Keep the fun of mobility and experience Honda's new future technology

"The joy of free movement" and "realizing a colorful and sustainable society" are the slogans put forward at this Honda Technology Conference. At the Honda Research Institute in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, technologies developed around these two themes have gradually taken shape. In the process of developing intelligent transportation in the future, the joy of driving is easily forgotten, and too single new energy technology cannot meet the needs of all markets. It is precisely because of such concerns that we see a diversified Honda, including the revived NSX, the world's first transverse 10AT, electric four-wheel drive, mass-produced fuel cell vehicles, and intelligent transportation systems.

● Intelligent driving: Honda Sensing

It has to be admitted that in the field of intelligent driving, Japanese automakers have always been conservative about their technology investment in the Chinese market. In the minds of Chinese users, brands from Europe or newly emerging companies from Silicon Valley in the United States seem to be the main force driving the development of intelligent driving. In fact, the application of technology for intelligent driving has long been promoted in Japan, and the competition among several Japanese automakers in the country is also very fierce. What many people did not expect is that in the past five years, the camera-based Subaru EyeSight system has become a benchmark in the Japanese industry. Even big manufacturers such as Honda and Toyota have set it as a goal to surpass. In the past two years, Honda's Honda Sensing and Toyota's Safety Sense systems have appeared in people's field of vision. Of course, from a market perspective, the intelligent driving technology of these two automakers seems to be closer to us.

Honda Sensing is a driving assistance system. According to Honda's plan, the parking assistance, panoramic imaging, and rearview mirror wide-angle camera systems currently available on Honda models will all be included in Honda Sensing, and driving assistance functions such as ACC adaptive cruise control will also fall within the scope of this system.

More advanced driving assistance functions were highlighted at this Honda conference. The newly added system consisting of a monocular camera and millimeter-wave radar can achieve richer driving assistance functions, and the traffic jam driving assistance function that will soon be launched in the Chinese market is very attractive.

The monocular camera can capture images of the situation in front of the car, and after analysis by the processor, it can identify moving objects and pedestrians. In addition, the lane keeping function also uses this as a basis to identify lanes on the road (white lines), combined with the millimeter-wave radar's monitoring of object position and moving speed, thus forming a set of more advanced functions including traffic jam driving assistance and electronic pre-collision braking system (Acura MDX and RLX sold domestically are already equipped with it).

If you can really free your hands and feet when you are stuck in a traffic jam, it will not only reduce the driver's fatigue, after all, the stop-and-go state does require the driver to concentrate all the time. In addition, the vehicle body pitch caused by acceleration and braking during the control of following the car may affect the riding comfort of the passengers in the car. After the system completes this operation, the above problems can be greatly solved. From another perspective, it also greatly reduces the occurrence of rear-end collisions.

In fact, from the perspective of technological evolution, this traffic jam driving assistance technology should be regarded as an extension of ACC adaptive cruise control. Both use sensors to monitor the driving status of the vehicle in front to control the speed and distance. However, among the necessary conditions for activating ACC, speed is a key factor. The addition of traffic jam driving assistance technology extends the driving assistance function to a wider speed range (the maximum speed of 0~120km/h is subject to local regulations). In other words, I can activate the Honda Sensing system from the moment the vehicle starts.

● Autonomous driving experience

The autonomous driving experience was conducted on an Accord prototype. Different from the sensors used in the Honda Sensing system introduced earlier, this one only relies on the GNSS global satellite navigation system to accurately locate the vehicle and complete the driving from point A to point B on the pre-planned path. Interestingly, by choosing different driving modes, the vehicle can adopt different driving styles to complete the task of autonomous driving. Honda engineers believe that vehicles need to have different driving capabilities. Their starting point is very practical. When the vehicle is driving in different environments, such as rainy and snowy weather or smooth roads, the vehicle needs to have adaptive driving capabilities.

◆ Future Development

So, what direction will Honda Sensing develop in the future? This question is not difficult to answer. In the development of driving assistance technology, the technical routes of various manufacturers are different, but they all aim to develop a higher degree of automation and intelligence, and the support for this goal is based on hardware with more powerful functions and higher recognition accuracy. For example, the application of high-definition maps, upgrading the existing monocular camera to a binocular camera, using different types of radar to achieve long-distance and short-distance monitoring range, at the same time, the installation of rangefinders (6) around the car body will also more accurately calculate the relative position with surrounding objects.

The autonomous driving technology that will be put into mass production on highways in 2020 is different from the current high-speed driving assistance function based on ACC. In Honda's vision, the vehicle should be able to complete functions such as lane change, overtaking, and driving path judgment when driving on the

    highway .

