iMT: A NEW PIECE OF TECH?

Recently, Hyundai India introduced  us to a "new" technology called intelligent manual transmission or iMT. This transmission option is being offered in one of the popular models in sub-4 metre compact SUV category, i.e. Hyundai Venue.Intelligent Manual transmission actually enjoy the benefits of automatic while not losing out on the feel of the manual gearbox. It basically is a hybrid of automatic and manual transmissions.

Is it completely new? Not really. This system(a similar one) was first used in early 1950s and there has been a lot of development in this field.

How does it work?

Basically, it looks similar to a manual transmission having a stick-shifter but acts like an automatic by helping you tackle those heavy traffic jams by allowing you to keep your left foot free! But, is it really a manual? The answer is NO. Its just another automatic transmission kept in manual mode which won't change gears until you do! weird, isn't it.

Actually, few high end cars come with a 'manual mode' where the gearbox will not upshift untill you do. It will hold the revs and you can shift by using the paddle shifter mounted behind the steering wheels or using the gear knob. It's almost the same case here but, instead of paddle shifter, you get a proper stick shift and it won't even downshift for you.

Technology used?

This transmission makes use of a few sensors along with an all electric clutch. So, when the sensors sense that you're about to shift gears and detects the gear you want to shift to(by getting the position of the stick), it actually does rev-matching, i.e., it matches the engine rpm to the level of that gear and then releases the clutch. In case, you slow down suddenly and your vehicle has a higher gear engaged, the system warns you to downshift and engages the clutch so that the car won't stall. It does not release the clutch until you engage the proper gear.

Is it worth the price?

Actually yes! it does offer you the ease of driving while stuck in heavy traffic conditions. There's also one more plus point. Since the clutch is being managed by the electronics of the car and not you, the clutch life is expected to be more in case of a clutchless manual car. But, it robs away the real feel of driving a manual and using 'half clutch' in a few cases. And yes, its way much better than rubbish(i'm sorry) AMT which is used in few cars.

SLIPPER CLUTCH

While riding our bikes, at some stages, we do experience jerk in case of sudden downshifts. These jerks are also not good for the transmission system of the bike as these occur due to engine braking caused by a sudden downshift an release of the clutch wire. Bikes which are more powerful can even lock up their rear wheels and it can become dangerous for the rider as well as others on the road.

Slipper clutch, also known as back torque limiter(as it limits the amount of torque on the rear wheel) is used to reduce the above discussed effects and provide safety to the riders. The actual difference between the slipper clutch and normal clutch is the clutch hub. There are different types of slipper clutches available, however, the most common type is the ramp-type slipper clutch, which is the variety used in most of the motorcycles we use on the street. A slipper clutch assembly has ramps built into the inner basket as well as the pressure plate. These ramps have the ability to allow for a sliding or slipping motion in the direction of the rotation of the wheel.

ADVANTAGES:

• The biggest advantage is, of course, the safety it provides.
• It also enhances the performance
• Bike becomes easier to ride as it forgives few of your mistakes.
• Decreases wear and tear of transmission.

DISADVANTAGES:

• They are expensive to own and maintain
• Engine braking, which can help you in case of brake failure, isn't much useful with slipper clutch.
• Not every mechanic an repair the faults/ failures in slipper clucth assembly.

Throttle By Wire

An Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) needs air and fuel for initiating combustion inside the cylinders. Fuel is supplied by injectors or a carburettor, Air is taken from the air intake and the flow of fuel into the engine's combustion chamber is controlled/regulated by the throttle, also known as butterfly valve.The throttle valve which opens and closes to adjust the air-flow into the engine is controlled by a cable connecting the accelerator pedal.

           

                                       valve                                                        cable

The throttle cable has almost become extinct on today’s motor vehicle. The newer, drive by wire or throttle by wire technique was first used back in the year 1988 by BMW in its 7 series.BMW has named it EML which is abbreviation of a German term meaning Electronic Throttle Control.

Actually, what this technology does is it replaces the  mechanical linkage between the accelerator pedal and the throttle butterfly, which used to be via a cable or via rods and linkages by some sophisticated electronic control modules, sensors and actuators. This system is also referred to as Fly-by-Wire.Earlier the electronic throttle actuation or EML was based upon the option of becoming a production line ‘add on’ system. It utilised its own Electronic Control Module (ECM), without the requisition of additional hard wear (and programming) to the vehicle’s original ECM. This was achieved by inputting minimal data into the vehicle’s ECM via a serial link from the electronic throttle actuator’s separate control unit.

