Development of a Demonstrator with Samples of the Output Circuits of the Automotive Control Unit

Abstract

The aim of this diploma thesis was the development of a demonstrator for an electronic control unit (ECU) output system based on the NXP MC33879 high-side driver, the ESP8266 NodeMCU and an ST7735S TFT display. The developed system allows for each of the individual output channels of the high-side driver to be configured to operate in a different mode. Each of the individual output channels can implement important control strategies, such as current limiting, relay control and pulse-width modulation (PWM) to control the position of a DC motor. The communication between the ESP8266 NodeMCU and the MC33879 high-side driver is performed via the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) communication protocol. Furthermore, the system can implement fault monitoring and fault diagnostics of the MC33879 via its diagnostic registers. Thus, the demonstrator allows for the analysis of the outputs of an ECU and its individual control strategies. Finally, the defined laboratory task allows for students to analyse these components of the ECU output system.