Synopsis of an automobile control system!
               -------------------------------------------
              Copyright (c) 1995  Larry "Wingnut" Wendlandt



   Here are my thoughts on a totally electronic car interior that can
easily separate from the rest of the car, and can easily be put onto
other transports... preferably without the need for human assistance.


TERMS:


Environment and Control Interface Pod (or ECI):  Essentially, this
"looks" like the interior portion of a car, though the knobs and levers
may change appearance and location as this system evolves.  The exterior
of the ECI provides weatherproof surfaces and doors, and standardized
lift hooks and lift under-plates, easing their placement upon transports.
The ECI will contain "approved" controllers (pedals, steering wheel,
shift switches, keyboards) for all functions necessary to control most
transport vehicles.  There will be possibly 4 ECI-to-transport electrical
connectors, and there must be a completely self-sustaining power source,
rechargeable from transport vehicles via the electrical connectors.
Electric heaters, air conditioners, stereos, televisions, mirrors,
antennas, seats, phones, personal computers, and most other appliances
that are non-crucial to transport control... will be left to the
preferences of the ECI (E-Pod?) owner.


Transport:  This is essentially everything EXCEPT the interior of a car.
This could be electric powered, or it could be a light rail car, or
a large truck, or airplane, or boat, or just about anything that has a
proper connector to electrically interface to the ECI pod, and is an
"approved" transport mechanism for the specifications of the pod.
The devices that control a transport could be any, or combinations of
local humans, remote humans, local computer, remote computer, computer-
assisted human, human-assisted computer, local location sensors, remote
location sensors... or whatever other methods we can think up.


Computer-Controlled Transport (or CCT):  These are transporters (ECI-less
vehicles) that travel along predetermined routes (light rails, planes,
ships, spacecraft, etc).  The ECI driver often has very little control
over the transport vehicle in a CCT.  The "Let Me Off Here" button or
command string may be ECI driver-controllable and may not necessarily
have to be pre-programmed. These transports are MOSTLY computer-controlled
transports with a possibility of human interaction as a rundundancy
system to the computer.  As far as that goes, walking is a redundancy
system to any form of transportation other than walking. So is a tow truck.


Human-Controlled Transport (or HCT):  There are many versions of this, and
we have a gray area to explain.  Already, we have enjoyed computer ASSISTED
operations when driving our cars... like electronic fuel injection, SEEK
buttons on car stereos, digital dashboards and "heads-up" displays, anti-
lock braking, traction sensors, and numerous other applications.  So when
we say HUMAN controlled, it may only mean that SOMEWHERE, a human is
monitoring the transport computer system.  It could just as easily mean
that we have someone physically driving the transport vehicle, with no
computer assistance whatsoever, like when our ECI is stacked on the back
of somebody's flatbed truck (the new form of bus), driven by a physical
driver.


Shared-Control Transport (or SCT): This is when we have a computer-assisted
human, or a human-assisted computer controlling the transport vehicle.
Note that these two could be viewed as DRASTICALLY different.  How this
is worded MAY determine whether or not there is a human supervisor or
driver on-board the transport.  Understand, that as computer assistance
becomes more widely used, the "driver" may simply be a computer system
monitorer, watching for alarms or un-planned obstructions along the
vehicle's route.  The trend, I suspect, will lean more towards "un-manned"
transport vehicles, remotely monitored by computer-assisted humans.


Controllers:  These are mechanical-to-electrical converters of some type.
Some familiar types of controllers are mouses, trackballs, keyboards,
joysticks, switches, levers, and tv remote controls.  This is ANY device
that takes a human physical action and converts it to an electrical signal.


Servos:  Basically, these are the OPPOSITES of controllers.  These "motors"
convert an electrical signal into a mechanical action. Some examples of
these might be... the motors used to raise and lower electric windows and
antennas, tray ejector motors on CD players, lift motors on the backs of
trucks (like a garbage truck or "tommy" lift), cherry pickers and forklifts.


