Electronic chassis

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Electronic chassis
fact

Electronic chassis

Electronic chassis

Electronic chassis

Electronic chassis

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Electronic chassis
fact

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BMW HP4, the new S 1000 RR, Ducati Multistrada or Aprilia Caponord: they are all equipped with active damping components.

Electronic chassis
ZF

2/7
The ZF company was founded in 1915, where ZF stands for Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen.

Electronic chassis
BMW

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The active chassis regulates the damping depending on numerous measured values ​​- from the spring travel sensors, the ABS, the ECU, etc..

Electronic chassis
ZF

4/7
Pure racing: these two words could briefly describe the linchpin in Burkhard Bender’s life.

Electronic chassis
ZF

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This is what the electromagnetically controlled proportional valve in the damper looks like. It ensures the right fine-tuning of the damping between the extremes completely open and completely closed.

Electronic chassis
markus-jahn.com

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Only the right fork leg is screwed. The hexagon shows: it is responsible for the individual adjustment of the spring preload. On the left you can only see cables on the BMW S 1000 RR. They supply the electricity for the damping adjustment.

Electronic chassis
PS

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ZF originally developed the CDC system for cars. Since motorcycles have different dynamic load shifts and less installation space, the components had to be adapted. How different are the damping characteristics alone.

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technology & future

Electronic chassis

Big special on the subject of chassis
Electronic chassis

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If you want to be fast, you need performance. And a good chassis! This is the only way to have the right feel-good factor for jagged curve surfing and time filing on the race. To make things ever easier for the driver, more and more active chassis are being used.

Jens Moller-Tollner

04/14/2015

Hockenheim, parabolic steroids. You fire the gears every second with the quickshifter. The bike twitches slightly every time. Actually, you want to let the gas stand completely, but unconsciously you always close the throttle valve a little. That’s not a lot, but not “full throttle” either. The hairpin beams closer at high speed. You stand up, take the brakes and anchor for your life. The front of the motorcycle bends deep, and it lurches slightly at the back. You know the restlessness, have long since got used to it. Know how to deal with it.

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But let’s be honest: If everything ran a little smoother, a little more stable – there would be a few tenths left. But whoever optimally adjusts the chassis to these situations will lose out elsewhere. Wouldn’t it be the ideal solution if the damping were to react more or less actively to the incoming impulses?

The electronics find their way into the chassis

Time leap, Superbike World Championship 2008: Troy Corser drives the Race-Yamaha to top performance, collects points like a squirrel nuts just before winter. One reason for this: the Ohlins chassis. Controlled by GPS, it adjusts the set-up a few times per lap. A big head start in development. The other drivers and manufacturers complained, and shortly afterwards the technology was banned. But it has shown what is possible when electronics actively intervene in the suspension setup. Today that’s old hat. BMW HP4, the new BMW S 1000 RR, Ducati Multistrada or Aprilia Caponord: They are all equipped with active damping components, some as standard, some as options.

ZF is behind it. The group currently supplies ten manufacturers. Active components are the future and already make up 42 percent of ZF’s production volume in this area. However, we are much further ahead in 2015 than when Corser was on the hunt for the times. “The system used at the time recorded little data and, as it was GPS-controlled, could only adjust the damping about 20 times per lap. According to current standards, 20 changes per lap correspond to a slow control frequency. For a continuous change, the control intervals must be faster than the occurring wheel frequencies, ”explains Burkhard Bender, Head of Advanced Development, Motorcycle Chassis at ZF. After all, the active system should react to the impulses introduced and intervene immediately. That means: The damping valve is activated about 500 times per second. The value is well above the wheel’s natural frequency of around 15 Hertz. In 2008 the starting shot was given for the first development steps. In the meantime, the series production has long since arrived. 

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High development speed – even faster lap times

The speed is impressive, after all, it takes a good three years to develop the relevant components for a completely new vehicle. If data is already available, around one and a half years are still necessary. ZF relies on a strong team so that these periods of time can even be created. In development alone, 22 experts are tinkering with motorcycle chassis and their improvement or application for customers from the industry. The complex technology makes the widespread introduction of the CAN bus in motorcycles possible. Data rushes through the lines, allowing complex components to communicate with one another. It also needs that. So that the active chassis can work in the best possible way, it evaluates signals from the throttle valves, the speed, the lean angle, the torque requested, from ABS and TC and – especially important – the wheel positions at the front and rear. All of this input flows into the brain of the active chassis, the control unit. Algorithms are stored there. The adjustment of the damping force via a proportional valve then takes place in fractions of a second from the comparison between the actual and target state.

