The Hindu Business Line : The buzz is over iBUS

The last passenger getting off at that bus stop still has one foot on the step but the driver cannot see him and starts pulling away. In the next instant…

No, it is no disaster that unfolds, for such a scene is simply not possible with Ashok Leyland’s electronics-driven bus, the iBUS. The driver can see all of the action, thanks to rear-view cameras; the doors of the bus will no t close until passengers have entered or exited; and the vehicle cannot move while the doors are open….

The team that helped shape the bus from concept to actual model — iBUS awaits commercial rollout — shared every step of the journey with eWorld. Here’s their story:

From art to part

From art to part, it took less than 10 months for the young engineers of Ashok Leyland to develop iBUS. Its speciality lies in the fact that right from the engine to suspension to doors, everything is controlled by electronics.

Ashok Leyland created a Cross Functional Team (CFT) comprising 25 engineers from its Young Executive Forum (YEF) and the team was behind the success of the iBUS that was showcased in the recently concluded Auto Expo.

CFT members told eWorld that their mandate was to develop an intra-city bus that would take care of the interests of all stake holders — right from the passengers, driver, fleet operator, society, and Ashok Leyland itself.

The team was formed with members representing several departments, including product design, validation, product engineering and marketing and it had its initial discussion in February 2007.

This was a special project assigned to the members in addition to their regular work. So they began working on the bus after office hours, everyday.

On average, the team spent about 350 to 400 man-hours every week.

sounding out users

The team members travelled extensively across eight cities and gleaned feedback from people from all walks of life.

Besides, they also received e-mail response from over 800 people — including those who were not using public transport, especially the bus.

With these inputs, the team brainstormed and zeroed in on the specifications of the new bus. It was a challenging task for the CFT, as most of the representative stakeholders were very demanding, which led to a lot of innovation. The virtual model of the bus with complete mock-up was ready by September. The team leveraged software extensively to do everything possible in the computer, including testing functional aspects of several systems and modules.

The I stands for many things

During the formative stage, the team decided to name the bus iBUS, where the ‘i’ stands for Indian, Innovative and Intelligence, says one of the team leaders of the CFT and Head (fully built solutions), M Sriram.

The letter ‘i’ is attributed to Indian since the bus matches the requirements of the average city traveller in the country, he adds. Besides, the vehicle has many intelligent and innovative systems.

With the market moving more and more towards software and electronics, virtually mechatronics drives most of the components in a vehicle.

And the increased dependency on electronics and software enables vehicle manufacturers to provide customised solutions to fleet owners.

On-the-ground testing

For iBUS, detailed analysis of several modules was done, for continuous and intermittent loads, to determine the capacity of several components, including alternator and battery.

Inverters are designed to carry the load requirements for the laptop power outlets and mobile charging units.

Before the modules were fitted into the vehicle, they were tested rigorously by simulating the actual performing conditions. A virtual lab set-up was created for the entire electronic architecture.

The complete architecture was tested in the lab before fitting it to the vehicle. All power outputs were tested with the respective loads.

Controlled area network (CAN) communication was tested with CAN analysis and simulation tools.

By using these tools, monitoring, analysis and simulation of CAN-based system was done and tested in the lab before testing with the physical hardware.

These initiatives helped in reducing the development time and also to eliminate rework, say the team members.

“Display of error messages on electronic cluster during testing helped us identify, diagnose and rectify the problems of the electrical system as well as the engine control units (ECUs) at a shorter duration,” they say.

At the heart of it all

The Deputy Manager (Customer Group – Bus) of the company, Venkat Subramanian, says the heart of the iBUS is the central body control unit (CBCU) — controlling the entire vehicle architecture, which communicates with the ECU as per SAE standard J1939 protocol.

“This is nothing but controlling most of the mechanical parts, electronically,” he says.

The CBCU is for the entire bus, what the ECU is for the engine. It helps improve the overall efficiency of the vehicle, say the team members.

The CBCU provides flexibility for adaptation of electronic components in the vehicle during the design stage. It also provides diagnostic functions on different levels meant for the different people involved, such as the driver, owner and service staff.

It acts as a gateway function to protect different controlled area network branches against faults between branches.

Besides, it substantially reduces the requirement of number of electronic cluster variants and wires in the dashboard, making it clutter-free.

