be
done in following two ways:

• The proximity sensors sense the vehicular distance, and if it measures it to be

below a specified requirement, it pressurizes the brake line with more fluid,
hence, bringing about the work of a power brake. Thus the car would intend to
stop in much less time than it would have been in the normal depressing of the
brake. This is shown in the following graph:

Graph 3
• Secondly in an emergency situation, the driver is ought to be pressing the brake
pedal fully, beyond the 3/4th depressing, which is the operating condition been set
up for the working of our system. So in emergency, when the brake pedal is
depressed fully, this module stops working, and the normal braking process
comes into operation.

NI PRODUCTS A PART OF OUR APPLICATION:-

In order to acquire voltage signals from the LVDT and Proximity sensors we made
use of analog input module. Similarly, we required an analog output voltage to
control our application. LabVIEW besides its easy graphical programming technique
made interfacing with these modules very simple. And lastly CompactRio made it
possible for us to make our system deterministic and stand alone in operation.

SPECIFIC CAPABILTIES:-

We have used both NI’s software and hardware for our project development. The
LabVIEW environment makes interfacing with any measurement hardware simple
besides quickly acquiring and generating signals and allowing configuration based
data acquisition.
Labview Realtime and Labview FPGA modules enabled us to deliver highly
deterministic performance besides deploying the application as a standalone
embedded system.
Compactrio as a hardware allowed us to do custom measurement with highly
accurate loop rates. The Crio modules used were not only hot swappable with built in
signal conditioning but had a high operating temperature range.

BENEFITS OF THE APPLICATION

This project saves less in monetary terms but more in terms of the health of people,
though it can be easily converted into health expenditures at a later stage. Health
related issues maybe seen in passengers exposed to frequent jerks while driving.
Some of the affected areas being the spine, neck.

CONCLUSION:-

The system uses modernistic instrumentation controls to generate a system that

acquires real time data from the master cylinder piston through LVDT and the
surroundings of the vehicle through proximity sensors, analyzing the data and
thereby controlling the braking operation as a whole to achieve maximum jerk free
cruise. Alongside, the additional advantage of this system is the increase in
effectiveness of the braking, and tackling emergency situation by its power brake like
function.

The persistence to achieve comfort increases with the evolution of the automobiles.
Comfort is defined as the maximum a machine can provide without the indulgence of
its user. When it comes to comfort, the domain does not just remain to the
automobile’s spaciousness or the seating comfort, but the word comfort itself
digresses it towards a more user-friendly system. The braking comfort and
effectiveness, though seems to be an ignored area in automobile development, but
its advent into the automobile dictionary has its own connotation.

REFERENCES:

1) www.ni.com/India
2) www.honeywell.com
3) http://www.macrosensors.com/lvdt_macro_sensors/lvdt_products/lvdt_signal_con
ditioning/signal_conditioners/lvc2500.html
4) www.howstuffoworks.com
5) Newton, Steeds, and Garrett. (1996) the Motor Vehicle, Oxford, England.
Butterworth-Heinemann Press.
6) Real-Time Speed Measure while Automobile Braking on Soft
Sensing Technique W B Zhu, D S Li and Y Lu China Jiliang University, Hangzhou,
Zhejiang province, China, 310018
7) Handbook of modern Sensors, 3rd edition physics, design and application – Jacob
Fraden
8) Automotive Electronics Handbook: Edited by Ronald K. Jurgen, McGraw –Hill
Inc., Part 3 – Control System
9) Dynamics of the Automobile Related to Drive Control, D. H. Weir - Systems
Technology, Inc. C. P. Shortwell - Systems Technology, Inc. W. A. Johnson -
Systems Technology, Inc.
10) Computer based electronic Measurement: An introductory electronics laboratory
Workbook; Based on LabVIEW and virtual bench -A. Bruce Buckman