Redundancy/Safety/DCRS:  A "redundant" system is one that has a COMPLETE
"emergency backup" system.  In other words, if a steering system has a
redundancy system, it means that a failure in ANY part of the PRIMARY
steering... will NOT affect the "SECONDARY" system.  If the SECONDARY system
has a complete and separate backup system as well, then there are THREE
complete systems for steering, and this is called a dual-redundancy steering
system. I refer to this system as a Dual Complete Redundancy System or DCRS.
Dual redundancy implies that there will be THREE complete control systems
inplemented.  The third system (final redundancy) will probably shut the
transport off completely within maybe 4 hours... unless the primary or
secondary system is repaired (making it switch to THAT system).  I suggest
that transport system computers also monitor for ECI computer/controller
failures, and be able to assist in safe stopping in the event of a total
ECI system failure.  See section below labeled REDUNDANCY SYSTEMS.


Electronics - For our purposes, this is computer-type circuits that process
electrical signals between controllers and servos, and vice versa.  This is
a highly critical part of "remote controlling" an automobile, and may be
DCRS (two complete backup systems) which must be physically separated as
much as possible.  Most likely, there will be computers on both the
transport and the ECI... and they MUST be able to fully communicate with
each other... via electrical connectors between the ECI and the transport.
Hopefully, we can universalize the connector type... and software and
hardware will be pollable and self-identifying (plug'n'play).

---- End of terms ----


ECI POD STUFF:
--------------

Steering:  Steering is one of the most important control systems to an
automobile.  We will require at least THREE steering post encoders.  We
need to try to predict failure points in these encoders, and POSSIBLY need
an emergency encoder in a separate area of the car's interior... due to the
possibility of complete mechanical failure of the steering post bearings.
Replacement of steering physical interfaces may be as simple as plugging-in
a new mouse into a computer.  It MAY be only a short time after we go to
non-mechanical controllers, that we phase out the steering wheel as we know
it.  Whatever mechanical device we use as the interface to the driver's
physical body, it should be a DCRS. The final backup system must essentially
FORCE the driver to IMMMEDIATELY repair one of the primary steering systems.
It is also very important that each redundancy system is physically located
and routed through a different location in the ECI.


Braking:  The braking controllers in the ECI (there would be three of them
to satisfy the requirements of DCRS) will be much the same as the steering
controllers.  It will probably be a foot controlled encoder to start with,
though we may eventually find that we prefer hand braking.  Remember that
the amount of physical force used to apply the brakes, will be totally
adjustable... by adjusting mechanical tensioners on the controller itself.
Since there will be NO physical connection to the chassis other than
electrical wires, the driver will not feel any on-chassis spring tension
from the brakes.  And naturally, if you are riding aboard a light rail
or other "transport-controlled" transport, the braking, steering, and
acceleration controllers will be inoperative.  Possibly, the only controller
that will be active to send commands to the transport will be a...
"Let me off HERE" button or maybe a pre-programmed signal that sent from
the ECI computer to the transport computer that tells where to take your
pod and by what routing.


Throttle:  The throttle controller will be encoders that will probably
start out looking like the "gas pedal" on current cars... and again, we
may eventually prefer hand throttles.  The throttle, as you know, will
"ask" the transport to add or reduce fuel input to the transport's engine.
Remember that controllers can take ANY shape.  They can be bought, built,
modified, and remodified, as long as the driver thinks they are comfortable
and controllable... and they MUST produce the standard "data stream" for
ECI's so that ALL transports can understand what the controller is "saying".


ECI electronics:  The circuits for monitoring steering post encoders
are no more complicated than computer trackball or mouse circuits.  The
key here is redundancy, and separation of redundancy circuits.  We MUST
keep them physically separated... to protect the backup systems. Besides
all the luxuries that current auto interiors have, the main systems in an
ECI should be ONLY controllers, backup controllers, electronics, and backup
electronics.  Univeral exterior connectors on the ECI would allow for
pods to "snap" onto "municipal tranports" for inner city travel.  These
universal public carrier mechanisms will simply be autos or light rail cars
that have no human interface UNTIL an ECI pod is placed into them.  Then,
the computers in the ECI (your car's interior) begin to ask the computers
on the transport vehicle whether or not the transport is in proper working
order.  And, the transport asks the car interior whether or not IT is in
proper working order.  Once they both approve of each other's presence,
they calibrate the pod controllers to the abilities of the mechanics in the
transport... so that steering, braking, and acceleration "demands"
(commands) don't exceed the physical abilities of the transport. In other
words, the transport "knows" its physical limitations on performance...
and the controller pod (ECI) "knows" its limitations as well.  Very
detailed performance specifications could be made available by each,
for each... including a driver's historical tendencies, bad weather
compensations, preventative maintenance scheduling and notifications,
driver preferences, and GPS tracking/navigation.