It also reduces the number of relays and fuses used in the circuit since all the inputs and outputs are connected via the CBCU. The electronic cluster displays information about any failure in the body or chassis, electrical such as circuit/fuse breaks, and even indication lamp, facilitating easy service, the team members told eWorld.

at your service

The semi-low floor bus has electronically controlled air suspension, which can kneel for the passengers to get in, facilitating easier ingress and egress.

The vehicle provides options of kneeling and ride at two different height levels. It accepts the speed signal to automatically switch to dynamic mode to allow the vehicle to come to normal level from kneel-down position when vehicle speed is beyond 2 kmph.

The rear engine bus has two electro-pneumatic doors, with the rear being the widest in the country, of 1.5 meters width, according to the YEF team members.

The air-conditioned bus has 42 seats. In addition, it permits 30 standees. Infra red camera in the rear feeds rear door positioning to the driver to facilitate actuation of doors.

Besides, the vehicle immobiliser system prevents vehicle movement when the door is open. A parking assistance system, with rear view camera at rear and four ultrasonic sensors, assists the driver while reversing the vehicle.

The control unit obtains data from the sensor, calculates the distance of the object at rear and displays it on the LCD screen on the dashboard. It also provides a warning beep when the object is too close to the bus, say, less than half a meter. The on-board unit is integrated with GPS/GSM antenna, SIM-card holder and voice communication module.

The vehicle has an automated/manual transmission system, which facilitates shifting gears electronically. With the manual mode, the driver can shift gears manually by using an electronic shift lever.

Venkat Subramanian says all the windows have air curtains to minimise the temperature loss of air-conditioner, thereby enhancing the efficiency of the engine.

The power to drive the air-conditioning unit has been drawn from the main engine itself, eliminating the need for a slave engine to run the A/c unit, which not only adds up weight but also vibration and noise.

Another member of the YEF and Senior Engineer (Advance Engineering) of Ashok Leyland, Vivek Upadhyay, says the bus body is designed to meet all the impending safety norms.

The vehicle is hauled by a new design E-core (Electronic controlled common rail engine) engine complying with Bharat Stage III norms.

According to the team, this is the first heavy-duty common rail engine, offering 152 kW of power and 704Nm@ 1400 rpm torque.

It has power-assisted clutch and a host of other features enabling the driver to manoeuvre traffic at ease.

The ‘neutral start protection’ system prevents the engine from being cranked when the vehicle is on gear. This is not only a safety option but also helps improve the life of the vehicle.

Adding revenues to ride

Bharath Rajagopalan, Deputy Manager, Advance Engineering, says the bus has several intelligence features such as ABS, Wi-Fi connectivity, closed circuit television, which is capable of running advertisements, adding revenue to the fleet operator.

The onboard telematics tracks vehicle movement, coupled with passenger infotainment system, including electronic destination board for route display.

For instance, if the bus passes through a commercial area, it can display information/advertisements of the commercial establishments in that place.

The economy class of the bus has mobile charging station with provision for six phone models and also 220 volt power point to plug in adaptors.

It also has six power outlets in executive class to facilitate laptops, cell-phones, IPods, etc.

The iBUS has 23-inch widescreen LCD television in the economy class for infotainment and the public address module is synchronised with GPS for real-time passenger announcement system with pre-recorded messages/greetings.

The executive class has adjustable flip down 7-inch widescreen LCD monitors in every seat and individual headset for each passenger with volume control and smart card ticket vending machine. In addition, it has LED-based electronic destination board at front, rear and side for route information display.

The bus, with a host of innovative features, could form part of a menu card for Ashok Leyland to offer customised solutions to its customers in future, say the team members.

Tapping home talent

A couple of years ago Ashok Leyland realised that one of the ways to strengthen its ability to meet the emerging challenges was to utilise the capabilities of its young employees.

This came to fruition with the formation of a Young Executive Forum (YEF), says the Executive Director (HR) of Ashok Leyland, J.N. Amrolia.

The objective was to develop young executives by nurturing capabilities and competencies besides empowering them and giving them opportunities to prove their mettle.

For instance, the young executives did budgets and annual plans, he says. The iBUS was one of the initiatives given to the YEF.

The YEF is also working on Ashok Leyland’s new plant coming up in Uttaranchal, in terms of deploying best practices to enhance efficiency, eventually optimising productivity.

“At present, we are looking at options for the young executives to handle the marketing department’s area offices. With this process the company will ultimately benefit since the older people act as mentors for the YEF.

It’s all about giving space to young people,” Amrolia adds.

tmurrali@thehindu.co.in

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