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Body Control Module
In automotive electronics, body control module or 'body computer' is a generic term for an electronic control unit responsible for monitoring and controlling various electronic accessories in a vehicle's body. Typically in a car the BCM controls the power windows, power mirrors, air conditioning, immobilizer system, central locking, etc. The BCM communicates with other on-board computers via the car's CAN bus system, and its main application is controlling load drivers – actuating relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switc ...s that in turn perform actions in the vehicle such as locking the doors, flashing the turn signals (in older cars), or dimming the interior lighting. References {{ReflistAutomotive Central Body Controller Automotive electronics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Power Window
Power windows or electric windows are automobile windows which can be raised and lowered by pressing a button or switch, as opposed to using a crank handle. History A small number of cars in the 1920s, such as the 1925 Flint Model E-55, featured an early form of "automatic windows" which used a fully mechanical, spring loaded system to raise the windows. Packard introduced hydraulic window lifts (power windows) in fall of 1940, for its new 1941 Packard 180 series cars. This was a hydraulic-electric system, called "Hydro-Electric" by Packard. In 1941, the Ford Motor Company followed with the first power windows on the Lincoln Custom (only the limousine and seven-passenger sedans). Cadillac had a straight-electric divider window (but not side windows) on their series 75. Power assists originated in the need and desire to move convertible body-style tops up and down by some means other than human effort. The earliest power assists were vacuum-operated and were offered on Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Power Side-view Mirror
A power side-view mirror (power side mirror, power wing mirror, or simply power mirror) is a side-view mirror equipped with electrical means for vertical and horizontal adjustment from the inside of the automobile. The glass of a power mirror may also be electrically heated to keep it from fogging or icing. Increasingly, power side mirrors incorporate the vehicle's turn signal repeaters. There is evidence to suggest mirror-mounted repeaters may be more effective than repeaters mounted in the previously predominant fender side location. Operation Usually, a single control is used to control both left and right side mirrors. A mirror is selected by a switch or a knob. The mirror selector usually has a neutral position with no mirrors selected, to prevent accidental changes of the view. The position of the selected mirror is adjusted by a joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air conditioning can be achieved using a mechanical 'air conditioner' or through other methods, such as passive cooling and ventilative cooling. Air conditioning is a member of a family of systems and techniques that provide Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC). Heat pumps are similar in many ways to air conditioners but use a reversing valve, allowing them to both heat and cool an enclosed space. Air conditioners, which typically use vapor-compression refrigeration, range in size from small units used in vehicles or single rooms to massive units that can cool large buildings. Air source heat pumps, which can be used for heating as well as cooling, are becoming increasingly common in cool ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Immobilizer
An immobiliser or immobilizer is an electronic security device fitted to a motor vehicle that prevents the engine from being started unless the correct key (transponder or smart key) is present. This prevents the vehicle from being " hot wired" after entry has been achieved and thus reduces motor vehicle theft. Research shows that the uniform application of immobilisers reduced the rate of car theft by 40%. Description The electric immobiliser/alarm system was invented by St. George Evans and Edward Birkenbeuel and patented in 1919. They developed a 3x3 grid of double-contact switches on a panel mounted inside the car so when the ignition switch was activated, current from the battery (or magneto) went to the spark plugs allowing the engine to start, or immobilizing the vehicle and sounding the horn. The system settings could be changed each time the car was driven. Modern immobiliser systems are automatic, meaning the owner does not have to remember to activate it. Earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Locking
Power door locks (also known as electric door locks or central locking) allow the driver or front passenger to simultaneously lock or unlock all the doors of an automobile or truck, by pressing a button or flipping a switch. Power door locks were introduced on the luxury Scripps-Booth in 1914, but were not common on luxury cars until Packard reintroduced them in 1956. Nearly every car model today offers this feature as at least optional equipment. Early systems locked and unlocked only the car doors. Many cars today also feature systems which can unlock such things as the luggage compartment or fuel filler cap door. It is also common on modern cars for the locks to activate automatically when the car is put into gear or reaches a certain speed. Remote and handsfree In 1980, Ford Motor Company introduced an external keypad-type keyless entry system, wherein the driver entered a numeric combination —either pre-programmed at the factory or one programmed by the owner— to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CAN Bus
A controller area network bus (CAN bus) is a vehicle bus standard designed to enable efficient communication primarily between electronic control units (ECUs). Originally developed to reduce the complexity and cost of electrical wiring in automobiles through multiplexing, the CAN bus protocol has since been adopted in various other contexts. This Broadcasting (networking), broadcast-based, Message passing, message-oriented protocol ensures data integrity and prioritization through a process called Arbiter (electronics), arbitration, allowing the highest priority device to continue transmitting if multiple devices attempt to send data simultaneously, while others back off. Its reliability is enhanced by Differential signalling, differential signaling, which mitigates electrical noise. Common versions of the CAN protocol include CAN 2.0, CAN FD, and CAN XL which vary in their data rate capabilities and maximum data payload sizes. History Development of the CAN Bus (computing), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relay
A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch. It has a set of input terminals for one or more control signals, and a set of operating contact terminals. The switch may have any number of contacts in multiple contact forms, such as make contacts, break contacts, or combinations thereof. Relays are used to control a circuit by an independent low-power signal and to control several circuits by one signal. They were first used in long-distance telegraph circuits as signal repeaters that transmit a refreshed copy of the incoming signal onto another circuit. Relays were used extensively in telephone exchanges and early computers to perform logical operations. The traditional electromechanical relay uses an electromagnet to close or open the contacts, but relays using other operati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turn Signals
Automotive lighting is functional exterior lighting in vehicles. A motor vehicle has lighting and signaling devices mounted to or integrated into its front, rear, sides, and, in some cases, top. Various devices have the dual function of illuminating the road ahead for the driver, and making the vehicle visible to others, with indications to them of turning, slowing or stopping, etc., with lights also indicating the size of some large vehicles. Many emergency vehicles have distinctive lighting equipment to warn drivers of their presence. History Early road vehicles used fuelled lamps before the availability of electric lighting. The first Ford Model T used carbide lamps for headlights and oil lamps for tail lights. It did not have all-electric lighting as a standard feature until several years after its introduction. Dynamos for automobile headlights were first fitted around 1908 and became commonplace in 1920s automobiles. Trafficators—signalling arms that flipped up, whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Footnotes
In publishing, a note is a brief text in which the author comments on the subject and themes of the book and names supporting citations. In the editorial production of books and documents, typographically, a note is usually several lines of text at the bottom of the page, at the end of a chapter, at the end of a volume, or a house-style typographic usage throughout the text. Notes are usually identified with superscript numbers or a symbol.''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) p. 709. Footnotes are informational notes located at the foot of the thematically relevant page, whilst endnotes are informational notes published at the end of a chapter, the end of a volume, or the conclusion of a multi-volume book. Unlike footnotes, which require manipulating the page design (text-block and page layouts) to accommodate the additional text, endnotes are advantageous to editorial production because the textual inclusion does not alter the design of the publication. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
