Brake by Wire [computer controlled braking]

The author highlights the potential benefits of Brake by Wire (a computer managed braking system) and looks at some of the ways the electric actuation of brakes can be achieved. With Brake by Wire, the driver´s deceleration demand would be fed to the computer that would decide the best braking distribution to achieve the required deceleration. The computer would control the braking force at each wheel separately, to obtain the maximum utilisation of the available adhesion. This means that functions like anti-lock and traction control require only software not extra hardware. Brake by Wire therefore requires each wheel to have electric brake actuation so that the braking force at each wheel can be controlled by the computer independently. This can either be motor or solenoid controlled