A mechatronic conception of a new intelligent braking system

Abstract This paper describes a new intelligent braking system for motor vehicles. A mechatronic approach helped to avoid most of the drawbacks found in conventional systems. The brake was designed according to the so-called "full contact disc brake" principle, which means that the classic pads are replaced by the whole discs and that - for maximum performance - the brake is controlled continuously and not cyclically as with classic ABS systems. This required a complete re-design of the regulation chain, the actuators and sensors. Indeed, to provide better control, the regulator uses feedback information not only from the slip, but also from the braking torque.