Braking and throttle electronics will work much the same as steering.
It might be important to safety... to have up to 15 complete computers
in an HCI (that's not including the ones used for non-crucial operations
such as stereos, temperature control, video gaming or internet).  There
would be three braking computers, three steering computers, three throttle
computers, three clutching computers (if necessary), and possibly three
master computers.  The master computers would "watch" each controller-
specific computer for anomolies or failures.  If we did things right, we
could make all 15 computers interchangeable, so that a braking computer
works as a steering computer if need be... or a clutching computer could
work fine as a master computer as well... etc.

Controllers:  Controllers are a bit difficult to understand, at least
until I get done with this paragraph... and maybe afterwards as well.
There is ALWAYS a mechanical aspect to a controller.  Its always a lever,
or a switch, or a trackball or a mouse, or a steering wheel, or a pedal,
or something like that.  A controller requires a physical action, usually
by a human, to make changes in its output.  Let's look at a "encoded"
accelerator pedal as an example.  In nowadays cars, there is a mechanical
connection (a rod or cable)) that connects the accelerator pedal to the
carburetor part of the engine.  By pushing the pedal, it opens a valve
on the carburetor, which sprays more fuel into the engine.  Now lets look
at an "encoded" accelerator pedal.  With THIS type, there is a small
electronic circuit near the pedal itself.  This circuit "watches" the
pedal... and ADJUSTS A NUMBER when the pedal is moved.  Think of it
as putting the VOLUME knob from your radio... under the pedal.  As you
push the pedal down, the knob turns, which increases the size of the
number produced by the circuit.  This number is sent to a SERVO on the
carburetor... and in the throttle's case, the fuel valve opens up to
the AMOUNT of that number, and fuel flow increases.  In reverse, when you
let up on the gas, the number gets smaller, the servo at the carburetor
reads a smaller number, and the valve closes to the new number level.
This is how television remote controllers work as well.  The button press
is converted to an encoded number, sent to the TV, and the tv changes
itself to whatever the encoded signal told it to change to.


Advanced Controller Talk:  Controllers often have a trait called
RESOLUTION.  Essentially, this is the number of increments across the
total throw-distance of a controller.  Since controllers often connect to
computer circuits, the unit of measure for resolution of controllers is
often BITS.  Think of a BIT as a common, wall mounted light switch.  It
has just two positions... ON and OFF.  If you wanted to talk about a
light switches' condition... using numbers... you could say that ON = 1
and OFF = 0.  If there were TWO light switches side by side on the wall,
you could do this...  the RIGHT switch is HOW MANY ONES in the number...
and the LEFT switch is HOW MANY TWOS in the number.  So... BOTH switches
being OFF = 0.  LEFT switch OFF and RIGHT switch ON = 1.  LEFT switch
ON and RIGHT switch OFF = 2... and BOTH switches ON = 3.  The RESOLUTION
of two light switches is "two bit resolution"... meaning it can go from
0 to 3.  Now let's add a third switch!  The new LEFT switch would tell
the number of FOURS we have in the number (either one FOUR or no FOURS).
So... ON OFF OFF would be a 4, ON OFF ON would be 5, ON ON OFF would
be 6, and ON ON ON would be 7.  Often, bits are described using the
BINARY numbering system... where a switch being OFF is said to be 0,
and a switch being ON is said to be 1.  Binary numbering never goes
higher than 1.  I know... confusing eh?  Study the chart below.
Just pretend "1" = ON and "0" = OFF.


            | Lightswitch | Lightswitch | Lightswitch |
            |  (value 4)  |  (value 2)  |  (value 1)  |
            |             |             |             |
     if...  |      0      |      0      |      0      | then output = 0
     if...  |      0      |      0      |      1      | then output = 1
     if...  |      0      |      1      |      0      | then output = 2
     if...  |      0      |      1      |      1      | then output = 3
     if...  |      1      |      0      |      0      | then output = 4
     if...  |      1      |      0      |      1      | then output = 5
     if...  |      1      |      1      |      0      | then output = 6
     if...  |      1      |      1      |      1      | then output = 7
            |             |             |             |

  I bet you never realized that you could describe the setting of three
light switches with a single number, did you?  The above chart describes
a controller (three light switches) that has a "3-bit resolution" or, in
non-computer terms, it can produce any number from 0 thru 7 depending on
their physical positions.

