Case Studies
Vehicle Restraint System: Electronic Design Service for a Canadian Manufacturing Company
A
cufore provided a complete electronic design service for an electric vehicle restraint system.
The client is a manufacturing company based in Canada. The device secures a trailer's ICC bar to prevent vehicle creep and unscheduled departure. Our work covered the control electronics, firmware and mechanical design.
The client is a manufacturing company based in Canada. The device secures a trailer's ICC bar to prevent vehicle creep and unscheduled departure. Our work covered the control electronics, firmware and mechanical design.
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Challenges
The client needed a complete control system for an electric vehicle restraint device that secures trailer ICC bars preventing vehicle creep and unscheduled departure.
The system required:
Hardened electronics
Traffic light communication signaling
A fail-safe control panel
The system required:
Hardened electronics
Traffic light communication signaling
A fail-safe control panel
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Approach
Acufore delivered the full system:
Electrical operation: fully electrically operated from a control panel for reliable, repeatable actuation at loading docks. Traffic light communication: automated red, yellow and green control panel lights plus exterior red and green LED traffic lights for the dock safety protocol.
ICC bar engagement: secures the vehicle under the ICC bar against forward movement, preventing trailer creep and drive-off incidents.
PCB and firmware: a custom 2-layer PCB (92 components, 130 × 70 mm) covering schematic, layout, assembly and test, driving a 12 VDC / 14 A motor and a 12 VDC / 4 A actuator, with state-machine-driven control firmware.
Mechanical design: the restraint actuator and enclosure, validated for dock environments. Deliverables: schematic, PCB layout, tested PCB unit, firmware source, BOM, test reports and mechanical design.
Key specifications
PCB: 2-layer, 92 components, 130 × 70 mm Motor drive: 12 VDC / 14 A Actuator drive: 12 VDC / 4 A PCB design time: 40 hours
Tools used :
Schematic capture and PCB layout: Altium Designer and Cadence Allegro X
Electrical operation: fully electrically operated from a control panel for reliable, repeatable actuation at loading docks. Traffic light communication: automated red, yellow and green control panel lights plus exterior red and green LED traffic lights for the dock safety protocol.
ICC bar engagement: secures the vehicle under the ICC bar against forward movement, preventing trailer creep and drive-off incidents.
PCB and firmware: a custom 2-layer PCB (92 components, 130 × 70 mm) covering schematic, layout, assembly and test, driving a 12 VDC / 14 A motor and a 12 VDC / 4 A actuator, with state-machine-driven control firmware.
Mechanical design: the restraint actuator and enclosure, validated for dock environments. Deliverables: schematic, PCB layout, tested PCB unit, firmware source, BOM, test reports and mechanical design.
Key specifications
PCB: 2-layer, 92 components, 130 × 70 mm Motor drive: 12 VDC / 14 A Actuator drive: 12 VDC / 4 A PCB design time: 40 hours
Tools used :
Schematic capture and PCB layout: Altium Designer and Cadence Allegro X
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Conclusion
Acufore delivered a production-ready unit with full documentation. The system passed functional testing, validating safety-critical ICC bar engagement and communication light sequencing.
Need a similar project? Explore our Schematic & PCB Design and Electronics Engineering services.
Need a similar project? Explore our Schematic & PCB Design and Electronics Engineering services.
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