A Sequential Method for Automotive Millimeter-Wave Radar Self-Calibration Based on Optimization

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Automotive radar and Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) technology are currently being developed focusing in the safety of the drivers and passengers. The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTHSA) announced that it is going to create a formal path forward for vehicle-to-vehicle communication for light vehicles meaning that NTHSA will start regulatory proposals on how this technology could become mandatory in the future. Automotive short-range radar (SRR) uses the electromagnetic field distribution around a vehicle including reflection from other objects to detect obstacles. If the vehicle is moving the radars can warn the driver to possible impacts and even automatically trigger safety devices such as seat belts or air bags. One of the biggest challenges on the design of SRR is the high frequency of operation which makes it difficult the use numerical simulation due to the small wavelength, leading to electrical large models. SRR works on 24 GHz and 79 GHz bands. The 79 GHz band is considered to be the long-term operating frequency for SRR. The challenges on the design of V2V technology are related to security issues of the system. Since V2V can act in a passive way (alerting the driver only) and in an active way (triggering actions and devices in the vehicle) the security of the information that is being transmitted must be very protected. Nevertheless, this work focuses only on the physical layer of the system, meaning that only the physical devices are going to be detailed. As for V2V, the one of the biggest challenge is to early predict communication between vehicles using simulation due to the large model that would include many vehicles. This work presents the design of an automotive SRR system on silicon technologies and its performance on a vehicle. A V2V example showing the communication among vehicles is also. Lastly, an application including V2V and SRR in a vehicle is demonstrated.</div></div>

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Recyclable content of motor vehicles is presently 75%, by weight, the majority of which is iron based components. Approximately 9% of the vehicle weight is in the form of various plastics. Today these materials are shredded and landfilled as automotive shredder residue (ASR). General Motors is putting greater emphasis on recycled automotive component systems through the use of the following environmental principles to guide the design and manufacture of our vehicles:</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph"> <ol class="list nostyle"> <li class="list-item"> <span class="li-label">1.</span> <div class="htmlview paragraph">General Motors is committed to actions to restore and preserve the environment.</div> </li> <li class="list-item"> <span class="li-label">2.</span> <div class="htmlview paragraph">General Motors is committed to reducing waste, conserving resources, and recycling materials at every stage of the product life cycle.</div> </li> <li class="list-item"> <span class="li-label">3.</span> <div class="htmlview paragraph">General Motors is committed to the development and implementation of new materials and process technologies to enable rapid disassembly of component systems at the end of the vehicles' useful life.</div> </li> </ol> </div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Additional forces driving recycling efforts stem from:</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph"> <ol class="list nostyle"> <li class="list-item"> <span class="li-label">1.</span> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The reduction in the number of landfills.</div> </li> <li class="list-item"> <span class="li-label">2.</span> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Anticipated future legislation aimed at the recycled content of future vehicles.</div> </li> </ol> </div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">This technical presentation contains information and descriptions of recyclable instrument panel systems. Examples of three potentially recyclable instrument panel systems will be discussed. <b>Attention</b> will be given to design flexibility, quality, and costs for automotive components manufactured from processes utilizing these materials.</div>