Now, if there were EIGHT switches... it might look like this...

| LS-128 | LS-64 | LS-32 | LS-16 | LS-08 | LS-04 | LS-02 | LS-01 | <- values
|        |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
|   0    |   0   |   0   |   0   |   0   |   0   |   0   |   0   | = 0
|   0    |   0   |   1   |   0   |   0   |   1   |   0   |   1   | = 37
|   1    |   0   |   0   |   1   |   0   |   1   |   1   |   1   | = 151
|   1    |   1   |   1   |   1   |   1   |   1   |   1   |   1   | = 255
|        |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |

   See how we ADD the VALUE of each switch together with all the OTHER
ON switches, to get the output number.  In an 8-bit resolution, the leftmost
switch is WORTH 128.  When its ON, 128 is added to the total output number.
When LS-64 is ON, 64 is added to the total output number.  ADD-UP all the
WORTHS of ALL the ON switches, and you get a number that corresponds to the
physical positions of all of the switches.  This is 8-bit resolution.
As you can probably deduce, any controller with 8-bit resolution... has the
abilities to produce a number from 0 thru 255.  So, if our accelerator
pedal produced a number of 0 when it was UP, and 255 when it was pushed to
the floor, then we have now "encoded" our accelerator pedal to 8-bit
resolution.  If the servo on the carburetor was "calibrated" to the pedal,
it would SET its VALVE FULL OPEN value to 255, and its VALVE FULL CLOSED
value to 0.  It could then divide the distance between 0 and 255 into
255 equally-spaced areas (much like the lines on a ruler).  The act of
setting FULL PEDAL = VALVE FULL OPEN... and NO PEDAL = VALVE FULL CLOSED...
is called CALIBRATION.  The act of dividing the distance between VALVE
FULL CLOSED and VALVE FULL OPEN into equally-sized steps is called...
INTERPOLATION... which is based on a term called LINEARITY... which means
it follows a line.

           255 <- (calibrated)
           /
          / <--------------------- 247 (interpolated)
         / <- 224 (interpolated)
        / <------------------------ 199 (interpolated)
       / <--------------------------------------------- 163 (interpolated)
      / <- 128 (interpolated)
     / <------------------------ 114 (interpolated)
    / <------------------------------------------------ 83 (interpolated)
   / <- 64 (interpolated)
  / <----------------------- 45 (interpolated)
 /
0 <- (calibrated)

   By knowing WHERE 255 and 0 are, the computer can "assume" where the
the rest of the numbers will be located on the line.  So once the valve
on the carburetor knows what number the pedal produces for FULL ON, and then
for FULL OFF, the VALVE's servo circuits can do the rest.  When the pedal
is pushed to 114, for example, the carburetor valve opens 114/255 or...
almost half throttle.  Please remember that all encoding controllers and
related circuits... MAKE NUMBERS from physical changes.  All servos and
related circuits... MAKE PHYSICAL CHANGES from numbers.  How a controller
MAKES a number is really not important, and there are MANY methods.  The
important thing is the resolution.  The servo MUST know if the controller
has 8-bit, 16-bit, or 24-bit resolution (those are common resolutions).
Often, the controller circuits prefer to know what the resolution of the
servo is as well.  Oh, you didn't know that servos have resolutions too?
Well they do.  Variable valves really have unlimited resolution, but the
circuits and motor that OPEN and CLOSE the valve DO NOT have unlimited
resolution.  They must be able to "accept" a number as large as
16,777,215 for high-resolution 24-bit controllers.

Controllers should be DCRS and can be shaped to drivers' choice.  Keep
in mind that if we don't use standardized controllers, like we do now with
brakes, steering, clutch, and throttle, then maybe we won't be able to
loan our ECI's to other people... which might be just fine, considering
EVERY adult should own their own ECI.  Public and rental ECI's would
probably retain the standard controller configurations that we use in
cars and trucks now.  We COULD make ECI's so that "personalized"
controllers can easily be "snapped onto" public, rental, and other
peoples' ECI's.  This would not be a problem at all, especially if we
used some standardized controller-cable connectors inside our ECI's.


Transport Stuff:
----------------

Steering Servos:  This is a difficult mechanism.  There must be at least
three complete, and reasonably separated drive motors to turn EACH of
the two front wheels on a standard transport chassis.


           (More discussion on transports soon to come.)



