Electrifying vehicles would not simply imply exchanging out engines for batteries and electrical motors. Other automobile elements are getting large upgrades due to electrons.
Brembo is trying to take the “panic” out of panic cease with a brand new system known as Sensify. The characteristic, presently being examined, however underneath improvement for 10 years, eliminates the primary elements of in the present day’s typical braking programs, exchanging them for top tech elements.
Gone are the grasp cylinder, brake traces and brake fluid. In their place are a smaller, lighter electrical setup that makes use of actuators and algorithms to clamp down on the brake disc as an alternative of fluid strain.
“A little bit over a year ago Brembo introduced its new vision. Not be satisfied with what we’ve achieved over the years, but to further our leverage, our knowhow, and our skills to develop the products of tomorrow. Sensify is the tangible implementation of our mission,” Stephane Rolland, President and CEO of Brembo North America informed Newsweek.
“When you feel in full control and safe, you’re willing to be more daring, and express your full potential. This is what Sensify will deliver,” he mentioned. “It’s the merger of two words. Sense, the ability to perceive and external signal. And the word simplify, which is about the way the system can be integrated into the current ecosystem.”
The Sensify system stops quicker than conventional braking programs, but additionally eliminates the pulsing brake pedal feeling of conventional antilock brakes. Brembo says it may be put in on two wheels or all 4, and ultimately on business and racing automobiles.
The Sensify system lessens drag between the brake discs and pads, resulting in longer life for each and higher mileage or vary on an electrical car.
Brembo North America
It seems like a brake-by-wire system just like the Toyota Prius, Lexus RX, Alfa Romeo Giulia and some others presently make use of, however Rolland assured that it was completely different.
“No, it is not a brake-by-wire system, it’s a totally new experience. It is very similar to breakthrough innovation that occurred years ago in the automotive sector years ago with antilock brakes and electronic skid protection,” mentioned Rolland.
“Sensify will deliver driving pleasure and total safety. Both of which are Brembo values. We’re moving from a system that for decades simultaneously applied the same braking pressure to all four wheels, to a system that independently manages the forces on each of the wheels depending on the driver’s needs, the vehicle dynamics or road conditions.”
It additionally has security redundancies inbuilt, in case of {an electrical} downside. Eventually it would work like an airplane’s electrical system with backups for every element.
Brembo North America
“According to the detected fault, Sensify switches on different secondary braking that preserves the deceleration performance and the vehicle stability,” Brembo North America Mechatronics Engineer Zacharia Spykstra informed Newsweek. “In case of loss of power supply, the service braking is guaranteed by the hydraulic backup line on the front axle. In the future, with the four electro-mechanical brakes on all corners the power supply system will be fully redundant, like on a plane.”
The Sensify system begins with the pedals, which may have completely different functions for various drivers. For driver 1, full brake strain may take an inch of pedal journey. Driver 2 may need one thing softer, and that may be programmed.
There’s no want for a fluid-filled grasp cylinder within the full Sensify system, although Brembo did present a hybrid system with electromechanical calipers in entrance and conventional fluid calipers on the rear wheels. Those new electrical calipers can lock up quicker than any human can press a brake pedal, particularly when computerized emergency braking is activated.
It would not pulse again on the driver’s foot throughout a panic cease both. A automobile with antilock brakes locks up all 4 wheels, after which lets each roll a bit to maintain the automobile straight whereas coming to a cease. The Sensify system applies the precise quantity of strain wanted to cease rapidly with out locking up the tires, with no pushback really feel and close to excellent management, even round a nook braking from excessive pace.
Brembo North America
“Sensify combines our knowhow and skill with our current product portfolio. Calipers, discs, friction material, and we’re combining this along with digitalization and artificial intelligence. We’ve made an evolutionary platform that includes software, predictive algorithms, data management, which allows us to have an active contribution to the car’s handling,” mentioned Rolland.
“The brake system as we know it will no longer be the sum of parts, but it will become an ecosystem where AI and software will play an active role, leveraging data collection to improve the driver’s experience and ensure the system is constantly updated, and continuously improved.”
The system reduces particulate matter from the friction materials because it has about 80 % much less drag on the discs in comparison with a automobile with conventional calipers. It’s just some newton-meters much less strain, nevertheless it improves the longevity of the brakes and discs.
“The way Sensify handles optimized braking at each of the wheels, along with the absence of drag that we have in our system between the discs and friction material, significantly reduces the level of particle emissions. It’s a sustainable braking solution,” mentioned Rolland.
Sensify will give designers and engineers extra freedom as effectively, because the elements do not have to be situated close to the motive force.
“The advantage of Sensify is that you can position the brake components, including the actuators, closer to the corner of the car which will leave more space in the hood, and in general leaving more space in the car resulting in better architecture opportunities, especially for the EV vehicles,” Spykstra mentioned. “In addition, the absence of brake fluid, which avoids complications of bleeding the system, adds some considerable advantage in terms of storage and savings.”
Brembo has a number of tasks in improvement with the Sensify system and expects it to be out there available on the market in 2024. When it does drivers will nonetheless be panic stopping, it’s going to simply be a safer, much less dramatic endeavor.