Today’s systems have a specific ECM that incorporates the necessary programming to facilitate the input signals from the throttle pedal potentiometers and signal outputs to the electronic throttle body.

Drive-By-Wire or Throttle-By-Wire eliminates the use of a cable for controlling the throttle valve. The accelerator pedal is connected to a potentiometer. The various positions of the pedal act as the potentiometer inputs. These inputs are received by the ECU.Based on the inputs, the ECU is programmed to run an actuator.The actuator, in turn, opens the throttle valve or butterfly valve to a specified amount. The actuation process is carried out by a servomotor. Throttle Position Sensor (TPS)  is integrated into the throttle by wire . The TPS sends the position signals of the throttle valve back to the ECU. The signals from the Throttle Position Sensor and the input from the potentiometer connected to the accelerator pedal, helps the ECU to perform the ‘throttling' with greater accuracy.

ADVANTAGES:

• No wear and tear of throttle cable.
• Eliminates significant amount of weight by eliminating the use of mechanical linkages.
• Safety features like ESC, Hill hold assist, and Adaptive Cruise Control system  take inputs from the throttle.
• Maintains control even if the driver floors the accelerator pedal.

DISADVANTAGES:

• Increases the cost.
• Costlier to replace/maintenance cost is higher.
• Throttle response can't be adjusted manually, which some people love to do.
• Leads to more energy consumption
• Delay in response from the engine. 

AWD vs 4WD: What's the difference

4WD:

Also referred as four-by-four or 4x4, this system is typically used to handle rough and tough situations such as off road or mud/slush.  Basically, it is a system which sends power to all four wheels equally without vectoring(controlling of power between the wheels or axels), which means that all four wheels will spin at same rate respective to the power supplied from the engine.It consists of a device called transfer case which divides power between the front and rear axles. One of the major drawbacks of this system is that it becomes difficult to turn at high speeds as the wheels on the inner side(according to the turn) has less distance to cover than the wheel on the outer side. This leads to the vehicle sliding outwards of the curve. 

In order to tackle this problem, modern 4wd systems are "part-time" i.e., they operate in 2wd mode on normal roads and can be swithced to 4wd when needed. This also increases the fuel efficiency and also decreases the load on the transmission system, which in overall terms, reduces the maintenance and running cost of the vehicle.

Some 4wd vehicles have a transfer case with different settings like 4low or 4 high modes. Where, 4low is used for low speed maneuverability and 4 high can be used for attaining high speeds on slippery surfaces.

ALL WHEEL DRIVE(AWD)

All-wheel-drive is a much more modern and more complex system than 4wd. It is all about varying the amount of power sent to the wheels either mechanically or electronically. It is kind of similar to the part time four wheel drive system.It's also completely automated. It doesn't need any kind of intervention from the driver and hence is much easier to use.They actually detect the spinning of wheels by constantly monitoring the difference in speed between different wheels and reduces power if detects any loss of traction.

The problem here is that due to more complex system, rather than simple mechanical one, these systems are less robust and can't be repaired everywhere. This limits their use to a drastic extent.It also isn't much capable in extreme conditions. AWD system having more parts, increases the overall weight of the vehicle and hence contributes in reducing the fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

BLIND SPOT DETECTION

While changing lanes on highways, we see the ORVMs of the required side. But, it isn't always enough. There is a spot behind your vehicle in which, if any vehicle is present, is not visible in the rear view mirror and this blind spot leads to many accidents and the driver of either vehicle can't be blamed for that. It's just a spot where ,if anything is present, is not visible to us, and interesting fact is that not many people are aware of that. Still, If side view mirrors on a car are adjusted in a particular way, there is no blind spot on the sides. But, most of the drivers aren't aware of this adjustment, infact, most of us don't even adjust our mirrors which clearly isn't a good practice.

Working:

Blind spot detection (BSD) was developed by Volvo a decade ago. BSD tracks traffic just behind you as well as what’s coming alongside. The alert stays active until the car in the adjacent lane is in front of you, or at least directly alongside and you’d have to be blind not to see it. It doesn’t care if you are in your lane or have drifted a bit into the next and are at risk of sideswiping another car. BSD uses ultrasonic or radar sensors on the side and rear of the car.

