Intelligent Cruise Control

A final project for: ECE 551, Computer Systems Manufacturing Lab

Dept. of ECE, UMASS Amherst

Project Description

This project is designed to add a safety feature to the conventional cruise control system. The new feature is the Collision Avoidance System which adjusts the gas/brake level of an automobile accodingly to avoid a collision (within a minimum range) when it detects an object in front of the automobile.

Design Process

The design of this project is divided into two major parts. The first part is of course the Intelligent cruise control itself. This part is written in Microchip assembly language and then programmed into a Microchip's PIC16C71 microcontroller. The second part is the Simulator. This Simulator is written in Assembly language because we need a reliable low-level access to the serial communication port. The Simulator simulates all possible combinations of the input to the microcontroller and shows the effects of the response from the PIC. Since we use a simulator, we can change the characteristics (such as the acceleration rate, the brake resposes, machine power, etc) of the automobile anytime.

Manufacturability

This design is easy to manufacture and very flexible to any changes anytime. Since the cruise control is programmed into a single microcontroller, it can be implemented into any type of automobile. With this flexible design, the time-to-market cost will be very small. The response of the cruise control to a new automobile will be easily simulated by the Simulator so the manufacturer will only encounter a small re-spin cost. And since the code in the microcontroller be erased and altered easily, the manufacturer can response to the change in market in a very short period.

Acknowledgements

Our thanks to Mr. Wayne Burleson for his invaluable assistance and guidance in this project. We would also like to thank Mircea R. Stan, Haoling Huang and John A. Thomson for their time and help along the semester.
widjaja@titan.oit.umass.edu (Last Update: 12/21/95) chong@ecs.umass.edu (Last Update: 12/21/95) tchen@ecs.umass.edu (Last Update: 12/21/95) burleson@ecs.umass.edu (Last Update: 12/18/95)