Kneeling and Levelling System

Project Summary:

This project was designed and executed by Qmax for a Tier 1 Indian Automotive customer.The requirement was to design a kneeling and levelling system for heavy vehicles.

Heavy duty vehicles like Trailers and Buses Use Pneumatic suspensions otherwise called as air springs. They are reinforced rubber bellows which are inflated and works as suspension. They are inflated or deflated according to the height required and when passengers get in or alight. The air suspension must be precisely controlled for a smooth ride.

Qmax was assigned to develop a control system for the kneeling and levelling system. The system takes in parameters and commands from the Vehicles CAN control bus and executes them to control the suspension. The system must be fast, responsive and rugged.The device is built around a Microchip 18F45K80 high performance, automotive grade, 8-bit MCU with integrated ECAN Feature. The MCU boasts low power consumption and high precision.

The project involved Potting of the PCBA inside the enclosure. All the thermal and physical stresses involved has been considered during the design. Qmax did the initial prototyping and pilot production run of around 2000 Units.

Important Parts:

• Microchip High performance, automotive grade, 8-bit MCU
• Microchip High-Speed CAN Transceiver
• NXP ESD Protection IC
• ST Micro Switching Voltage Regulator

Salient Features:

• Automotive grade product
• Rugged construction
• CAN protocol communication
• Ultra-fast response
• IP69K compliant inside enclosure

Qmax Scope of work:

• Schematics Entry
• PCB Layout Design
• PCB Fabrication and Assembly
• Firmware development
• Board Bring-up and testing
• Manufacturing Coordination