Twenty-First Century Truck Electronics—Today's Global Challenge

Abstract

The main catalyst for use of state-of-the-art electronics in commercial trucks in the United States is the need to meet EPA emission standards for the 1990s. Important secondary catalysts are fuel economy, anti-lock brake systems and fieetldriver expectations. There are also myriad other forces related to safety, maintainability, servicing and communication which will be satisfied once electronic systems are installed in trucks. The principal economic justijication for incurring the cost of electronics at this time is to satigy these more stringent gaseous emission and particulate regulatory standards. Using electronics, these standards can be met without producing a severe reduction in fuel economy while, as a by-product, interjkcing with other truck components, such as brakes, transmissions, s4ety controls etc. This paper will address the applications of electronics today for diesel engine controls as well as the applications of electronics in areas such as smart power switches, antijackknife controls, voice-recognition systems and other future system applications. The exploding use of electronics in trucks will require solutions to many complex problems which are not unique to any one company, geographic area, country or technical society.