Brake Sensor Signal Sharing for Redundant Multi-Circuit Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle braking systems require redundant wheel speed sensors and complex wiring configurations, leading to increased costs and complexity, and existing solutions do not adequately address all fault scenarios without additional switching devices.
Innovation Solution
A sensor arrangement with two control units and standard speed sensors that directly connect to both control units, allowing simultaneous signal reception and evaluation without a switching device, enabling redundancy and cost savings by eliminating duplicate sensors and wiring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If wheel speed sensors are directly connected point-to-point to a primary control unit, then the connection is simple, but redundancy is insufficient for highly automated driving
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the sensor signal distribution function into the evaluation and control units. Instead of separate wiring for each control unit, the sensor elements connect to multiple evaluation and control units through shared communication buses, combining signal distribution and processing functions to reduce wiring complexity while maintaining redundancy
Solution Approach 2:
The evaluation and control units are designed with multi-functionality, serving both as signal receivers from sensor elements and as communication nodes on the bus system. This universal design allows the same hardware components to handle multiple functions, reducing the need for dedicated redundant wiring
2Reliability
If eight wheel speed sensors are used with four connected to primary and four to secondary control units, then redundancy is achieved, but costs and wiring complexity double
Solution Approach 1:
Each sensor element serves multiple control units simultaneously through the bus architecture. The same sensor element can be evaluated by different control units depending on which unit is functional, eliminating the need for duplicate sensors while maintaining full fault coverage capability
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of physically duplicating sensors, the patent creates functional copies through software and communication protocols. The bus system allows control units to access sensor data virtually, creating a logical copy of sensor information without physical duplication
3Reliability
If sensor signals are routed through the primary control unit to the secondary control unit, then connectivity is maintained, but additional effort and costs are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the control architecture into independent evaluation and control units that communicate peer-to-peer through the bus system. Instead of a hierarchical routing structure where signals must pass through the primary unit, each unit can directly access sensor data independently, simplifying signal routing while maintaining reliability
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention relates to a sensor assembly (1) for a vehicle, comprising at least two control devices (ECU1, ECU2), each having at least one evaluation and control unit (10, 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D), and multiple sensor elements (DF1, DF2, DF3, DF4) which are each assigned to a brakeable vehicle wheel (R1, R2, R3, R4) and one of the evaluation and control units (10A, 10B, 10C, 10D) of the control devices (ECU1, ECU2) and which are designed to detect at least one physical variable of the associated vehicle wheel (R1, R2, R3, R4) and to output same as an output signal (AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4) directly to the associated evaluation and control unit (10A, 10B, 10C, 10D), wherein the control devices (ECU1, ECU2) are each designed to carry out at least one braking function of the vehicle (1) based on the detected movement-dependent physical variables of the vehicle wheels (R1, R2, R3, R4), wherein the individual evaluation and control units (10A, 10B, 10C, 10D) are designed to output the received output signal (AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4) to a respective at least one evaluation and control unit (10A, 10B, 10C, 10D) of another control device (ECU1, ECU2), such that the individual evaluation and control units (10A, 10B, 10C, 10D) each receive the output signals (AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4) from at least two sensor elements (DF1, DF2, DF3, DF4), which are assigned to evaluation and control units (10A, 10B, 10C, 10D) of different control devices (ECU1, ECU2), and prepare same for evaluation. The invention also relates to a multi-circuit braking system comprising a sensor assembly (1) of this type.