Page 14 - Autonomous Vehicle Engineering (January 2020)

Emerging Technologies

Wired for Autonomy

by Dan Scott and Ulrike Hoff

Wiring harnesses are already heavy, complex and costly, so
what happens when AV equipment is added? Two experts

weigh in.

Engineers and product planners are already grap- continuous line, these wires would span 2.5 mi (4 km)
pling with the complexity of autonomous vehicles and weigh approximately 132 lb. (60 kg). In addition,
(AVs), with the prospect of complexity increasing. there can be more than 70 specialty cables that include
Every second, AVs manage advanced-sensor fusion coax, high-speed data and USB runs.
via high-bandwidth networks, while onboard This does not encompass the added AV sensors
computers run AI algorithms to process gigabits of and processing content that will further expand
data. Connecting it all is the wiring harness, which harness size, mass, complexity and cost. The impli-
has become increasingly heavy, more expensive and cations of escalating electronic content are a signifi-
more difficult to package within the vehicle. cant issue for AVs built on electric-vehicle (EV) plat-
Premium-segment cars and full-size trucks can forms. Engineers can undertake several strategies at
contain 40 different harnesses comprised of 700 the architectural- and harness-level to resolve this
connectors and more than 3,000 wires. Stretched in a dilemma.

Mentor

As OEMs integrate automated-driving systems and other new-technology content into their vehicles, wiring harnesses have
the potential to become ever larger, more complex and expensive and heavier.

12 January 2020 AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ENGINEERING