At this Tokyo Motor Show, Honda will launch their latest FCV model, a fuel cell vehicle. In the debate about the future development direction of new energy vehicles, fuel cells are the most controversial technical direction. Long driving range and zero emissions are the reasons why the affirmative side chooses to insist, while the negative side believes that this is a technology that transfers carbon emissions to other areas. The safety of hydrogen is also a big problem. How does Honda view the development prospects of this technology?

Honda believes that fuel cell technology is the ultimate new energy technology solution, which generates electricity through the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, but only emits water. To achieve this ultimate goal, Honda has been developing fuel cell technology for more than 15 years.

Compared with the fuel cell technology used by CLARITY (the previous generation Honda fuel cell vehicle), the FCV model that uses the third-generation fuel cell technology has made many optimizations in the miniaturization of core component structures.

　　Although fuel cell technology has been maturely used in non-automotive industries, it must be admitted that this technology is not suitable for all countries in automotive applications. Japanese automobile companies have also adopted a diversified approach in the development of new energy technologies, focusing on the development of fuel cell technology locally, and expanding into other markets with the help of hybrid and pure electric technologies.

    ● The world's first transverse 10AT: the era of parallel shaft AT ends

This is the world's first 10AT gearbox used in a transverse power platform. The significance of this gearbox to Honda is not just setting a precedent. It will replace the existing 6AT gearbox. Although they are both called AT, the structure is completely different from the parallel shaft structure that Honda has insisted on using before. This unique structure was once one of the symbols of Honda's persistence in technological development. It broke the industry's conventional development form for automatic gearboxes (in the early days, the planetary gear structure of the AT gearbox was in the hands of Aisin and ZF. Honda hoped not to be restricted by other companies in technology, and combined with its own R&D and production capabilities at the time, it made an AT gearbox with a parallel shaft structure). Now, the era of parallel shafts is about to end.

While ensuring driving smoothness, pursuing a wider ratio range is the unchanging development goal of automatic transmissions. This is true for any form of transmission, which is one of the reasons why the number of transmission gears continues to increase. However, with the increase in the number of gears, the three-axis structure of the parallel-axis AT transmission is difficult to cater to the current development trend of "maximizing passenger space and miniaturizing mechanical space" (the MM concept advocated by Honda). Therefore, Honda has returned the development direction of AT transmissions to the traditional planetary gear structure.

Electric SH-AWD

In the Pikes Peak Hill Climb held in June this year, Honda took out an electric CR-Z marked with Electric SH-AWD to participate in the demonstration group competition. This is a racing car with four-wheel motor drive and four-wheel steering technology. For Honda, this is not a racing project for pure competition, but it hopes to verify the performance of electric four-wheel drive technology through this competition to obtain more test information, and this part of the information is also sent back to Japan for engineers to refer to as soon as possible.

The Electric SH-AWD CR-Z race car was developed with the goal of completing the entire 20km course in 10:30, and in the actual race, the car reached the 4,300m summit in 10:23:829 (the current record is 9:07:222 set by this year’s Electric Modified class car), placing first in the display class (and 11th overall).

Honda's attitude towards Pikes Peak shows that the Electric SH-AWD with four motors is likely to be used in mass-produced models in the future. At least we have already come into contact with a similar drive form (dual motors on the front axle) on the new generation of NSX models. In addition to NSX, I also experienced this more forward-looking four-wheel drive model this time.

The vehicle used for the experience is also a trial model of CR-Z. Although the technical structure is the same, there are still obvious differences from the racing car. First of all, the appearance of this car complies with the original factory status to the greatest extent. More importantly, it does not "carry" many batteries like a racing car. In this way, the passenger compartment still maintains a reasonable practical space, and the weight of the whole vehicle is also reduced. Of course, the power output will naturally be limited.

The experience venue is a small runway. In my opinion, it is not too difficult to run this track with this electric four-wheel drive car, because the distance available for acceleration between curves is limited. Therefore, even if it is in full acceleration state, if you reduce the throttle before the curve, the braking generated by the kinetic energy recovery of the motor is enough to allow the vehicle to pass the curve smoothly.

Unfortunately, everyone only has one lap to experience it. After finishing the experience, the previous experiencers complained that they had just found the feeling, but the lap was over. Therefore, if you want to experience this car as much as possible, you need to get familiar with it quickly. Fortunately, I have some impression of the test site of Honda R&D Center, because three years ago, I had test-driven a prototype car equipped with rear-wheel steering technology here. I started this experience with vague memories.

