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To improve the fuel economy, we developed a turbo-charged spark ignition engine combined with a low pressure loop EGR system. A negative pressure control valve has been applied to achieve high EGR ratio in wide engine operation condition. In this paper, a new developed model-based control system for low pressure loop EGR with a negative pressure control valve will be described.

Oxygen storage components (OSC) based on cerium (Ce) were investigated for their ability to reduce the oxidation temperature of diesel particulate matter (DPM). Among the materials investigated, a cerium-praseodymium (Ce-Pr) composite oxide provided the largest reduction in DPM oxidation temperature. Oxygen isotope tracer experiments revealed that oxygen released from the cerium oxidized the DPM at a lower temperature than the oxygen from the exhaust.

A new brake system, able to make efficient use of regenerative braking while maintaining excellent brake feel, has been developed to increase the fuel economy of hybrid vehicles. A hydraulic servo was used as a base to enable mechanical operation of the service brakes; solenoid valves and brake fluid pressure sensors were added to this base to make it possible to control brake line pressure as demanded. The use of a stroke simulator in the hydraulic servo prevents brake feel from being affected by the control of the brake pressure. In addition, high-accuracy brake pressure control that functions cooperatively with the regenerative brakes is enabled, resulting in stable braking effectiveness.

AISIN AW has developed a new transmission control module (hereinafter referred to as “TCM”), which can be applied to the world wide FWD 6-speed automatic transmission (hereinafter referred to as “A/T”). This newly developed TCM can contribute to the whole vehicle system as it is integrated to mechanical A/T in the meaning of ‘hardware’, and completed and ensured the functions in the A/T system. This TCM allows us to greatly reduce the number of the wire harness and the connector, and the space for installing TCM, which are required for the conventional style: A/T and TCM are separately installed, so that it can contribute to fuel economy, weight saving, utilization of the space in the engine room and cost reduction. Our Integrated TCM on A/T integrates the functions with the conventional neutral safety switch (hereinafter referred to as “N.S.S/W”) for detecting shift position, so that it allows compact installation to the limited space on A/T.

AISIN AW has developed a new full hybrid transmission, the HD-10 for front wheel drive vehicles. This HD-10 has been developed based on the concept for improving fuel economy and performance without sacrificing drivability and utility. To achieve this, the transmission adopts an integrated design, which consists of two electric motors, gears including a planetary gear set, two inverters, and an electronic control unit. In addition, new software has been developed to offer smooth operation in every drive condition.

AISIN AW has developed a five-speed automatic transmission “55-50SN” for front wheel drive (FWD) vehicles. This new 55-50SN has been developed with a concept to minimize length and mass increase compared with the current four-speed automatic transmission, and is one of the most compact five-speed automatic transmissions in the world. This has been accomplished by newly developed planetary gear sets, a new differential, and a new squeezed torque converter. In addition, the control system is made by a unique design to maintain the excellent compactness and to achieve a high quality smooth shift feeling. This paper describes the construction, characteristic, and function of this five-speed automatic transmission.

A copper alloy powder composed of Cu-14Ni-3Si-2V-2Cr-1.5Fe-1Al-0.5P has been developed for application to laser-clad valve seats. Laser-clad valve seats offer several advantages such as higher engine output and improved fuel economy owing to lower valve head temperature and an increased intake throat diameter compared with conventional press-fit valve inserts made of ferro-based powder metal. Previously, a material having a principal chemical composition of Cu-12Ni-10Co-3Si-2V-2Nb-1.5Fe-1Al was developed to obtain large hard intermetallic compounds. The microstructure of this material is formed by a two-liquid separation reaction, which has been applied to powders of different chemical compositions for laser-clad valve seats of production engines. Although this material shows superior valve seat wear resistance, it has certain drawbacks, including the high cost of the powder, high probability of microcrack formation and low machinability of the laser-clad layer.

A number of reports have been published in recent years concerning research work that is underway in Europe. America and Japan on navigation systems for vehicles. The systems reported on to date employ a variety of position detection sensors, such as geomagnetic sensors, gyrocompasses and loran receivers. However, the literature contains virtually no reports of automobile navigation systems that make use of a Global Positioning System (GPS) as a means of detecting and determining the location a vehicle. The authors have developed a GPS automobile navigation system that is intended to be one subsystem of a cinorehensive on-board information system. The total system incorporates car telephone data communication capabilities as well as various functions for centralized operation of the vehicle equipment. This navigation system can accurately locate a vehicle's position using position data received from GPS satellites together with data supplied by geomagnetic sensors.