Actuators by Meccanica 42 in the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL).
In our previous article, we highlighted Meccanica 42’s pivotal role in the ASPIRE Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL), showcasing our advanced actuators and control systems that powered the autonomous driving capabilities of the Dallara SF23 racecars. We are excited now to delve deeper into the specific products that made this possible.
Our cutting-edge technology, including Corner Brake Actuators (CBA), Pinon-type Steering Actuators (PSA), and the innovative Body System Unit (BSU), not only facilitated the autonomous functions of these high-performance vehicles but also ensured unparalleled precision, reliability, and safety on the racetrack.
The vehicle’s architecture is structured as follows: instead of a driver, there is the so-called “skid.” The skid is a frame/chassis that contains all the smart units of the car, which start directly from the top where a complex sensor system is located (3 lydars, 3 radars, 6 cameras) and a high-performance PC.
The upper part also includes the user interface, with a monitor that displays information about the car’s state. The high-performance PC and the user interface are all that the racing teams have access to. Through this system, the teams have access to all the sensors and decide how the “driver” interprets the sensors, the environment, and sets the objectives for the various targets.
Below the first level, which is composed of the high-performance PC, the components of Meccanica 42 come into play. The second level is to be conceived as the car’s “nervous system” that receives commands from the first level and translates them into objectives for the various subsystems.
Going deeper into the car, we find the two brake actuators (CBA), a steering actuator (PSA), and the control unit (BSU).
Meet our CBA: advanced Corner Brake Actuators.
Corner Brake Actuators (CBA) provide access to any brake-based function and calibration, ensuring precise, independent, and rapid management of the single brake line pressure. In this case, they were used to implement autonomous braking functions of the vehicle, commanded by the vehicle’s control logic. Additionally, near the CBAs, there is a compressor that allows you to apply an emergency braking. Therefore, even in the event of a total blackout, the car can be braked using a pneumatic piston that activates a normal braking system.
This is possible because Meccanica 42’s brake actuators have a hydraulic bypass that allows for passive braking in case of malfunction. Despite being designed for human driving, they turned out to be really useful also for autonomous driving.
Meet our PSA: precision Pinon-type Steering Actuator.
The Pinon-type Steering Actuator (PSA), with its capability to facilitate the development of any autonomous steering function, stands out for its precise and autonomous management of the steering gear operating seamlessly in position, torque, or speed control modes. Control and actuation performance are at the forefront, as well as reliability, considering its resistance against the stresses typical of racing cars. Both CBAs and PSA ensured a high level of safety through the implementation of a robust fall-back strategy, to effectively handle emergency scenarios.
Meet our BSU: innovative Body System Unit.
Our Body System Unit (BSU): an open control unit designed to simplify and expedite brake system management, empowering users to develop their own logic seamlessly. For the first time, it is used on autonomous vehicles to simplify the interface for the user. Moreover, it manages the entire drive-by-wire system, along with emergency strategy and power management, by perfectly integrating with other systems such as engine management units. Thanks to its versatility, it can implement both ABS and ESC logic, effortlessly reading speed values from wheel speed sensors and master cylinder pressures. This real-time control unit ensures the repeatability of control outputs, guaranteeing consistency in performance. The BSU is the “heart” of the system: it receives all the information from all the car’s systems, except for the sensors, which are managed by the high-performance PC.
The bsu also contains all the safety strategies. In fact, this control unit can perform real-time checks, at very high frequencies (milliseconds), verifying that everything is consistent and that the car is behaving as expected. For example, if there were an oil leak in a caliper, the bsu would signal the leakage and specific emergency strategies for that fault would be applied. Both the CBA and the PSA have safety and functionality monitoring strategies, meaning that both perform diagnostics and, if they can, act directly on the fault. If this is not possible, the signal is transmitted to the BSU, which implements specific fallback strategies.
Meccanica 42 enabling the First Autonomous Vehicle Competition
Meccanica 42 is proud to have provided an exceptional support to the first competition of autonomous vehicles. As a leading supplier of advanced components, Meccanica 42 committed itself to offering cutting edge technology to ensure the best performances on track.
The mission was clear: enable the innovation and the leading engineering through the supply of first-class technology. With competence and dedication, Meccanica 42 was able to make difficult solutions easy, facilitating the integration and optimization of the performances of autonomous vehicles.
Watch this video to see our technology in action!
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