Old Speckled Hen took its name from an MG car which was used as a run-around for workers in the MG factory. Over years of service, the car became covered in flecks of paint, gaining it acclaim in the town and earned it the nickname “Owld Speckled ‘Un”, translated into Old Speckled Hen for the brown ale first brewed by Morland in 1979 when the brewery was asked by MG to create a commemorative beer for the factory’s 50th anniversary.
50 years of automatics: how Bosch taught the car to change gear itself
Fifty years ago, the first Bosch prototype featuring electronic transmission control made its maiden journey. The gearshift of the Glas 1700 – a modern mid-range sedan – moved as if by magic. The engineers used the car as a test vehicle for a completely new type of system. Their hope was that electronic control for manual transmissions would relieve drivers of the need to depress the clutch and shift gears by hand. The technology was developed under the leadership of the young engineer Hermann Scholl, who is now the honorary chairman of the Bosch Group. It was designed to be an affordable alternative to expensive automatic transmissions, which back then were offered almost exclusively in luxury sedans. Several hundred systems were manufactured for the Glas 1700 in 1965. “However, electronic transmission control technology was ahead of its time. The market wasn’t ready for it,” Hermann Scholl says. In addition, it was during this time that the family-owned company Glas was acquired by the automaker BMW, and BMW was not interested in using the new technology in its cars.
Motronic created the basis for automatic transmissions It was not until years later, in 1979, that another Bosch invention was to be the trigger for the mass success of the self-shifting transmission. With Motronic – a combination of electronic fuel injection and ignition – Bosch had installed a freely programmable microprocessor in cars for the first time. But there was more to it than that. In combination with its separate memory, it was the first ever instance of a computer being used in a car. “Motronic provided a second chance for the transmission control system – though this time for automatic, not manual, transmissions. In combination with the engine management system, it ensured the ideal automatic gear change,” Hermann Scholl says. It was only as a result of combining the two systems – electronic transmission control and engine management – that automatic gear change became far easier. When manually shifting gear, the driver also uses the gas pedal to control the engine. Similarly, the transmission control system sends commands to the engine. The engine management system interprets these commands and carries them out. In 1983, this transmission control system was installed for the first time in the BMW 745i – together with the 4HP22 automatic transmission made by ZF AG, based in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Modern transmission control: high-tech computer in miniature At the time, the technology was still quite exclusive, but over the course of the following two decades, it became standard in all cars with automatic transmissions. It also anticipated a major trend. The electronic transmission control, which synchronizes gear shifts with injection and ignition parameters, is, in the best sense, a connected system designed to provide optimum driving performance, comfort, fuel consumption, and emissions. “The transmission control system selects gears in such a way that the engine is almost always in the ideal operating range. To make sure it stays that way, modern transmissions are equipped with a great deal of digital intelligence,” Hermann Scholl says. The control unit is a high-tech miniature computer that enables the complex operation of different types of automatic transmissions. Indeed, the processing capacity of a modern transmission control unit is 160 times more powerful than that of the computer used for the first lunar flight.
Coasting and connectivity: the future of automatic transmissions Today, half of all new vehicles in the world are equipped with an automatic transmission, and all the signs point toward greater connectivity. At Bosch, proof of this takes the form of the electronic horizon, which connects the transmission with up-to-the-minute navigation information. Navigation systems know the area and can transmit this data to the automatic transmission, which, in turn, can shift into neutral during coasting and use the residual momentum – for example, when it knows that a lower speed limit is in force beyond the next bend. This “smarter” automatic transmission combined with an electronic horizon can provide additional fuel savings of ten percent or more.
(Source: Bosch Media)
Introduction A tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) is a safety feature that continually monitors a vehicles’ tyres and alerts the driver to changes in tyre pressure. The changes in pressure can be detected by either direct or indirect means.
Indirect TPMS This is generally fitted to a vehicle that has had fitted or can be fitted with run flat tyres. This is because it is difficult to see or feel deflation in this type of tyre. Indirect tyre pressure monitoring systems do not use pressure sensors to monitor tyre pressure, they work from the ABS or speed sensors on the vehicle. Indirect systems monitor tyre pressure by assessing the rotational speeds of each tyre, and work on the premise that an under-inflated tyre has a slightly different diameter than a fully inflated tyre. An algorithm is used to assess the differences in wheel speeds. The under-inflated tyre would therefore rotate at a different speed than the correctly inflated one, causing a tyre pressure warning. The deflated tyre is not identified, the driver has to check all 4 tyres.
Indirect TPMS operation
Negative aspects of indirect TPMS
Tyre pressure monitoring and the law in Europe
The law is not currently retrospective, and does not apply to older vehicles. Many car manufacturers have already introduced TPMS to their vehicles ahead of the 2012 legislation change. More and more cars now have TPMS already fitted. Showrooms are full of TPMS compliant cars. This law applies to passenger vehicles only, with no more than 7 seats.
(Source: Continental Tyres)