The visual alert is a yellow (usually) indicator in the side mirror glass, inside edge of the mirror housing, or on the A pillar inside the car. It lights when it senses a car in the blind spot and flashes if the turn signal is flashing. You’ll also get an audible alert (beeping) or an induced vibration or light shake of the steering wheel if the turn signal is flashing.

Is it worth?

Blind-spot monitoring is one of the most useful tools for keeping safe. If you pay attention to the audible or visual warnings, they can minimize your changes of merging into another vehicle. Systems with collision prevention functionality add further value to blind-spot monitoring because they actively steer or brake, adding another layer of security during your drive.

AIR SUSPENSION

All of us are aware with suspension systems. Normally, vehicles come with coil and leaf spring suspension system.This type is more abundant because of its simple mechanical nature and comparatively low chances of failures. But, the limitation of coil and leaf springs are also too many. They can't be adjusted on the go and their adjustments are done at the time of fitting itself. This makes it a tough choice for customers in the market. If you buy a car with softer suspension, it will be good for bad roads, but won't be stable enough on the highways. Similarly, a car with stiffer suspension can give you back pain if driven on bad roads for long time, but is much more stable at high speeds on highways. In order to overcome this dilemma of choosing between soft and stiff, a more dynamic air suspension system is also available in the market, called air suspension. Hydropneumatic suspension systems are also of dynamic type.

Air suspension is a type of vehicle suspension powered by a compressor which is driven by the engine of the vehicle or some electric system. Air suspension system mainly uses Bellows, which is a balloon like structure made up of rubber. The compressor is used to inflate and deflate the bellows, which in turn increases or decreases the ride height.The purpose of air suspension is to provide a smooth, constant ride quality, but in some cases is used for sports suspension.

COMPONENTS:

• Vulcanized, heavy-duty rubber air springs(bellows) at each of the vehicle's   wheels
• An air compressor in the vehicle's trunk or under the hood of the vehicle
• A storage tank for compressed air, which allows you to store air at around an average of 150 PSI
• Valve blocks which direct air to the four springs from the storage reservoir through a set of solenoids, valves, and o-rings.
• ECAS computer that communicates between the vehicle's main computer to calculate where to direct air pressure.
• Air pipes connecting from the storage tank to the air springs that channel the flow of air throughout the suspension system.
• A desiccant-filled drier canister to keep the internal recesses of the system dry

BENEFITS/ADVANTAGES:

• Increased driver as well as passenger comfort
• Reduced noise and vibrations from the road
• Lesser wear and tear
• Adjustable ride height
• Adjustable stiffness

DRAWBACKS:

• Much high initial cost, hence used mostly in luxury cars
• Higher maintenance cost
• Fuel efficiency may decrease due to increase in weight(since its components are heavier)
• Not easily repairable(most mechanics can't repair such complex systems. Hence failure in remote areas may cause trouble.

HEADS UP DISPLAY

Head-up display (HUD) is a form of augmented reality that presents data on a transparent display in a way that users don’t have to look away from their usual viewpoints. It was initially developed for military aviation as far back as the 1950s, displaying altitude, speed and even targeting systems on the front of the cockpit. This allowed pilots to receive information at eye-level by looking forward with their head positioned “up”, instead of having to look away at another piece of equipment which can lead to distraction.

Heads-up display (HUD) systems can project information on the windshield, tell you where to turn, notify you of lane markings, identify how close the car in front of you is and even give you restaurant information all right in front of your eyes -- and while you're actually able to see those objects or places.

The technology used  for HUD varies on the system. Some cars use transparent phosphors on the windshield that reacts when a laser shines on it. When the laser is off, you don't see anything, but when the light is on the information is projected on the glass. Others use a similar system but incorporate mirrors to project the images on the windshield. 

Heads up display has various safety benefits as well. It can be used with advanced features such as front camera to project the road ahead on the windshield itself in case of bad weather conditions when the screen fogs up or the driver is unable to see the road ahead clearly.This can also be used to improve night driving and hence reducing the number of accidents which occur due to some form of hindrance in the vision.Some adaptive cruise control systems already make safety calculations to determine the best route for a car around a certain situation, but the next step is to actually project that information, in real-time, on the car's windshield.

Not only cars but now-a-days motorcycle helmets are also coming with heads up display to display information to the rider.

HUD has become more accessible over time and the cheapest car in India currently having HUD is Kia Seltos.

Hopefully, it will become more accessible as the technology itself isn't much expensive and more and more cars should be equipped with it, which eventually, will lead to a safer future for all of us.

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