International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics

Volume 118 No. 24 2018

ISSN: 1314-3395 (on-line version)
url: http://www.acadpubl.eu/hub/
Special Issue
http://www.acadpubl.eu/hub/

DESIGN OF AN AUTOMATIC HILL

START ASSISTANCE SYSTEM
Arun Pranesh M 1 , *R. Rohith Renish2 ,
Niruban Projoth 3
1,2,3
Assistant Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering ,
1
Kathir College of Engineering,
Coimbatore 641062, India.
2,3
VelTech Rangarajan Dr Sagunthala R&D,
Institute of Science and Technology
Chennai 600062, India.

April 27, 2018

Abstract
There are a number of reported accident cases which are
caused due to vehicles moving backward in hilly areas and
colliding with the ones parked behind. This situation is even
more severe in high altitudes where the risk of running off
the road may lead to life threatening accidents. It is better
to have an computerized driving safety gadgets, in order to
prevent this sort of problematic situation from happening
before the driver even has to think about it. Hence a con-
cept has been designed to reduce the stress on drivers while
driving in hilly terrain. The project aims to design and de-
velop an automatic hill start assistance system to prevent
the roll back of the vehicle while attempting to move a vehi-
cle during hilly driving conditions. This could improve the
safety and drivability of vehicles plying on hills specifically
while driving in off roads and also on low-traction surfaces.
The proposed system consists of an internal ratchet pawl

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue

design with an engagement system that is actuated by a

solenoid. This has been designed to be the fundamental
part of the rear axle of the vehicle. This is to prevent or
possibly eliminate the backward motion of the vehicle when
the driver releases the brake to move in forward direction.
Key Words:Hill start mechanism, Automobile, vehicle
safety

1 INTRODUCTION
This concept employs the use of an incline sensor to detect if the
vehicle is on an inclined road. Once this detected signal is sent
to a Control Unit. The control signal is used to toggle on a servo
motor that operates a Slipper Clutch mechanism using cables [1-
3]. This works in such a way that whenever the torque exceeds a
certain limit the clutch slips thus enabling us to control the vehicle.
Thus by arresting part of the mechanism the wheel can be locked in
place in order to prevent the vehicle from rolling back by allowing
motion in only one direction[4,5]. Also a torque sensor is used to
determine the forward torque on the vehicle so that the mechanism
is disengaged by reversing the motor once the vehicle has sufficient
torque output to overcome the roll back force[6-10]. The design
that is proposed is one in which an internal ratchet pawl is used to
arrest the motion of the axle of the vehicle in one direction. This is
used as a one way clutch to prevent the reverse motion of the axle
shaft. Also a spur gear is used to transfer the input from the axle to
the designed mechanism. There is an synchronizer mechanism that
is used to couple the driven gear of the mechanism with the driver
gear on the axle. This system is one in which the brake booster
is actuated by a solenoid rather than the foot pedal pressure as in
normal operation. This solenoid or DC gun will be controlled by
a PIC micro controller. The system gets inputs from two sensors,
namely a proximity sensor and an accelerometer [11,12].

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue

2 MATERIALS AND METHODOL-

OGY
The brake system is defined as the conversion of the vehicles mo-
mentum into heat energy and dispersing it to the atmosphere as
quickly as possible thus reducing the speed of the vehicle. The
driver can only communicate and control the brakes is only by the
brake system.The main parts of a hydraulic brake system for vehi-
cles consist of the following components:
Brake pedal or Brake lever A pushrod or An Actuating rod
A Hydraulic Brake Booster System A master cylinder assembly
consists of a piston assembly made up of either one or two pistons,
a return spring and a fluid reservoir. Reinforced hydraulic lines
The actual braking unit which can be a Drum Brake attached to
an axle or a Disc Brake.
When the brake pedal is pressed down, the force is multiplied
with the pedal ratio. This force is transferred to the booster pis-
ton. This force is multiplied into the booster and this is used to
push the pushrod which exerts enormous force on the pistons in
the master cylinder which causes the fluid to flow from the brake
fluid reservoir to the pressure chamber by a compensating port that
results in the rate of increase of pressure in the hydraulic system.
A Force is applied to a vehicle through the brake pedal which is
multiplied with the ratio of the lever in pedal mechanism to move
the booster pedal rod. This restricts the flow which increases the
action of the power piston[13-15]. As a response a action is created
inside the power piston subassembly, provides the driver pedal feel
during an application of the brake pedal. At a specified check valve
the backup of the pump stops back-flow through the pump during
power applications. The safety measure of the system consists of a
component to assist the maintenance of pressure system known as
”accumulator.” The pressurized nitrogen and some are spring loads
depending on the application. In the case where pressure is lost in
the systems accumulator is used to design in order to store sufficient
pressure. If this is insufficient the system then resorts to manual
brakes. During this operation the pump re-circulates fluid within
the booster assembly with pressure built on demand via throttle
valve. Fluid is allowed to set back in the booster as the inlet port
check valve[16,17].