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Diesel aftertreatment (AT) systems are critical for controlling emissions of CO, HC, NO<sub>X</sub>, and PM in the on-road transportation sector. Ensuring compliance with regulatory standards throughout the AT system's lifespan requires precise prediction of various degradation mechanisms under real-world operating conditions and mitigating their impact through proper catalyst sizing and advanced controls. In the SwRI A2CAT-II consortium, a medium-duty diesel engine production aftertreatment system was subjected to full useful life aging, involving chemical poisoning with phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S) species, along with hydrothermal aging following the DAAAC protocol. This study was aimed to model and predict the aging trajectory of this production AT system thereby capturing changes in system dynamics under both steady-state and transient conditions. The system, designed to meet the 0.2 g/bhp-hr standard, comprised a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC), Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), and Ammonia Slip Catalyst (ASC). It was aged to 3600 hours equivalent to the DAAAC protocol and tested across a series of steady-state and regulatory cycles (HFTP, RMC, and LLC) at degreened, 33%, 66%, and 100% aging points. A linear decrease in system NOx conversion was observed between 0% to 66% aging, followed by a nonlinear drop from 66% to 100%. The cumulative decline in NOx conversion was 0.8%, which could significantly impact systems designed to meet a 0.05 g/bhp-hr target.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">IntroductionAftertreatment durability demonstration is a mandatory validation exercise for on-road medium and heavy-duty diesel engine certification. This requirement ensures that the emission compliance can be achieved for the intended full useful life (FUL) of the engine system or multiple vehicle families. Conventional Deterioration Factor (DF) approach considers linear effect of sulfur and phosphorous poisoning on the catalysts over the entire useful life based on performance from 33% of aging the catalysts and extrapolating them to FUL. However, based on various studies, the impact of fuel derived Sulfur on diesel aftertreatment components was found to be exponentially significant particularly on the SCR due to the sulfur poisoning effect which require an active means to liberate sulfur to maintain appropriate SCR NOx conversion performance. Phosphorous from lubricating oil is known to adversely affect the activity of the oxidation catalyst in a catalyzed DPF thereby reducing the passive regenerative performance of DPF. For these reasons, an extensive understanding of chemical poisoning (particularly Sulfur and Phosphoros) and hydrothermal aging are warranted to design, validate and demonstrate the durability of aftertreatment components that are subjected to the prolonged chemical exposure.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">To address the extensive challenges in durability demonstration, the Diesel Aftertreatment Accelerated Aging Protocol, or DAAAC, was developed by Southwest Research Institute as a part of consortium effort that includes input from diesel engine manufacturers [<span class="xref">1</span>, <span class="xref">2</span>, <span class="xref">3</span>]. DAAAC is an accelerated aging cycle developed for each application based on the available field data. It includes the exposure from hydrothermal aging, sulfur and lubricant derived poison at accelerated rates. The protocol also requires the entire aftertreatment system to be aged as a complete system, since the upstream components, such as DOC, can impact the chemical makeup of sulfur derived constituents.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The protocol does not introduce chemical constituents not normally observed in the field. The accelerated chemical exposure rate is limited only to a degree that has previously demonstrated successful correlation to normal, unaccelerated aging. The Protocol also requires that chemical aging mechanisms are to be introduced and / or consumed in a manner representative of the engine’s defined consumption pathways. Examples include sulfur exposure via high sulfur fuel or gaseous SO<sub>2</sub> and oil consumption via pre-combustion / post-combustion pathways. The Protocol also does not introduce chemical components that are not normally present in oil or fuel (other than doping the fuel with higher concentrations of sulfur, but this amount is relatively small). A comprehensive step by step breakdown of DAAAC protocol is presented elsewhere [<span class="xref">2</span>].</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The primary objective of this paper is to disseminate the observation of long-term impacts of chemical poisoning and hydrothermal aging on a production aftertreatment catalyst subjected to FUL DAAAC protocol. The results of this experimental campaign were used to develop and validate a model capable of predicting hydrothermal and chemical aging mechanisms of conventional diesel aftertreatment to optimize long term emissions reduction performance. The paper is divided into following sections: <ol class="list nostyle"><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">1</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Introduction: An overview of the system</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">2</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Background: A review of literature in the field of diesel AT aging</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">3</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Test Campaign: Description of experimental setup used for collection of both steady state and transient data.</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">4</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Experimental setup: Description of burner stand used for data collection.</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">5</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Results and Discussion: Description of experimental results followed by discussion about underlying degradation mechanism identified through simulation work.</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">6</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Summary and conclusion</div></li></ol></div></div>

