Consolidated Vehicle Electronics Housing for Wiring and Weight Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing feature-by-feature approach to electronics packaging in vehicles results in a scattered distribution of control units, leading to increased weight and complexity due to multiple wiring harnesses, control units, and mounting structures, making it difficult to efficiently add new features and maintain the system.
Innovation Solution
A consolidated electronics unit with a housing that encloses control units within a cavity, allowing for shared voltage architecture, common thermal conditioning, and easy access for testing and replacement, while reducing wiring complexity and weight by centralizing control units and using a common communication interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If control units are distributed throughout the vehicle for each feature, then each feature can be independently implemented, but the number of control units, wiring harnesses, and mounting structures increases, leading to increased weight and device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple control units are consolidated into a single integrated control unit housing that contains multiple control units, each with separate circuit boards and processing capabilities. This merging approach reduces the total number of discrete control units and wiring harnesses while maintaining the ability to implement multiple features independently through software configuration
2Adaptability or versatility
If control units are distributed throughout the vehicle, then features can be added sequentially, but the weight of the vehicle increases due to multiple control units, fasteners, brackets, wiring harnesses, and cables
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple control units are consolidated into a single integrated housing, reducing the total weight by eliminating duplicate mounting structures, fasteners, and wiring harnesses. The consolidated unit shares common structural support and electrical connections while maintaining independent control functions for each feature
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated control unit housing is designed to accommodate multiple different types of control units and feature modules, allowing the same physical infrastructure to support various features. This universal design enables sequential feature addition without requiring additional weight-bearing structures
3Adaptability or versatility
If control units are distributed throughout the vehicle, then each feature has dedicated control, but the build complexity and difficulty of maintenance increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple control units are integrated into a single pre-assembled housing that can be manufactured and tested as one unit before installation. This approach simplifies the building process by reducing the number of separate assembly operations and quality checks needed compared to installing multiple discrete control units throughout the vehicle
4Adaptability or versatility
If control units are distributed throughout the vehicle, then each feature can be independently controlled, but accessibility for testing and replacement becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple control units are housed together in a single accessible location with a removable cover that provides easy access to all control units for testing and replacement. This consolidated approach allows technicians to access and service multiple control units from one location rather than searching throughout the vehicle for scattered control units
Data Source
AI summary
A housing for a consolidated electronics unit of a vehicle includes side walls mountable to vehicle rails of the vehicle, a bottom wall coupled to the side walls, and a cover removably coupleable to the side walls and configured to form a portion of an interior surface of a vehicle cabin of the vehicle. The cover, the side walls, and the bottom wall form a cavity configured to enclose control units that are in electronic communication with feature units disposed throughout the vehicle.