Antilock Braking System And Traction Control

It is exactly 10 years since we introduced an Antilock Braking System for passenger cars to the Automotive market. This system is commonly known as "ABS". After having got off slowly, by the mid-1980's, ABS gained more and more ground, first of all in Europe and then in the USA and Japan. Today, all over the world, countless drivers regard ABS as an important contribution to increasing safety on the roads. In the beginning of ABS development it was envisaged as a separate system (1)*, (2). That means, a system which could be combined without any trouble with the existing vehicle braking system. But soon after, the expectation came up that the integration of the ABS function within a hydraulic booster could result in cost savings. This was the reason why integrated ABS systems came on the market during the eighties, although we were forced in the process to realize that the integration of the functions meant that safety problems arose which could only be solved through considerable effort. In addition, hydraulic boosters are more expensive than vacuum boosters. Today, therefore, it has become obvious that integrated systems are limited to such applications where the higher costs are compensated by corresponding advantages. In the majority of applications, vacuum boosters with a separate ABS are used and for this reason I will deal with this version only.