<div class="htmlview paragraph">In recent years, the fraction of air conditioning systems installed in American automobiles has increased to approximately 85%. Concurrently, efforts to improve fuel economy have resulted in smaller engines. The point has been reached in which load from a cycling fixed-displacement compressor can significantly affect vehicle drivability and performance. To remedy this problem, variable-capacity A/C systems have been developed with mechanically controlled compressor displacements.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">An alternative electronic approach to cooling capacity modulation is presented in this paper. The system utilizes a variable-speed brushless dc motor to drive a fixed-displacement compressor, thus achieving continuous control of cooling output independent of the engine drive belt. Compared to variable-displacement compressors, electrically driven A/C systems provide the following additional benefits: <ul class="list disc"> <li class="list-item"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Hermetic motor/compressor assembly (no shaft seal leakage)</div></li> <li class="list-item"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Smaller, less complex compressor</div></li> <li class="list-item"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Flexible packaging (no drive belt)</div></li> <li class="list-item"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Full cooling capacity at any engine speed</div></li> <li class="list-item"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Control of conditioned air temperature without reheat</div></li> </ul></div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper deals with the development of a brushless dc drive system suitable for powering an automotive air conditioner. Two 5 hp motors were designed and built with maximum operating speeds of 6000 and 7000 rpm. These motors were then tested in a typical automotive air conditioning system over a range of operating conditions in order to determine their performance envelopes. The results are discussed, and conclusions are drawn as to the type of compressor and control strategy best suited for electric automotive A/C. Issues that are critical to the further development of electrically driven A/C systems are identified. An example simulation of annualized A/C system performance is also provided to quantify some of the benefits of cooling capacity modulation.</div>

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The purchase of a new automobile is unquestionably a significant investment for most customers, and with this recognition, comes a correspondingly significant expectation for quality and reliability. Amongst automotive systems -when it comes to considerations of reliability - the brakes (perhaps along with the tires) occupy a rarified position of being located in a harsh environment, subjected to continuous wear throughout their use, and are critical to the safe performance of the vehicle. Maintenance of the brake system is therefore a fact of life for most drivers - something that almost everyone must do, yet given the potentially considerable expense, it is something that of great benefit to minimize. Additionally, the performance of the brake system (like the tires) can change over the useful life of the components, realized in the form of changing friction levels, fluid consumption, and drag at a brake corner level, and realized to the driver in the form of changing pedal effort, travel, response time, and fuel economy.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Most studies of brake system performance, and most regulatory requirements that affect the design of the brake system, focus on the “near-new” condition. This is not accidental, the simple fact is that it is extremely difficult, expensive, and time consuming to realistically accelerate wear of brake components so that performance can be assessed in a worn condition. On a well-designed brake system, components in the hands of an average customer can last 5-10 years before wear out occurs, meaning that any practical study of wear effects must be greatly accelerated to occur within a typical vehicle development timeline. Environmental exposure involves many complex and time-dependent chemical reactions, which puts an upper limit on how much simulated field exposure can be accelerated.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The present study is based primarily on evaluation of brake corner performance after vehicle-level durability test exposure. Brake corners from a diverse selection of vehicles (including two hybrid vehicle examples) were retrieved from end-of test vehicles that had received the structural equivalent of 160,000 km of test exposure, along with 10 years of simulated corrosion exposure, and then subjected to performance and residual drag tests. To supplement the findings, lab-based studies of brake hardware with simulated 50% worn use and corrosion exposure are also referenced. Brake corner performance including apparent friction level, fluid consumption, drag, torque variation, and torque hysteresis were studied and related to observations of the physical condition of the parts. The effect of the measured brake corner level performance was then accounted for at a vehicle level in the form of pedal feel, fuel economy, and lining life for representative case studies.</div></div>

