Auto Dry Brakes

by Shawn Finley, Clemson Electrical Engineering Student

Basic Description

The highway department stated that in the year 2009 that one in ten crashes happened in the rain. Brakes when dry are more effective and give the driver a more assured feeling of the car being stopped. The auto dry brake system is a system to ensure that the brakes on the car are kept dry. The auto dry brake system itself has been employed on many cars since 2006 for many years by BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz on select models. Although many people did not know that this technology was available on cars until Cadillac unveiled their release of this technology on the SRX model.

To keep the brakes dry in wet conditions hydraulic pressure is applied with appropriate pressure to all four wheels for 1.5 seconds every 4 miles. The system becomes active if the windshield wipers are active either in manual or automatic and the following conditions must be met continuously for 3.7 miles:

1. The vehicle must be travelling faster than 19 mph.
2. The accelerator pedal position must be greater than 10 percent.
3. The cruise control must be turned OFF.

Sensors

accelerator pedal position, brake pedal position, rain sensor

Actuators

brakes

Data Communications

Control Unit Communication: Typically Control Area Network (CAN) Bus System

For More Information

[1] Flash - Auto Dry Brake Technology | Cadillac SRX Luxury Crossover SUV, YouTube, Aug. 24, 2011.

[2] Auto Dry Brakes ,Cadillac website.

[3] 2012 Cadillac SRX Wrings Extra Benefit from StabiliTrak, GM.com, Aug. 26, 2011.

[4] Cadillac Auto Dry Brakes - Randy Leek Interview, Dailymotion, August 26, 2011.