Market trends are forcing road-vehicles to become ever more complex in order to improve existing functions and to accommodate new driver support features. This applies as much to the brakes as to any other system on a vehicle. Hydraulic braking systems have evolved steadily and now perform an impressive range of functions. However each new advance or feature has usually demanded additional hardware and increased cost. Over the last two decades braking system complexity has increased markedly due to the introduction of ABS and its derivatives. These additional features have increased braking system component count and the need to interface with other systems on the vehicle. EHB attempts to rationalise the architecture of the braking system so that all the required braking functions are available but with reduced overall complexity and size. Such a system will have a common energy supply, a single set of pressure control elements and a single ECU. It will fulfil all present-day brake control needs, with the potential to meet future demands without additional hardware other than specific sensors. Such a system is only now becoming a realistic prospect due to continuing technological developments aimed at meeting automotive requirements. The most important of these have been in the field of electronic information-processing, proportional pressure control, sensors and energy storage. However, success requires that more powerful system development tools in order to ensure acceptable time to market despite increased product complexity. TRW has developed an EHB concept that provides benefits to both the vehicle manufacturer and the vehicle user.
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