Relevance of Powertrain and Transmission in Automatic Vehicles

In the introduction to powertrain and transmission, you will get some idea about the role of transmission and what value it adds to the working of the engine. Apart from these basic elements, we will also look at the leading software and hardware solutions providers in this industry.

An Introduction to Transmission

You require energy and power to fuel the engine of an automobile. Without power transmitted to the engine, the vehicle is rendered redundant. 

With proper gear ratio and the number of speeds in transmission, a driver can operate the engine in the economic zone. At the same time, CO2 emissions and fuel consumption get mitigated. It aids in providing the automobile with the 'Tractive Effort-Speed' characteristics that satisfy all the criteria under diverse operating conditions.

Various load resistances are acting on the vehicle. Every time your automobile is in a state of inertia, you need to have a proper gear ratio to accelerate or slow it down.

Fig. 1 below shows how the engine operates in the lower RPM mode, where fuel benefits are at the zenith. Fig. 2 depicts the variation in the tractive effect on velocity.

Current Trends 

Engineers established the automobile industry with manual transmission; however, automated vehicles are now gaining massive popularity in the market.

These are the current trends prevalent in the market - 

• Manual
• Automated Manual (AMT): Vehicles such as Swift Dzire, Tiago MT, or XUV 300 AMT come equipped with Automated Manual Transmission (AMT).
• Double Clutch (DCT): Automobiles manufactured by Skoda and Volkswagen, such as the Volkswagen Polo GT got launched in the market equipped with Double Clutch Transmission (DCT).
• Continuously Variable (CVT): The power gets transferred efficiently with no jerks or abruptions with Continuously Variable (CVT). You can also find this trend in two-wheelers such as Activa. The mainstream vehicles include Baleno, i20, and others.
• Automatic: The Automatic segment falls in the category of SUVs such as Datsun, TATA Hexa, XUV 500, and others.
• Hybrid: Hybrid cars offer a substantial Return On Investment (ROI) because of their negligible release of toxic chemicals such as CO2. One of the most famous hybrid vehicles is the Toyota Prius.

State of the Art in the Field:

Why should we choose automatic transmissions? India has one of the busiest roads and streets because of such a massive population, and thus, people would use clutch pedals more and traverse with extra precision.

In such cases, drivers get fatigued and irritated, which is one of the biggest reasons they require automatic transmission. 

Three principles must be followed to shift from manual to automatic transmission -

Consumers

Consumers demand features like comfort, performance, fuel economy, safety, as well as minimal harshness to avoid any inconveniences on the road. 

Regulation

Regulations get enforced by certain testing agencies, namely iCAT, GARC, and a few others in India, that require the manufacturers to meet particular standards such as emissions, noise and durability, safety, and fuel economy.

Service

Vehicle manufacturing includes yet another vital component called service that checks the robustness, dependability, and driveability of the automobile.

Manufacturers must satisfy all these three principles before a vehicle is ready for launch into the market.

Leading Software Solutions Provider

Here are some leading software solutions providers to facilitate automatic transmission in vehicles - 

• Bosch
• Continental
• Ricardo
• Romax Technologies
• Delphi
• Siemens
• KPIT
• Dorle Controls
• G-Tech

These companies provide solutions for control systems, control units, actuation systems, and closed-loop feedback systems for installations in automated vehicles.

Leading Hardware Solutions Providers

These companies provide the extensive hardware necessary to operate automatic transmission vehicles -

• Bosch
• Continental
• Delphi
• Magneti Marelli
• VW
• Aisin
• FEV
• ZF
• Jatco
• Punch Powertrain

These hardware solutions companies provide the entire kit that includes the transmission systems, actuation systems, control units, and other components.

Technical Contents

This section illustrates the steps involved in the development of the control systems and processes that help manufacture automatic vehicles - 

1. Optimization Process Through Simulation

Consider that you have a 1.2L engine that produces 90psi power and 120Nm Torque. To install this setup into your automobile, proper selection of gear ratios is paramount. 

You also must choose across various automatic transmission systems such as BCT, CBT, or any other operation. We must model all these components in the software to test our machine.

We can use software like MATLAB Simulink or AVL Cruise. Such software can reduce the lead time of the project and provide you with decent fuel consumption figures and an efficient gear ratio selection.

You can drive and simulate the rendition of your vehicle in any DC cycle and check where you get benefitted, be it in the aspect of emissions, fuel consumption, or the overall performance of your automobile.

2. Control Systems

Control systems guide you on how do you wish to control the wagon, be it via electric actuators or electro-hydraulics. 

In a solenoid, oil gets circulated throughout the vehicle and helps you actuate it by providing pulses such as PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) as input that oscillates and generates pressure and facilitates actuation.

You can program embedded systems and calibrate it with your primary control unit, as per the market and the consumers.

3. Thermal Management

Since automatic transmission automobiles only involve the use of the accelerator and brake pedal, you do not know what is happening inside the automatic transmission.

The ability to realize at what point would the clutch pedal get activated or accelerate, the time required by the synchronizer to shift gears in the vehicle would be out of our bounds.

To counter this deterrent, you need to have thermal management and design a cooling system so that your vehicle does not overheat. You would have full access to the temperatures of all vital parts of the automobile.

4. Communication Matrix

This parameter reveals communication across the transmission and other components. 

The presence of a Communication Matrix is paramount as there are many ECUs, namely the engine ECU, ESP ECU, telematics, seatbelt ECU, and others that consistently need to interact with each other.

For instance, you applied panic brakes, which brought your wagon to a halt. In this scenario, your vehicle would try to stall the gear, and you would have to disengage the clutch to facilitate your automobile to downshift the gear.

In this scenario, there would be over two or more microprocessors interacting with each other that when the speed of your vehicle would fall below a threshold point, you could disengage the clutch.

5. Hardware/Electrical Diagnostics

You have copious sensors installed in the vehicle that receive inputs and relay you the desired output. Multiple components deal with inputs and outputs simultaneously, such as solenoids and the engine.

If one sensor fails or the communication chain breaks up, a fault alarm must alert the driver of the malfunction at the earliest to avoid a complete breakdown of the vehicle.

Final Words

These are the ways through which you can learn transmission systems. You can secure a job in this domain as there many roles ranging from designing a transmission system and diagnostics to the calibration system.

Gain deeper insights into the introduction to powertrain and transmission by visiting Skill-Lync and understanding the various job roles that exist in this domain.