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Today automotive system suppliers develop more-or-less independent systems, such as brake, power steering and suspension systems. In the future, car manufacturers like Volvo will build up vehicle control systems combining their own algorithms with algorithms provided by automotive system suppliers. Standardization of interfaces to actuators, sensors and functions is an important enabler for this vision and will have major consequences for functionality, prices and lead times, and thus affects both vehicle manufacturers and automotive suppliers. The investigation of the level of appropriate interfaces, as part of the European BRAKE project, is described here. Potential problems and consequences are discussed from both a technical and a business perspective. This paper provides a background on BRAKE and on the functional decomposition upon which the interface definitions are based. Finally, the interface definitions for brake system functionality are given.

One problem with a large company with numerous engineering sites is the problem of re-inventing the wheel. Within the engineering organization several vehicle models may be developed independently even though one would suffice. This paper discusses a model that has been developed jointly by groups at three separate locations to replace all similar models used at those locations. This will allow resources to be used more efficiently and provide a common ground for control algorithm development. This model has been designed to be able to run in several different environments with minimal overhead. These environments include the dSpace rapid prototyping tool, Simulink®, PC, and the Applied Dynamics real time system (ADRTS). It also is very modular to allow for easy integration with other systems and to support open architecture. Uses of the model include hardware in the loop, controller in the loop and pure simulation.