ABS Braking Systems

Matt Terek
ME 3015
Dr. Nader Sadegh
Georgia Institute of Technology
George W. Woodruff School of Technology


Introduction

The basic design of a braking system has been around and in use in other
applications for many years. The brakes in a car use the simple principle of hydraulics.
This principle reduces the amount of work required by the user. Figure 1 illustrates the
basic design of a modern braking system.



Figure 1. Basic Braking System Design

The problem with the traditional braking system is that the force exerted by the
brakes on the wheel cannot exceed the force of friction between the wheel and the road.
If the braking force exceeds the force of friction from the road the vehicle will begin to
slide. This problem brought about the invention of the anti-locking breaking system
(ABS). The ABS detects drastic changes in the speed of the wheels. When a sharp
deceleration is detected the ABS will reduce the hydraulic pressure supplied to the
braking system until the wheel begins to accelerate again. When the acceleration is
detected the pressure is again increased until an unusual amount of deceleration is
detected. The process is repeated until the user removes their foot from the brake pedal or
the vehicle comes to a complete stop.

Background

The ABS consists of speed sensors, valves, a pump, and a controller. The location
of these devices within a vehicle is shown in Figure 2.



Figure 2. Anti-Lock Braking System Design

1) Speed Sensor
The speed sensor is used to determine the acceleration or deceleration of
the wheel. A picture of this sensor is shown in Figure 3.



Figure 3. Speed Sensor in an ABS

These sensors use a magnet and a coil of wire to generate a signal. The
rotation of the wheel or differential induces a magnetic field around the
sensor. The fluctuations of this magnetic field generate a voltage into the
sensor. A schematic of this system is shown in Figure 4.The ABS
controller interprets this signal.



Figure 4. Speed Sensor Schematic

Since the voltage inducted on the sensor is a result of the rotating wheel,
this sensor can become inaccurate at slow speeds. The slower rotation of
the wheel can cause inaccurate fluctuations in the magnetic field and thus
cause inaccurate readings to the controller.

2) Valves
The valves within an ABS serve three distinct functions. The first function
of the valves is to open and allow the hydraulic fluid from the brake pedal
or the pump to reach the braking system. The second function of the
valves is to maintain the current pressure provided to the braking system.
This is accomplished by closing the valve to resist further pressure from
the brake pedal. The third function of these valves is to reduce the amount
of hydraulic pressure at the braking system. This is accomplished by
opening the valves to allow the hydraulic fluid to be released from the
braking system. A picture of a standard ABS valve and pumping system is
show in Figure 5.

The majority of problems with the valve system occur due to clogged
valves. When a valve is clogged it is unable to open, close, or change
position. An inoperable valve will prevent the system from modulating the
valves and controlling pressure supplied to the brakes.

3) Pump
The pump in the ABS is used to restore the pressure to the hydraulic
brakes after the valves have released it. A signal from the controller will
release the valve at the detection of wheel slip. After a valve release the
pressure supplied from the user, the pump is used to restore a desired
amount of pressure to the braking system. The controller will modulate the
pumps status in order to provide the desire amount of pressure and reduce
slipping. A picture of the pumping system is shown in Figure 5.



Figure 5. ABS Valves and Pumping System

Similar to the valves, the major limitation or mode of failure is due to
blockage within the pump. A blockage within the pump will prevent the
pump from supplying the correct pressure to the pumping system.

4) Controller
The entire system is observed and manipulated by the ABS controller. A
detailed control system used in ABS is shown in Figure 6.


Figure 6. ABS Control System
Summary

The parts described above produce the control loop shown in Figure 6.



Controller
Sensor
Plant
Valves
Pump

+
-



Figure 6. Control Loop Described in the Background Section


For the purpose of the analysis the pump and valves will be combined in the system to
form the actuator and the controller will be modified to a P, PD, or a PID controller. The
control loop shown in Figure 7 will be used for the remainder of the analysis.




Controller
Sensor
Plant Actuator
+
-




Figure 7. Control Loop Evaluated for the ABS

The basic equation of rotational motion will be used to evaluate the plant. This formula is
shown below in Equation 1.

T b J = +

(1)

Where -J is the moment of inertia of tire about the axis of rotation
-

is the angular acceleration of the tire
- is the angular velocity of the tire
-b is the rotational damping of the tire (bearings).

For the purpose of this analysis the values below will be used:

Tire Weight = 75 Kg
Tire Radius = 33 cm

From these values the moment of inertia is calculated to be J = 4.1 Kg*m^2. Since the
wheel has bearing and the bearings are well lubricated the assumption is that the
rotational damping factor is b = 1. Equation 2, Equation 3, and Equation 4 show how the
equation above is converted into a transfer function with the appropriate J, b, and (0)
values.

