Software’s Role Continues to Expand

April 1, 2016

Terry Costlow

Software has become a central factor in many new vehicle features and functions, forcing hydraulic system developers to employ a range of technologies to meet ongoing demands for more functionality. Apps and open source programming are seeing increased interest as hydraulic engineering teams work more closely with OEMs.

Design teams challenged to add features, reduce emissions, and cut fuel consumption are relying more heavily on programming and improved communications, leveraging networks so engines and hydraulic systems work more closely together. Enhanced networking lets programs work more closely together to improve efficiency.

Software everywhere

The soaring volume of software has driven a shift in the makeup of design teams that create electronic systems. As in other fields, the number of programmers often exceeds the number of hardware engineers. In vehicles, the number of smart modules and the software that drives them has exploded in recent years.

“In typical off-highway applications, we estimate that the volume of software on average is three to five times what it was five years ago,” said Giulio Ornella, Off-Highway Advanced Engineering Manager at Dana Holding Corp., which makes a hydraulic hybrid system.

Software must be considered from the initial concept phase through operations in the field. That’s prompting more strategies to add apps to their tool-kits. Most technicians will carry smart phones or tablets into the field.

Manufacturers can leverage them to make life simpler for field service personnel who currently carry several dedicated diagnostic devices. For example, Parker Hannifin offers an app that lets service technicians walk up to the machine and easily hook a smart device up to Parker systems.

“To help reduce cost and reduce the time a service technician takes to hook into and diagnose a machine, Parker is releasing a new Bluetooth interface for our IQAN platform,” said Kirk Lola, Business Development Manager at Parker’s Electronic Controls Division. “Parker is also releasing an app for smart devices. This helps make the service technician more productive by decreasing the amount of time it takes to perform diagnostics or adjustments as well as decreasing the number of adapter cables and specialized diagnostic tools they need to carry.”

As programmers race to write more code, some are exploring open source offerings.

“Some open source software is used in the development chain, including subversion and a bug tracking system,” Ornella said. “We are currently evaluating other open source tools for computational fluid dynamics and scripting, including data post-processing and analysis.”

Regardless of the type of software or where it is deployed, it must meet stringent reliability requirements. At a remote mining or agricultural site, a glitch or malfunction can devastate schedules and profit potentials. That’s forcing companies to employ strict processes for safety and reliability. “There are processes mandated by safety standards such as ISO 26262 that provide a method for managing the necessary verification and validation processes,” said Jace Allen, Lead Technical Specialist for Simulation & Test Systems at dSPACE Inc. “Fundamentally, the validation and verification done with HIL [hardware-in-the-loop] systems and virtual validation tools provide a means to test beyond the limits of safety and for very extreme conditions.”

Lots of links

The explosion in software is driven in part by the shift to smart devices. It’s become cost effective to embed microcontrollers in all sorts of products like valves and pumps. That’s increasing network activity.

“In commercial on- and off-highway vehicles, there’s a move to smart actuators, things like coolant pumps now have electronic controls,” said Jason McConnell, Electrification & Hybrid Business Unit Director, at IAV Automotive Engineering. “There’s a trend where vehicle subsystems are becoming smart; they’re connected to the electronic architecture and they’re often connected to a master engine or vehicle controller.”

These modules need to interact to maximize efficiency. When all the smart nodes communicate, they can provide better performance compared to isolated controllers that don’t interact. One of the areas where there’s been significant impact is in holistic management of the engine and hydraulic load.

“The ability to communicate the modern diesel engine ECUs and the corresponding hydraulic pumps and valves has opened up new areas to help prevent engine overloading, while still reaching towards optimum productivity of the machine,” Lola said. “Better fuel consumption, lower emissions, and maybe even a smaller engine [horse-power] requirements are possible by matching the hydraulics to the available engine load.”

The focus on communications is altering the networking mix on vehicles. ISOBUS and EtherCAT are seeing use as a link between implements or trailers, letting them communicate with vehicle controls. Inside the vehicle, the long domination by CAN in the guise of SAE J1939 may be threatened as engineers clamor for more bandwidth and lower latencies.

“Ethernet is not happening yet, but it will be used,” Allen said. “These buses provide a means to distribute functions across multiple ECUs/subsystems, but they also induce latencies in the system architectures and this has to be taken into account for robust system design.”

Time to talk

The need for increased communications goes beyond networks and interlinked programs. OEMs and suppliers often need to work together more closely to ensure that performance is optimized.

That’s especially true with something like a hydraulic hybrid. The controllers for the engine and hybrid must constantly communicate so they can efficiently adjust speeds and power levels. Manitou worked closely with Dana to employ Dana’s Spicer PowerBoost on the Manitou MLT960 Eco-Booster 6-tonne telehandler over the course of 18 months.

“Through these efforts, Dana and Manitou have reduced the fuel consumption of the Manitou MLT960 Eco-Booster an average of 15% across a range of duty cycles when compared with the standard MTL960 configuration,” Ornella said.

The trend to utilize model-based systems engineering (MBSE) has helped companies work more closely together. Groups like the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) develop and disseminate techniques that help interdisciplinary teams create successful systems.

“There is a lot of work being done to improve MBSE, with organizations like INCOSE, in order to enable better designs and processes for managing these systems and handling their necessary validation processes,” Allen said. “OEMs can function much more effectively by sharing system model interfaces with suppliers and having suppliers provide models and tests with their deliverables.”

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