Innovative Controller for Electric and Self-Driving Vehicles

2022/11/11

The integrated Powertrain and Chassis Control Unit (PCCU) developed by ITRI.

With decades-long experience in intelligent vehicle technology, ITRI has built a new-generation integrated Powertrain and Chassis Control Unit (PCCU) that acts as a domain controller for electric, hybrid or self-driving vehicles. This two-in-one control unit, the only of its kind made in Taiwan, can be used as a vehicle control unit (VCU), an X-by-wire controller, or both through different embedded firmware and software.

Besides the three primary components—electric motor, motor controller and battery—for an electric vehicle (EV), introducing the PCCU into pre-production greatly boosts the competitiveness of car manufacturers. The PCCU serves as a vehicle control unit that provides torque coordination, operation strategies, onboard diagnosis, charging control, and monitoring for electric vehicles. It also enables precise by-wire control for steering, brake, throttle, gear shift and turn signals needed to develop self-driving vehicles.

Feature-wise, the PCCU’s hardware and software designs follow functional safety development process guided by ISO 26262, which aims to reduce possible hazards caused by the malfunctioning behavior of electrical and electronic systems. As the core of hardware, the main microcontroller (MCU) and the power management chip of the PCCU own the highest Automotive Safety Integrity Level, ASIL D. An additional ASIL B MCU is added as a safety redundancy. Similarly, model-based software architecture of basic system functions and functional interfaces conforms to the standardization defined by Automotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR). Partner developers can thus integrate, exchange, re-use, and transfer functions within a vehicle network, which substantially improves their efficiency of development over the product lifecycle of a vehicle.

Additionally, ITRI’s PCCU was developed and manufactured to meet automotive grade product quality requirements. To be a qualified product, environmental reliability testing and electromagnetic compatibility testing were performed and certified by a third-party organization. According to the validations, the PCCU complies with ISO 16750/CISPR 25, and the ingress protection rating of PCCU meets IP 6K7 and IP 6K9K.

The core chips of PCCU achieve the highest Automotive Safety Integrity Level, ASIL D.

As one of the technology spotlights of the Mobility Taiwan Automotive Research Consortium (mTARC), the PCCU made its debut at the tradeshow Autotronics Taipei 2022, attracting the interest of many visitors and vendors as the first vehicle controller of its kind produced in Taiwan. The orders for the PCCU from bus and car manufacturers exceeded 1,100 sets by the end of April, with 500 sets already manufactured by Inventec Corp.

Achieving technology readiness level (TRL) 8, the PCCU has become the VCU for almost all major electric bus manufacturers in Taiwan, including ZTE, Hon Hai, RAC and Master, and has been used in the self-driving vehicles of HCT Logistics, Green Transit Co. and Leon Energy Co. Being a core technology for EVs and self-driving vehicles, the PCCU can help integrate the EV supply chain and lay a solid foundation for the vehicle controller industry.