As expected, the car speed decreased when the throttle was released before the turn. Indeed, the new power form not only changed the characteristics of the car, but also overturned the traditional way of running. You don't have to release the throttle and step on the brakes before the turn. The braking generated by the four-wheel motor is more balanced than the traditional hydraulic control and can make the vehicle and the braking intention of the driver seamlessly connected. On that racing car, the driver can adjust the degree of kinetic energy recovery braking according to his driving habits, but my car now only provides one recovery mode.

Next, an embarrassing scene happened. The braking generated by kinetic energy recovery made the vehicle pass the curve too slowly, so much so that the engineer sitting next to him burst out laughing. It seems that full acceleration will be required in the next section.

The power output of the electric motor is direct and almost without lag. The vehicle speed can be increased very high before the next bend. When I release the accelerator and point the front of the car to the center of the bend, the rear of the car begins to make a slipping sound. Before I can make corrections, the posture of the car body has provided the conditions for rushing out of the bend. On the one hand, it benefits from the unconstrained power distribution characteristics of the four-wheel motor. On the other hand, the adjustment of the suspension and the tires are sufficient to provide support for the body. Although the road noise and motor sound caused by bumps can be heard in the car, the entire passenger compartment is not as noisy as a traditional power sports car. In such an environment, I can even hear the engineer's approving "hmm". In my peripheral vision, the engineer who nodded frequently was actually recording the status of the vehicle in a small notebook.

One lap is really short. When I saw the deceleration sign and was about to drive the car back, an unexpected scene appeared. The engineer actually said to me, "You are a racer, 2 laps, go." I looked at him with hesitation and only then noticed that he was an older engineer. While I was still hesitating, he kept urging me, "Show me again."

    ● Will the new NSX be made in China in the future?

Around this time in 2012, I test drove the Honda NSX TYPE S at a racetrack in Japan. At that time, the NSX revival plan had already surfaced. There was news that the new NSX would be available soon, but it took almost 3 years for the official launch plan to take shape. The NSX with the Acura logo will be launched in the US market first, but there is no official response to the domestic market introduction plan. The more this happens, the more sensitive some rumors will make everyone. Among them, there is no shortage of CKD domestic production methods. In fact, Honda is indeed considering bringing the new NSX into the country in this way. If it can avoid high taxes, then the pricing strategy of this car can be more flexible, but everything is still uncertain!

We have previously briefly introduced the technical structure of the new NSX. This time, during our contact with the actual production car, we discovered some new technical details, which we will share with you below.

As with the previous NSX development, the new NSX still uses European sports cars as its benchmark model, among which the Porsche 918 is the most direct benchmark model. Yes, this time it is not Ferrari, although Ferrari is also one of the benchmark products, but in terms of power form, this time Honda hopes to surpass the Porsche 918!

The engine and gearbox are arranged longitudinally (compared to the transverse layout of the previous generation model). In traditional concepts, the cylinder angle of a V6 engine is generally set at 60° (for example, the cylinder angle of the J30A5 V6 engine used in the Accord is 60°). Such a cylinder angle lays a good foundation for smooth operation. However, sacrificing the advantage of a low center of gravity is unacceptable for a sports car. Of course, the development of the engine still needs to take into account the product planning of future models to formulate development goals.

The V6 engine used in the previous generation of NSX models uses a 90° cylinder angle. Although it occupies a slightly larger space than the 60° cylinder angle V6 engine, it is in exchange for a low center of gravity that is conducive to the dynamic balance of the vehicle body. The V6 structure engine used in the new NSX adopts a 75° cylinder angle design, which is the result of multiple considerations from the perspectives of volume, smoothness and center of gravity. In addition, designs such as dry sump oil also contribute significantly to the low center of gravity. In terms of volume, after all, the layout of the turbine and exhaust system outside the cylinder head must be considered, so the cylinder angle cannot be very large. In the end, 75° is a more balanced choice. Of course, if the exhaust is placed between the V-shaped angles as advocated by European manufacturers, the structure can be made more compact, which is also conducive to the design of a low center of gravity.

Editor's summary:

In just one day, we experienced 10 models. It is inevitable that there will be regrets in such an intensive experience rhythm, but no matter what, it is a rare thing to see a manufacturer's technical planning for the next 5-10 years in one day. For a traditional automobile manufacturer, future development trends must be followed, but how can we maintain our own value in the process of following? Honda hopes to emphasize to people at all times through the transmission of driving pleasure that the impression of Honda still remains in the existing products and will not be erased in the future. Of course, they have not used the preservation of the core value of the brand as an excuse to stand still.