ZF expands its cubiX vehicle motion control portfolio to commercial vehicles, integrating expertise to provide efficient, precise, and safe vehicle motion control. The system is designed to handle the increasing complexity of automated, electrified, and connected commercial vehicles, ensuring stability, safety, and performance.
Key Highlights:
- Unified Motion Control System: ZF’s cubiX ensures efficient, precise, and safe vehicle motion control for commercial vehicles.
- New Passenger Car Functions: Integration with Goodyear’s tire intelligence solution.
- Automated Vehicle Movement: Enhances efficiency and productivity in freight yards and ports.
- Field-Tested: Proved effective in a long-term pilot study in Germany.
As commercial vehicles become more automated, electrified, and connected, the importance of advanced vehicle motion control technologies grows. ZF’s cubiX system, originally developed for passenger cars, is now expanded for commercial vehicles, creating a comprehensive offering for advanced vehicle motion control. The cubiX system manages all vehicle actuators, including brakes, driveline, and steering, through centralized control software, ensuring stability, safety, precision, and performance.
The increasing electronic control functionalities in commercial vehicles drive the demand for dedicated control units. ZF’s cubiX software controls all actuators cohesively, offering customized solutions for commercial vehicle customers, including software, hardware, system integration, and engineering services.
With the launch of cubiX for commercial vehicles, ZF showcases its industry-leading vehicle motion control expertise and cross-divisional synergies, bringing cost-effective solutions to the market for ‘ready-to-automate’ vehicle motion control management. Dr. Holger Klein, CEO of the ZF Group, states, “It was obvious for us to expand our software platform portfolio for Vehicle Motion Control to meet the needs of commercial vehicles.”
Prof. Dr. Peter Laier, member of the ZF Board of Management, emphasizes, “Our commercial vehicle customers benefit from the concentrated know-how of the ZF Group when it comes to software and function development.” This is crucial for integrating modern assistance systems that significantly increase the safety of commercial vehicles.
cubiX interfaces with all virtual driver systems and vehicle actuators, ensuring required safety, precision, and performance in challenging scenarios such as freight yards or ports, where automated technologies can be more extensively deployed than on public roads. This technology addresses key issues in the logistics industry, like driver shortages, especially during night-time operations.
The system has been field-tested and proved highly effective in a long-term pilot study in Germany, demonstrating its practicality and reliability.
For passenger cars, cubiX is already established and has demonstrated its value in series production. The system’s modular structure offers standardized basic functions, creating synergy effects in developing and optimizing driving-specific functions. For example, the “Variable Driving Characteristics” function allows drivers to adapt the car’s driving character, from quiet cruising to sporty sprints. The “Trailer Stability Assist” function minimizes trailer inclination, enhancing stability and safety without reducing cruising speed.
In collaboration with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, ZF has integrated Goodyear SightLine into the cubiX ecosystem. Goodyear’s tire intelligence technologies detect aquaplaning situations early and recommend optimal speeds for better vehicle control. If a risk of aquaplaning is detected, cubiX reduces the velocity, supports the driver’s reaction, and helps stabilize the vehicle.
With these advancements, ZF‘s cubiX system sets a new standard in vehicle motion control, offering versatile, high-performing solutions for both passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
Sign up for our weekly emails to stay up to date on the latest news!
