The new electronic control unit will be 10 times faster than the system it replaces.

Dan Carney

August 17, 2020

16 Slides

Audi’s signature Quattro full-time all-wheel-drive system debuted 40 years ago. During the intervening decades, cars have added a multitude of subsystems for powertrain and chassis control, producing a proliferation of electronic control systems.

Now, the company wants to simplify these many discrete computer systems into a single, all-encompassing control unit that will be ten times faster than today’s ECUs. Speed of operation isn’t the only potential benefit, according to Audi.

Audi vision central vehicle dynamics computer.jpg

By controlling as many as 90 systems such as the Electronic Chassis Platform (ECP), electromechanical Active Roll Stabilization (eAWS), predictive active suspension, and Dynamic All-wheel Steering (DAS) into a single controller, these systems can better coordinate their actions to work more effectively. Today’s computers control only about 20 different components.

Efficiency will benefit too because electrified vehicles’ integrated Brake Control System (iBRS) can better blend regeneration with friction braking to recapture the maximum amount of energy when decelerating. The ability to simultaneously adjust the shock absorbers’ damper compression rate within milliseconds can improve brake performance and regeneration efficiency, as it manages the forward weight transfer while slowing.

Related:Audi's New Controller Will Pave the Way for Autonomous Driving

Crucially, this future integrated system will work with all powertrain types; combustion engines, hybrids, or electric drive vehicles. It will also work with various drive layouts, so front-, rear-, and all-wheel drive vehicles will employ the same system.

Many of the components that will come under unified control are already in service in Audi models today. We have compiled some of these technologies in the slideshow above.

Audi vision central dynamics computer.jpg

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