In 1980, electronics accounted for 2 % of a car's total cost. In 1987, this figure grew to 10 % to 15 %, and in some present day cars it has reached almost 30 %. Electronics are without a doubt today's innovation engine for vehicle development, forcing automobile manufacturers and their suppliers to add more electronic engineers to their development teams. Between 1991 and 2000, for example, Renault increased the number of electronics engineers in development from 200 to 350, and in R&D from 50 to 85. DaimlerChrysler reports a 50 % increase in electronics engineers over the last 10 years. And these engineers have been brought right alongside the mechanical engineers. Inter-functional teams have become the norm, and the two worlds of mechanics and electronics have had to work to find a middle ground. They have different expertise, language, reasoning, and most importantly, very different development cycles. The mechanical life cycle is a decade and today there are standard solutions that don't change much. In electronics, the life cycle is more like six months to a year. With the development of electronic systems on a cycle of approximately 12 months, the ability to add functionality to an electronic system during the development of the vehicle is both a benefit and a problem. Software is the best place to add this functionality during the vehicle development process, since it avoids costly change of parts. While electronics displace more traditional systems, the transition must be seemless to the driver. Already, the increase in electronic systems has been largely unnoticed by the public except in terms of the benefits it brings through increased safety and driving ease and lower fuel consumption and emissions. Of course, electronic systems will always be secondary to the automobile itself, which is in essence a mechanical object.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Automobiles merge electronics, mechanics. Software leads search for middle ground


    Additional title:

    Automobile verbinden Elektronik und Mechanik


    Contributors:
    Tyrka, K. (author)

    Published in:

    Global Design News ; 4 , 5 ; 77-80


    Publication date :

    2000


    Size :

    4 Seiten, 6 Bilder


    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




    Mechanics or electronics? What is the trend in automobiles?

    Holzinger,O. / Bosch,Stuttgart,DE | Automotive engineering | 1989



    Electronics for automobiles

    Wearden, T. | Tema Archive | 1981


    Mechanics of automobiles

    Barnacle, Harold Ernest | TIBKAT | 1964


    Electronics application in automobiles

    Ito, K. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1994