eBrake - The mechatronic wedge brake

摘要

eBrake (1,2) - a new "brake-by-wire" technology, was developed at the German Aerospace Centre, DLR e.V. It is based on an electric-powered controlled friction brake with high self-reinforcement capability. To avoid jamming the brake a special control technology was developed. Thus, by intelligently controlling a brake wedge, the kinetic energy of a vehicle is transformed into braking power. Furthermore an advanced design was found to deal with a broad variation of the friction coefficient. The physical effects involved lead to a significant reduction of energy consumption of the brake actuator compared to "conventional" brake-by-wire systems.