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">This study examines the added safety improvement effects of the Integrated (Belted) Structural Seat (ISS™) combined with an inflatable shoulder belt that inflates to form a cylindrical airbag during an automobile frontal crash. Although inflatable shoulder belts have been studied for many years with proven results, occupant impact response data and sled testing has been very limited to date when combining these two relatively new types of automotive safety systems.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Accident studies show that frontal collisions, are by far the crashes with the most serious consequences. In frontal collisions, the main lesions placed upon the occupants are thoracic, mainly high chest deceleration, head injuries which result from the high deceleration levels due to occupant’s contact with the vehicle interiors, and rib fractures resulting from the high seat belt contact forces. In order to improve this situation, it becomes important to ensure that the means used to restrain the automotive occupant (s) work as efficiently as possible early in the crash event to reduce the motion of the torso and head.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">With this perspective, it becomes important to have an occupant restraint system which has the overall injury mitigating benefits of the conventional restraint systems, but at the same time eliminates certain other potential injury mechanisms. The seat integrated inflatable shoulder belt is one such self contained restraint system which has improved occupant protection capabilities.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">HyGe™ sled tests were conducted to evaluate the injury mitigating benefits of the seat integrated inflatable shoulder belt restraint system. Sled tests were conducted for the three different sized Hybrid III dummies and using a 35 mph crash pulse. Detailed results of the sled tests are presented later in this paper, and the results are also compared with the published NCAP results for a mid-size production vehicle that has a similar vehicle crash pulse and a conventional 3-point seat belt and airbag system.</div></div>

<div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper will detail the development and validation of the world's first integrated smart automotive lead-acid battery tester. As today's automobiles add more electronic and electrical systems to the vehicle the need for reliable battery power is more important than ever. The need to determine the battery's functional life span has demanded a product to reliably test the battery's state of health (SOH).</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">After two years of development backed up by over 17 years experience in testing lead acid batteries, onGUARD™ delivers the ability to accurately test and predict the batteries life expectancy.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The paper details the elements behind the smart tester technology and its ability to measure the battery's voltage, temperature and conductance to accurately diagnose the health of the battery. A background of conductance testing technology and its approach to measuring the health of a battery by measuring the internal resistance of the battery is included. The benefits of conductance as a safe and accurate alternative to load testing in determining the Cold Cranking Amps of a battery are included.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The mechanical configuration of onGUARD will be described, as it presently is available in two platforms. One platform is fully integrated into the battery, designed for a specific manufacturer's battery. A second is an external sensor module, which can be, applied to any lead acid battery in the 300 to 1500 CCA range. The integrated onGUARD model is designed to fit inside a battery lid connected internally to the battery's posts. The onGUARD unit can be programmed to specifically test a particular battery after a battery characterization has been established, and this process will be explained. The aftermarket onGUARD unit is a universal model to be attached to the outside case of the battery. The customer interface process of pushing and holding a pushbutton on the onGUARD unit perform measurements, and a display of test results as shown by a simple series of LEDs (A pattern of green, yellow and red LEDs indicate the batteries state of health) will be included.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">A full-production lead-acid SLI automotive battery will launch in October 2002 in Japan featuring an integrated onGUARD conductance test module with SOH and voltage state of charge (SOC) diagnostics. This paper provides some technical details of that platform, and as onGUARD has application in automotive, marine and battery backup power systems, a brief mention of potential benefits from the integration of additional technologies is also presented.</div>

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Functional safety, required e.g. by IEC 61508 [<span class="xref">1</span>], encounters rising recognition in the development of automotive electronic systems. Sufficient protection against safety-critical faults has to be approved. Guidelines for corresponding metrics exist but apply either for parallel redundant architectures or for on-board diagnosis. But in automotive embedded systems, often hybrid solutions are implemented.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">In this context, the determination of safety metrics may be obstructed using the conventional methods. The underlying FMEA cannot treat failure combinations with sufficient stringency.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">An alternative approach, based on Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is described. A new safety metric was developed using the Birnbaum Importance and is called Protection against Fault Propagation (<i>PFP</i>). It considers both fault diagnosis, and redundancy.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">It was applied for the embedded steering angle sensor system from Valeo. The results provide the necessary arguments for functional safety of this system.</div>

