Diesel Progress North American

MOBILE HYDRAULICS

Along with tightening engine emissions regulations, equip- ment manufacturers are also now faced with an ever-increasing emphasis on machine safety, driven in large measure by new European Machinery Directives. Thus, at the same time design changes are re- quired to accomodate new emissions- driven engine systems — engine sys- tems that often provide reduced horse- power or more restricted engine oper- ating ranges — equipment manufac- turers must also meet the more rigor- ous approach to system development and qualification demanded by new safety standards. In an effort to address those chal- lenges, Sauer-Danfoss has developed its new Automotive Control (AC) solu- tion that is designed to provide OEMs a complete SIL 2 (Safety Integrity Level 2 according to IEC 61508) certi- fied transmission system. “Our H1 Automotive Control is the first solution on the market to offer the precision and consistent performance of intelligent electronics, combined with complete drive system functional- ity, system qualification and SIL 2 cer- tification,” said Joseph P. Maher, sys- tem portfolio manager, Sauer Danfoss. “OEMs will be able to reduce time to market for new vehicles and model variants, while still customizing vehicle behavior and providing differentiation for their products.” The new PLUS+ 1 Compliant sys- tem incorporates an H1 variable pis- ton pump with embedded electronic control, an H1 bent axis variable pis- ton motor, sensors and associated Human Machine Interface (HMI) devices. Combined with intelligent software, AC provides an automotive- style, automatic transmission experi- ence that allows operators to adjust hydrostatic transmission characteris- tics to suit specific operating require- ments, the company said. “Combining H1 technology with 25 years of electronic automotive control development, our new automative control not only helps increase vehi- cle performance and overall efficien- cy, but also provides improvements in productivity and comfort,” said Maher. The H1 embedded controller incor- porates robust electronics mounted directly on the H1 pump. All electrical connections are positioned for easy OEM vehicle installation, Sauer- Danfoss said, citing how a complete semi-automatic sensor calibration of PLUS+ 1 Compliant drive and inching foot pedals can be easily done. Another feature offered by the em- bedded controller is additional “watch- dog” circuitry, which is designed to pro- vide real-time fault monitoring of the electronic hardware. This, combined with optional software to monitor re- dundant HMI input channels, enables the H1 AC system to provide single fault tolerance for AC vehicle transmis- sion systems, which is SIL 2 certified by TÜV (Technischer Überwachung- sverein). This will help vehicle manu- facturers speed up and reduce costs for meeting applicable European ma- chinery directives and safety stan-