Brake tests in vehicle development

Application note for brake tests with IPEmotion

The testing of brake systems is an extremely important part of the vehicle validation. As safety-relevant components, they have to work flawlessly at all times. Rigorous checks of all systems before the start of production are therefore essential. Vehicle manufacturers have to test and document driving and temperature conditions as well as protection. The different proof and endurance tests must meet the common standards.

Challenge

Brake system endurance tests can be conducted in road traffic (e.g. up-hill) or on test routes. While the brake system is subjected to a repeatable strain situation, all relevant measurement values of vehicle and brake (various different parameters such as pressure, force, temperature, speed, or GPS position) have to be acquired simultaneously and prepared for the report. In addition to that, the complex sensor setup has to be handled in an efficient way, including brake force pedal sensors, brake pedal travel measurements, brake pressure measurements, brake caliper temperature measurements (with thermocouple), or brake disk temperature measurements (via telemetric systems or optical sensors like infrared pyrometers). To meet these requirements, guarantee the comparability of the test results, and support the test driver as much as possible, a software-based measurement with systematic sequence control is the key.

Requirements

Software-based measurement with input masks
Adjust of pressure- and STG-based measurement points
Access to the vehicle or body/motor control unit OBD signals
Fast inputs for STG parameters for force and pressure profiles
Analog inputs for further external sensors (e.g. infrared pyrometer)
Thermocouple inputs for caliper temperatures
GPS and, if necessary, video signals

Solution

IPEmotion is the ideal measurement data acquisition software for all brake system test requirements. It offers various display instruments for the graphic representation of brake profiles. In addition to that, you may set up measurement points very quickly via a parameter mask and predefine values such as waiting time, cooling time, repetition cycles, or braking curves (with varying slope).

Via the X-LINK connection of the analog measurement modules and XCPonEthernet, the high-resolution module Mx-STG2 6 with a sample rate of up to 100 kHz can be used to acquire STG, route, and pressure sensor values. You may also include the compact M-CAN modules M-THERMO 2 (temperature measurement), M-SENS2 (voltage measurement), and M-CNT2 (counter and encoder inputs) in the measurement chain or connect further external systems (e.g. GPS modules, OBD signals, vehicle control units) via our various plugIns. All measurement data can be stored in a chronologically synchronous way and analyzed with the reporting module.