   REDUNDANCY SYSTEMS are often implemented for the safety and security
of the drivers and passengers.  Current automobiles offer very few, if any,
redundant control systems.  During most brake system failures, the emergency
brake CAN be used as a redundancy system to the primary braking system. The
two systems are fairly well physically separated, and their conveyances
differ in method (emergency brakes are usually a steel cable and primary
brakes are usually hydraulic).  There are no redundant steering, clutching,
or throttle systems in current cars.  In steering systems alone, we, as a
society, have confidence in the materials used to make the steering wheel.
We have trust in the steering shaft and its mount, the steering gearbox,
the pitman arm and tie rods.  There are 78 parts that could fail in the
Saginaw power rack and pinion gearbox alone!  Needless to say, our society
has put trust in thte mechanical abilities of our current steering systems.

When we incorporate the ECI system, we will essentially CUT the steering
shaft at the point where it passes through the firewall.  Then, we will
connect an accurate, powerful, computer controlled servo-motor onto the
part of the shaft that goes into the steering gearbox. To complete the
TRANSPORT part of the conversion, we will probably hook a small computer
to our new steering servo-motor.  This little computer will have wiring
connectors for power, servo-motor, and ECI data.

Back in the HCI (your car's interior), we have a steering wheel that is
no longer connected to anything except a cut-off steering shaft.  Now, we
will attach a small ENCODER computer... to the cut-off shaft that is still
connected to the steering wheel.  It basically looks at the AMOUNT OF
TURNING that happens on that shaft, and adjusts the number at its output
accordingly.  That number is sent, via wires, to the small computer that
we connected to the servo-motor on the transport side of the shaft... down
by the steering gearbox.  Here's an illustration...

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------

                             OLD SYSTEM
                             ----------
                                                     wheel
Steering                                              /
 wheel                                               / <-- tie rod
                                       -----        /
   |          steering shaft          |gear |      /
   |==================================|     |====== <-- pittman arm
   |                                  | box |      \
                                       -----        \
                                                     \ <-- tie rod
                                                      \
                                                     wheel


  ---------------------------------------------------------------------

                             NEW SYSTEM
                             ----------
                                                     wheel
Steering    Encoder/computer                          /
 wheel       /                                       / <-- tie rod
        ----/                 -----    -----        /
   |    |  /|      wires      |   |   |gear |      /
   |====|   |- - - - - - - - -|   |===|     |====== <-- pittman arm
   |    |   |                 |/  |   | box |      \
        -----                 /----    -----        \
                             /                       \ <-- tie rod
               Computer/servo-motor                   \
                                                     wheel

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, the new system basically replaces the steering shaft
with an encoder, two computers, a servo-motor, and some wires.  If we, as
drivers, ever get to the point where we have as much confidence and security
with an encoder, two computers, a servo-motor, and some wires... as we
have with the current-days steering shaft... then there will be less need
for a redundancy system.  Will the electronics be as strong and dependable
as the steel?  Only the future can tell us that.

If I remember correctly, this new type of control system is currently in
use on F-18 aircraft, and the NASA Space Shuttle.

Now, let's look at braking.  We WILL lose our cable-driven emergency brake
by adopting the new system.  This MAY mandate a complete redundancy system
for braking.  The new braking system will work much like the new steering
system... removing the brake shaft between the pedal and the master brake
cylinder, and replacing it with an encoder, two computers, a servo-motor,
and some wires.

And least but not last, are the clutch and throttle.  Both systems use
steel cables or steel shafts right now... and just like the steering and
brake systems, will be replaced with encoders, computers, servos, and some
wires.

Just to throw you a curveball... did you know that the signals that will
be sent on the wires... can be sent by radio waves?  Well now you do.
Therefore, we could see a day when NO wire connections need to be made
between the transport and the ECI.  Braking, steering, clutching, and
throttle could all be sent on a tiny transceiver with a tiny antenna,
to another tiny transceiver with a tiny antenna... all at the same time.
Due to possible radio interference, we would probably want a redundancy
system of some kind... possibly a standard telephone wire, capable of
transmitting high-speed serial data, much like today's computer modems.
Even if we decided NOT to implement a radio-data system... high-speed
serial data can be sent on two tiny wires, making connection of ECI's
to transports an easy task.



                ADVANTAGES TO THE "DETACHABLE" ECI SYSTEM
                -----------------------------------------

                            (Coming Soon)



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