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Motorized transport has become an essential part of our world economic system with an ever-increasing number of vehicles on the road. However, considering the depletion of energy resources and the aggravation of greenhouse gas issues, it is critical to improve vehicle fuel consumption. These demands are moving us toward advanced engine and powertrain technologies. However, understanding our progress also requires improvements in the way we measure and certify vehicle emissions and fuel economy performance.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper describes the use of an on-board fuel consumption and emissions measurement system to develop on-road fuel consumption functions that can be used to quantify the fuel economy impact of vehicle, road and traffic control changes. The system uses an ECM OBD-II scanner, a Mass Air Flow meter and an emissions analyzer to monitor fuel consumption and exhaust CO<sub>2</sub> emission rates (in g/s) as well as vehicle speed and other parameters. All measurements are coordinated and recorded using a laptop computer. Vehicle tractive power is calculated from speed measurements using vehicle dynamic models, allowing calculation of actual fuel efficiency. In the results, the measured CO<sub>2</sub> emission values correlate well with those predicted by a carbon balance from measured fuel consumption, confirming the validity of a range of measurements.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper reports on fuel consumption behaviors for five typical vehicles over seventy repeated tests in urban, highway and aggressive driving situations. Although it is well known that vehicle energy demand goes up with increasing steady speed, the results show the strong importance of fuel efficiency, vehicle accelerations and idle periods for actual on-road fuel consumption. Fuel efficiency is essentially zero at idle but rises to a high level for vehicle tractive power over 30% of the rated power. This trend indicates the potential for reduced fuel consumption through engine down-sizing and powertrain controls. For vehicles running in normal traffic situations, the fuel consumption tends to be best in the 60 km/h to 100 km/h <i>average vehicle speed</i> range due to the reduced severity of accelerations and lack of idling. Those results emphasize the potential for fuel savings through improvements of road structure and traffic control to reduce congestion. The test results are used to generate a fuel consumption model based on a vehicle dynamic model and speed trace. This model can be used to quantify the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas CO<sub>2</sub> emission effect for changes in vehicle characteristics and on-road operating conditions.</div>

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">A novel method for suppressing frictional vibration in sliding systems without using additional devices (e.g., dampers or actuators) is theoretically proposed. This method is based on the principle that yawing angular misalignment provides positive damping to sliding systems. Even if frictional vibration occurs due to a negative slope of the friction versus velocity characteristic, it can be suppressed by applying a misalignment angle <i>φ</i> that is larger than the critical misalignment angle <i>φ</i><sub>cr</sub>. To examine the basic applicability of this method to disc brake systems, a braking test at a constant normal load was simulated numerically. It was found that yawing angular misalignment can not only suppress frictional vibration but also shorten the braking time as a secondary effect of suppressing frictional vibration.</div></div>

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Cycle-resolved numerical and experimental analyses were carried out to study the dynamics of an automotive diesel injection system with a distributor-type pump during transient control phases. The investigation had the following main objectives: to assess a flexible and efficient simulation program of high-pressure fuel-injection systems in unsteady operating conditions; to examine the system response to rapid load or speed variations, regardless of the control device which may cause them. The program, based on a fast implicit numerical algorithm with second-order accuracy, was an extension of the computational code NAIS which had been previously developed and validated for stationary operating conditions. The experiments were made on a test bench usually used by industry to evaluate diesel injection equipment.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">A nonlinear system numerical model with two degrees of freedom, developed for the pump speed-governor, was set up and included in a library containing a variety of system component models so as to give a modular structure to the NAIS code. Comparison between computed and measured static characteristics of the governor was made in order to assess the model of this system component.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Experimental tests were carried out by rapidly moving the pump control lever from its idle position to the full-load position at two constant pump speeds, in the low and high-speed range, respectively. During these transient operations pressure time-histories were gauged and simulated cycle-by-cycle in the pumping chamber and at the distribution-pipe ends. In-cycle fuel-injected quantities were also measured and computed. Results were compared and discussed.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The dynamic system behavior under assigned transient load or speed phases was then theoretically analyzed by computing local-pressure, needle-lift and injection-rate time histories. Besides, experimental steady-state distributions of the injection rate and injection pressure, that is the pressure in the sac chamber, were compared to the simulation results during an acceleration phase at full load.</div>

<div class="section abstract"> <div class="htmlview paragraph">This SAE Recommended Practice is applicable to all light duty and medium duty passenger vehicles and trucks with feedback fuel control system. Specific applications of this document include diagnostic, service and repair manuals, repair data bases, and off-board readout devices.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">This document focuses on a diagnostic code format and code messages for automotive electronic control systems.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The use and appropriate updating of this document is strongly encouraged; however, this document does not prohibit the use of additional codes for additional diagnostics.</div></div>

