Development of a drive and bracket for the steering wheel sensor on an electric car

Sodobni avtomobili uporabljajo vrsto senzorjev, ki so lahko ključnega pomena za njihovo delovanje. Tak primer so vozila z vgrajenimi električnimi motorji, ki potrebujejo način merjenja kota zasuka volanske osi. V tej zaključni nalogi obravnavamo senzor v obliki potenciometra. Vgraditi ga želimo tako, da bo neposredno povezan z volanom. Najprej smo preučili mesto vgradnje senzorja in ga izrisali s pomočjo CAD programa. Za vgradnjo senzorja je bil načrtovan nosilec, ki omogoči njegovo pritrditev v bližini mesta merjenja. V sklopu naloge smo razvili jermenski pogon z lahkim jermenom. Ta povezuje gred, na katero je nameščen volan z merilno gredjo potenciometra. Zaradi omejenega prostora so v pogon vključene nestandardne jermenice. Za napenjanje jermena smo v sestavo vključili še dodaten element. Izdelava jermenic in nosilca je bila izvedena z različnimi aditivnimi tehnologijami. Med izdelavo smo spreminjali parametre, dokler nismo dosegli želenega rezultata. Izdelke in tehnologije smo med seboj primerjali. Po izdelavi smo preverili kakovost elementov in jih vgradili na želeno mesto. Avtomobilu smo uspešno dodali novi senzor in s pomočjo jermenskega pogona zagotovili njegovo delovanje.Modern cars use an array of sensors, which are essential for its operation. An example are electric vehicles, which require measuring of the rotation of the steering wheel axis. In this final paper, a sensor in the form of a potentiometer is examined. It should be installed in such a way that it is directly connected to the steering wheel. The first step was selecting the location of its installment and modelling it in a CAD environment. To install it a bracket was designed, which enables the attachment of the sensor in the vicinity of the position of measurement. As the subject of this thesis a belt drive with a timing belt was designed. It connects the steering wheel axis to the measuring axis of the potentiometer. Because of limited space the drive includes nonstandard pulleys. To provide tensioning of the timing belt an additional element was included. The pulley and bracket were manufactured using additive manufacturing. During production certain parameters were varied to achieve the adequate results. Different manufacturing technologies and finished parts are compared. After production the quality of the final products was inspected, and they were installed. A new sensor was successfully added to the automobile and its operation was ensured with the help of the belt drive