OEM&Lieferant Ausgabe 1/2020

98 Door electronics Next generation door electronics from Brose By Thomas Schindler, Head of Door Modules Product Group, and Thomas Liedtke, Project Manager Development Door Control Units and Sensors, Brose Group From window regulator anti-trap protection to side camera image processing all the way to active noise canceling for the vehicle interior – a new generation of Brose control units will in future integrate all functions in the vehicle door. This cuts costs, saves space and reduces weight. Even from a distance the car can recognize and welcome the driver with projections in the vehicle windows. A simple gesture, and the side door opens automatically. A radar sensor scans the environment to prevent any collisions. Monitors in the doors show the im- age from the side cameras in real time during the drive, while the side windows turn into personal infotainment displays. Passengers inside the vehicle enjoy the quiet ride thanks to speakers with actively controlled noise can- celing, which also enhances the sound of the infotainment system. Fewer circuit boards, more features To make this mobility experience of the future possible, the automotive supplier Brose is driving forward the expansion of its compe- tencies and personnel capacities in the areas of electronics and software. The challenge: Especially the analysis of sensor data or the transmission of image signals overstrains conventional electrical/electronic architec- tures, as large amounts of data have to be transmitted and processed without any no- ticeable delay. At the same time, it makes sense to centralize electronics increasingly: today’s luxury vehi- cles contain an average of over 150 control units withmicrocontrollers. In the future, they will gradually be replaced by central data pro- cessing platforms. These control for example smart actuators with integrated (basic) elec- tronics via hardware signals. Smart Brose win- dow regulators are already leading the way in the market – and soon the supplier will also offer drives for side doors and liftgates with integrated electronics. Software expertise is also gaining importance, becausemany of the physical control units will be substituted with digital variants on the central platforms. This can only work with the help of so-called hypervisors, which are virtu- ally placed in front of the individual functions. They guide incoming and outgoing data to the right place and orchestrate the functions in- side the control unit. In the future, Brose will not only develop individual functions and their interaction with the hypervisor; the supplier will also offer the functional software as a standalone product. Standardized interfaces keep the integration effort for the customer at a minimum. Low latency and fast processing are key However, the development towards a central computing unit also has its disadvantages. For example, the future scenario described above will only be possible through the exchange of huge volumes of uncompressed real-time information. The solutions currently used in series vehicles with only one main CPU require long cable routes, which translates into high S H A R E Brose side door drive with radar-based anti-collision protetion Atthe IAA2019Brosedemonstratedtheapplicationsofglass projections and their interlinking with other functions with a futuristic exhibit. Images/Graphic: © Brose