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">In automotive air conditioning systems, compressor is used to convert low pressure low temperature refrigerant into high pressure high temperature refrigerant. Various types of compressors like swash plate, rotary vane, scroll etc. are widely used in the automotive industry for air conditioning applications.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">In rotary vane compressors, thermal protector is used as a safety device, designed to prevent the compressor from overheating during refrigerant compression process. When the discharge temperature exceeds the preset limit of thermal protector, the thermal protector will activate and stop the electrical supply to compressor clutch to stop the compressor operation thereby preventing potential damage to air conditioning system, engine, and other nearby parts of the vehicle.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">This technical paper explores the various real-world scenarios for a hot country like India, which may result into higher discharge temperatures of compressor resulting into activation of thermal protector. The research encompasses vehicle level evaluations, replicating real world operating scenarios or misuse scenarios that may be evaluated for a vehicle with different load conditions of the air conditioning system and environmental conditions to consider the deletion of thermal protector from the system. The results of this analysis will be imperative in identifying the conditions that must be evaluated to justify the elimination of thermal protector in a particular compressor, assuring that the system's reliability and safety remains intact.</div></div>

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper present a unique and comprehensive design process that has been pilot tested to assure that future automotive cockpit systems are well integrated, cost effective and they achieve superior ergonomics performance. With ever increasing possibilities of new technological feature content and tremendous cost pressures, the auto manufacturers have a challenging task to provide the customers with the latest features at affordable costs in shorter design cycles. The Automotive Cockpit Enablers (ACE) team consisting of seven automotive suppliers and two universities has created a unique process to approach the problem.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The process consists of a series of steps and inter-workings of three cross-functional teams. The steps involve: 1) Review Manufacturer’s Program Assumptions and Brand Strategy, 2) Identify Product Content and Features, 3) Develop Optimum Seating Package, 4) Determine Available Space for Controls and Displays, 5) Develop Design Concepts and BICEPS (Best in class engineering product system) Input. 6) Develop Alternative Control and Display Layouts with Ergonomics Scores, 7) Develop Working Models of Driver Interfaces for Simulator Evaluations, 8) Conduct Evaluation Tests in the Driving Simulator Using Representative Drivers, 9) Make Changes to the Design as Necessary Based on the Simulator Results [Repeat steps 5 through 9 as needed], 10) Develop Cost Models from Selected Prototypes, 11) Develop Supporting System Architecture, 12) Conduct Additional Validation Tests as Needed (may use prototyped instrumentation in actual vehicles on public roads for concept validation), 13) Conduct Validation Tests for Brand Sensory Perceptions for Materials, Feel, Harmony/ Craftsmanship Issues Using Representative Subjects, 14) Conduct Evaluations of Visual Characteristics, 15) Conduct a Comprehensive Ergonomics Evaluation.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The paper provides descriptions, inputs and outputs of the above steps along with inter-workings of the mechanical, electrical and HMI (Human Machine Interface) integration teams that support the process, and some details and results of the driving simulator studies that provide early evaluation of various HMI concepts.</div></div>

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Miniaturization of terminals, connectors, springs, and other contacts in automotive electric systems has imposed rigorous demands upon the principal materials used in their manufacture-copper alloys. This paper surveys the more important copper alloys and presents available data, including that from current research, which bear upon the problem of material selection.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Various coppers, copper alloys, and groups of copper alloys are described, and a brief description of mechanical and electrical properties, corrosion performance, surface characteristics, and economics is presented.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Comparative data for the various representative copper alloy groups are also presented. Such data includes comparison of mechanical strength-ultimate tensile, offset yield, and fatigue strengths, modulus of elasticity; corrosion resistance-general, stress, and crevice corrosion, dezincification; and surface characteristics-contact resistance, solderability, plating performance.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Study of the data indicates that there is no simple optimum choice for all applications. The designer and user should use the data as a guide in selection of materials for each application.</div>