The Culture of ABS

Abstract

This article explains features and advancements in the antilock braking systems (ABS). The ABS campaign is an example of the way that advertisements can inadvertently make engineering design seem like a process of fulfilling corporate visions. An antilock braking system monitors the rotating speed of an automobile’s wheels and, when it detects a too-rapid deceleration, momentarily releases the pressure applied to the brake. As ABS developed as a device, so did the community working on it. The problem at hand and the community addressing it were defined and evolved simultaneously. Initially, a community of about 50 researchers and design engineers formed around the problem of skidding automobiles. Electrical engineers from electronics firms, including Siemens and American Microsystems, joined the community by presenting papers at conferences on the use of purpose-design, solid-state microprocessors in cars. The challenge of introducing electronic control to the automobile industry, questionably reliable new technologies in general, was therefore shared by several companies that all moved to include integrated circuits and microprocessors in their designs. The real history of ABS presents a much more engaging picture of how engineers really bring products to market.