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A latching or bistable solenoid incorporates is a set of perma-

nent magnets that allows the solenoid to have a hold force even
after the power has been removed. The term Bistable is defined to
this type of solenoid because it has two stable positions. Initially as
the solenoid experiences a de-energized and also when the plunger
is fully extended and second when the solenoid is de-energized and
the plunger is held back in its position by the permanent magnets.
The electromechanical force moves the solenoids from one stable
position to the other depending of the polarity of power applied. A
spring can be used to move the plunger out to the extended position
as the charge applied only neutralizes the permanent magnet force.
Solenoids can only induce electromechanical force in one direction
(pulling the plunger towards the end stop). When the polarity is
reversed, it has no effect on the plunger except to neutralize the
magnets. Microcontroller is an operating device, which comprises
of a number of the components of a microprocessor system into
a single chip in its fabrication. It has inbuilt CPU, memory and
peripherals to make it as a mini computer. Microcontrollers are
developed inorder to meet the need of microprocessors that is to
be available into low cost products. To fabricate a multifunction
microprocessor system on a single chip reduces the cost of build-
ing simple products, that uses the microprocessor’s power to in-
tiate their function, because the microprocessor is a natural way
to develop many products[18.19]. An accelerometer is defined as
an electromechanical device that is used for the measurement of
the acceleration of forces. Due to the static force movement of an
during gravity pulling at our feet or it might could be dynamic -
because by motion or vibration of the accelerometer. The force that
creates vibration or a changes the motion (acceleration) to squeeze
the mass of an piezoelectric material can produce a charge which
is said to be proportional to the force experienced by the nature of
the system.

3 WORKING PRINCIPLE
The input given to the brake booster is provided by a primary pis-
ton which is controlled by the inputs of the driver to the brake
pedal. This piston is extended further and a bracket is attached to

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue

it. On to this bracket the two solenoid actuators are attached. They
are of high force short travel type to ensure maximum efficiency.
There is a wheel speed sensor that is placed on the wheel hub of
the car, it is basically a proximity sensor that responds to changes
in electric field as a current carrying conductor cuts through it. It
works on the principle of pulsed output of the output wave. By
measuring the period of the output pulse (i.e. the time difference
between the high pulse and the low pulse) from the sensor the speed
can be ascertained through calculations. The output wave would
be a DC wave format. There is also a torque sensor that is being
fixed on the transmission shaft of the vehicle. This is an accelerom-
eter that is used to determine a slight deviation of the transmission
shaft. It consists of a plate that is placed in between two U shaped
sensors. Thus is can give a signal if there is a torque trying to
move the transmission shaft. This will occur only if the clutch is
fully engaged thus ensuring that there is full engine torque to move
the vehicle forward.The inputs from both these sensors are given to
the Microcontroller. The specific micro controller used is the PIC
16F877. This is chosen because it has an inbuilt ADC converter.
This was not available in ATMEL and an external PIC was needed
to provide the Analog to Digital conversion so PIC 16F877 was
used. The outputs from the two sensors were given to the ADC of
the controller.The controller is designed and programmed in such
a way that when the speed sensor gives a reading that the wheels
are stationary of the speed is very less the actuation relay is ac-
tivated, this in turn activates the solenoid and the brake booster
input piston is pushed inwards thus applying the brakes.

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4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

3d models using Pro-E Now let us consider a vehicle that is

parked on a gradient. The free body diagram is as follows,

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue

Fig 4.5 Free body diagram

The load acting on the front axle is given by the formula

Front axle load (LF) = M × ( − v×) ÷ wb
Where, M = Total Vehicle Weight
h = Horizontal Distance From Center of Gravity
h = wb/2 (wheelbase/2)
v = Vertical Distance From Center of Gravity
s = Slope
s = tan θ , where θ is the angle of incline.
Assuming the vehicle to be Mahindra BOLERO,
The calculations are as follows:
LF = M × ( − v×) ÷ wb
= 2750kg × (1340mm − 500mm × tan 50◦ ) ÷ 2680mm
=763.587 kg
Therefore rear axle load = M - LF
= 2750kg 763.586kg
= 1986.413 kg
p Traction force required to park the vehicle is =M × g × s ÷
(1 + S 2 ) p
= 2750 kg ×9.81 × tan 50◦ ÷ [1 + (tan 50◦ )2 ]
= 20665.57 N

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue

By assuming the force needed at the brakes is constant,

Brake line pressure = F × pr ÷ A
Where,
F = Force Applied To The Brake Pedal In Pounds
A = Area Of The Master Cylinder In Square Inches
pr = Pedal Ratio P = 80 × 9 ÷ 1.68
= 428 psi
Considering FOS = 2 this can be assumed as around 800 psi.

5 CONCLUSION
Various literatures were reviewed and three original concepts were
generated. The most preferable concept was identified from a num-
ber of proposed concepts based on the constraints of time, space,
cost and technological relevance. The layout was modeled in Pro-
E The study of various existing hill holder systems was carried
out and it was found that the existing systems are only used in
the luxury SUV segment. This concept is basically done by using
booster control is finally chosen due to its simplicity and compact
nature. The design is done in such a way that the present systems
are not altered. This system also facilitates the change over from
mechanical systems to mechatronics system wherein the reliability
and accuracy is increased. Also the response time is less.
The combined action of both solenoids gives the sufficient pres-
sure to stop the vehicle from rolling backward and also if one
solenoid actuator fails the other would be sufficient to stop the
car on the gradient. The pressure required in the system is 800 psi
= 5.515 MPa to generate 30000 N of stopping force. The solenoid is
chosen in such a way that each produces 400 psi of force. Since the
system deals with the brake system it can be applied to all vehicles.
Also since the system is electronic the maintenance is almost un-
necessary. Thus an automatic hill hold system using two sensors,
a solenoid actuator and micro controller have been designed. The
main advantage is that this system can be implemented without
any major change in the present systems. Also the response time
is minimum and the reliability is maximum.

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue

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