What does that mean for your performance? Better lap times with less effort. This saves energy and helps you concentrate. Ideally, this creates valuable reserves for the last attack just before the finish line. But if it works so well, why doesn’t everyone use it? There are, of course, several reasons. Active chassis are – because they simply represent a very complex system – not cheap. That’s going to change. If the number of units continues to skyrocket and the speed of development remains almost at the level of recent years, prices will also fall. And then there is the driver himself. You are simply conditioned to use normal chassis. You haven’t driven anything else for years. If you were to bet one of the young MotoGP heroes with no two-stroke experience on one of the poisonous beasts from back then, the first highsider would certainly be inevitable. It is similar with the active chassis. “It is important that drivers, teams and manufacturers understand the system as a whole,” interjects Burkhard Bender. “It is no longer just the braking or acceleration process or driving in an inclined position that affects the chassis. Rather, almost all of the data recorded in the motorcycle is necessary for fine adjustment. Understanding this is an important step. “

Sounds complicated, it is

Because even IDM gas rippers like Stefan Nebel are unable to make use of the system’s full potential off the cuff. As a fast racer, you want to run over your bike once, you want to feel it under extreme conditions, you want to explore your limits. Active undercarriages put a stop to this. Because – depending on the stored algorithms – they recognize that the motorcycle is just beginning to slide over both wheels. Your head tells you: it’s a good thing. The system orders: prevent. The bottom line is that you have to recalibrate the feedback from the bike in your brain. Neither street bikes nor race bikes will do that from now on. Not to try, but it would be wasted potential.

Also because the active chassis systems will deliver even more performance in the future. “It’s our turn,” assures Burkhard Bender. “We are already working on software packages purely for the race track, we are constantly updating our parameterization systems.” This should even go so far that conventional characteristic curves are stored. Then you can only start in the usual mode and get used to the active cushioning step by step. The fact that ZF cannot make infinite leaps should not be disregarded. After all, we are talking about a supplier who has to take into account the wishes of its customers to a large extent. And sometimes they just want to buy the hardware, for example, and use their own software. The law of the industry. We definitely like the development and we are excited about the next steps that will make it easier for us to complete the race again.

Who is ZF?


Electronic chassis


ZF

The ZF company logo.

The ZF company was founded in 1915, where ZF stands for Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen. Today the company portfolio looks a little different, the most important departments are: car drive and chassis technology, commercial vehicle technology and industrial technology.

ZF has 113 production companies in 26 countries. 71,402 employees work for the group, which turned over 18.415 billion euros in 2014. And motorcycles? Are also a part, but of course only a small one. Nonetheless, ZF is vigorously pushing this business area forward, as the current chassis developments alone show. In addition, the group signed a binding agreement to take over TRW in September 2014. And they are no strangers to the motorcycle world either. Let’s see what’s coming.

Developer Burkhard Bender


Electronic chassis


ZF

With ZF since 2007 and significantly involved in development: Burkhard Bender.

Pure racing: these two words could briefly describe the linchpin in Burkhard Bender’s life. Of course, the ZF man also has a private life. But otherwise? The focus is clearly on motorcycles and racing. The technician did the first fast laps on two-wheelers early on, today in his mid-50s. Not without talent, but not one of the fastest guys either, he was drawn to engine tuning.

Two world titles (1999, 2000) with sidecar multi-champ Steve Webster are impressive. Then he discovered the subject of chassis for himself and docked at ZF in 2007. He and his team set about adapting the CDC system known from the passenger car sector for motorcycles. With success. And so that the development does not stand still, he still lets it crash regularly – like in the German Endurance Cup in 2014.

GPS vs. active chassis


Electronic chassis


BMW

The active chassis regulates the damping depending on numerous measured values ​​- from the spring travel sensors, the ABS, the ECU, etc..

Everyone knows GPS products (German: Global Positioning System), keyword Navi. The position of a receiver is determined via satellites. A great thing for finding your way around the city. But as a basis for changing chassis parameters? It’s not that absurd. In 2008, Ohlins showed in the Superbike World Championship that it can achieve significant advantages. 

However, two problems must not be concealed. On the one hand, the GPS-supported system did not react actively to external influences, but only made adjustments at previously defined points. At that time, around 20 control processes were possible. With stretches of up to six kilometers and more in the GP circus, that’s not much. But what speaks much more against the GPS system as a basis for influencing damping is its accuracy. Even if professional devices achieve a precision of a few millimeters today, the reality of driving looks different. Because who hits exactly the same line lap after lap? This is difficult even for professionals, even if it is only due to overtaking slower colleagues on the ideal line. And give such a system control over chassis changes? Better not.


Electronic chassis


ZF

This is what the electromagnetically controlled proportional valve in the damper looks like. It ensures the right fine-tuning of the damping between the extremes completely open and completely closed.

Active chassis components such as the CDC (Continuous Damping Control) from ZF work more precisely. Sensors register the impulses that are introduced into the motorcycle. Within a fraction of a second, the system compares this with the algorithms stored in the control unit and defines new values ​​for rebound and / or compression stages via proportional valves in the dampers. The speed factor is important here. The system can only show its efficiency if it works faster than the wheel frequencies. At ZF, a maximum value of 15 Hertz is used. This means that the wheels emit an impulse up to 15 times per second, which affects the chassis. On a brisk lap in Oschersleben with a smooth 1.35 minutes, that’s 1425 suspension stimuli. Compared to the number of old GPS values ​​from the 2008 Superbike World Championship, this is a huge step forward. 

But GPS data is not completely out of the race for targeted chassis adjustments. When it comes to tenths on the track, they provide valuable data for data recording. The teams can see exactly at which point on the slope the motorcycle is working and how. This is an important input in order to specifically refine the algorithms for the CDC in order to further increase the overall performance. So it doesn’t have to be GPS vs. active chassis, but targeted interaction.

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