Brake Feel—Objective Assessment and Potential for Virtual Development

The brake feel is of great importance as it conveys information to the driver about the deceleration process in general as well as the brake performance in particular. In order to have a common basis for developing brake feel, it must first be defined with objective Key Performance Indicators. The paper presents a methodological approach for an objective assessment of the brake feel which enables virtual development. By analyzing the deceleration data of different vehicles in different braking situations, such as braking straight with varying decelerations, a foundation for further steps is established. This basis includes common diagrams such as the force-travel characteristic of brake pedals. In the next step, this data is compared with recent literature to identify a good brake feel to set target values. There is some variation in the data as the vehicles are of different vehicle classes as well as the varying pedal path. It can be observed that the compared vehicles have variable brake feel and the KPI emphasize this variation. Based on these results, an objective evaluation of brake feel can be performed. With an objective assessment of brake feel, brake systems can be tested during early development stages in combination with Software-in-the-Loop and Hardware-in-the-Loop setups, which significantly reduces development and testing flexibility. This sets the basis for a virtual development of brake systems.