Real-time Implementation of Proposed Electro-mechanical Control System for Automation of Main Gearbox and Clutch Operations of Motor Vehicles

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Egyptian Armed Forces, Cairo, Egypt.

2 Graduate Student, Egyptian Armed Forces, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

Improvement of motor vehicle performance can be realized by using computer for automation of different vehicle systems, one of these systems is the driveline, which includes the gearbox and clutch. The complete real-time implementation of the proposed computerized electro-mechanical control system for automations of main gearbox and clutch operations is described in this paper. The adaptation of the control module to the conventional vehicle is realized through studying of the operations carried out by the driver and introducing an interfacing control system with the microcomputer. The hardware system consists of three subsystems, mechanical, electrical, and electronic parts. These subsystems are; (mechanical) shift mechanism which consists of fever guide mechanism, actuating motors and limit switches, (electrical) relay control card which consists of relay group and electronic circuit group, and (electronic) gate control card or electronic control card which generates the control signals for relay card process. Finally standard I/O card is used to perform the interfacing between the microcomputer and the proposed electro-mechanical system. Through this paper, we conclude that the optimization of vehicle module operations at level of automation of driveline by using microcomputer and the improvement of motor vehicle performance can be achieved. This control system may be added to any conventional vehicle to automate its manual' _transmission and clutch operations due to its modular design. It also can be used to facilitate vehicle drive and remote control of its operation. The system main parts, principle of operation, design and realization are described in this work.