) ( ) ( )] 0 ( ) ( [ ) 1 ( s T s b s s J Equation Laplace = + = (2)

Where (0) is the initial angular velocity

) ( ) ( ] [ s T s b Js = + (3)

1 ) )( * 1 . 4 (
1
) (
) (
2
+
=

s m Kg s T
s
(4)


The valves and pumping system are combined in this analysis to represent the
actuator. The actuator can be modeled as a servo system. The servo system has the
transfer function shown in Equation 5.

) ( ) (
) (
b Js s
K
s R
s C
act
+
= (5)

The same values used to define Equation 4 are valid for Equation 5. Equation 6 is the
servo motor transfer function with the appropriate values for the rotational damping and
the moment of inertia.

s s m Kg
K
s R
s C
act
+
=
) )( * 1 . 4 ( ) (
) (
2 2
(6)

The sensor used for the ABS application converts the velocity of the rotating
wheel into a voltage. This application can be modeled as a tachometer. Equation 7 is the
transfer function of a tachometer.

s K
s
s E
tach
=
) (
) (
(7)

The new control loop obtained from the transfer functions above is shown in
Figure 8.


Controller
s s
K
act
+
2
1 . 4

1 1 . 4
1
+ s





s K
tach




Figure 8. ABS Control Loop Including System Transfer Functions

The controller in the revised control loop is then tested under P, PD, and PID
control. In the analysis the gain of the sensor (Ktach) is assumed to be 25. This
assumption is based on the fact that the voltage produced by the sensor is small. The
controller will require a higher voltage signal in order to receive the information from the
sensor. Therefore the voltage from the sensor must be amplified and thus the gain is high.
The gain of the actuator (Kact) is assumed to be 0.25 in the controller analysis. This is
due to the high pressures of the hydraulic system. The valve and pumping system will not
have to do much work in order to achieve the desired pressures at the braking system.

The results of the P control analysis are shown in Figure 9 and Figure 10. In
Figure 9 the proportional gain (Kp) is 1000 and the transfer function shown in Equation 8
is used. In Figure 10 the proportional gain (Kp) is 1 and the transfer function shown in
Equation 9 is used. As seen in the graphs, the braking effects are liner with a higher
proportional gain. When Kp is reduced the braking pattern is non-linear. The non-linear
results are due to slipping.







+
-
Time (sec.)
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
Proportional Control, Kp = 1000, Step Response
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
From: U(1)
T
o
:

Y
(
1
)


Figure 9. ABS Proportional Control w/ Kp = 1000


Time (sec.)
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
Proportional Control, Step Response
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
From: U(1)
T
o
:

Y
(
1
)


Figure 10. ABS Proportional Control w/ Kp = 1


250 (8)
----------------------------
16.81 s^3 + 8.2 s^2 + 6251 s



0.25 (9)
----------------------------
16.81 s^3 + 8.2 s^2 + 7.25 s


The results of the PD control analysis are shown in Figure 11 and the results of
the PID control analysis are shown in Figure 12. These graphs show that linear braking
can be achieved through the use of PD and PID control



Time (sec.)
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
PD Control, Kp = 100, Kd = 100, Step Response
0 2 4 6 8 10
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
From: U(1)
T
o
:

Y
(
1
)


Figure 11. ABS Proportional and Derivative Control

Time (sec.)
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
PID Controll, Kp = 100, Ki = 100, Kd = 100, Step Response
0 5 10 15 20 25
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
From: U(1)
T
o
:

Y
(
1
)


Figure 11. ABS Proportional, Derivative, and Integral Control


Conclusion /Discussion

The control analysis shows that a proportional (P), proportional / derivative (PD),
and the proportional / Integral / Derivative (PID) is able to control the ABS. Since all of
the control systems will achieve the desired results, the best design must be determined
by another method. Since the proportional control is the least complex, the ABS
controller should use this method. The ABS is responsible for preventing car accidents
and personal injury. A simplified system should reduce the complexity, cost, as well as
increase the easy of serviceability.

References

Motorola for the article Anti-Lock Braking Systems
http://www.motorola.com/webapp/sps/site/application.jsp?nodeId=04M0ym4Ky5P

Controls Tutorial for Matlab
http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/index.html

How Stuff Works from the article How Anti-Lock Brakes Work
http://www.howstuffworks.com/



Magneto-Resistive Wheel Speed Sensors, New Active Wheel Speed Sensors
Changing ABS Diagnostic Procedures, David W. Gilbert.
http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/aug2001/mech.cfm

Heavy Truck Pneumatic Braking System Modeling, Analysis and Anti-lock Braking
Robust Controller Design, Prof. Umit Ozgumer.
http://car.eng.ohio-state.edu/consortium/proposals/hdv/h02pneu.pdf