PEY Internship Report Karen Mok Electrical Engineering U of T Honda of Canada Manufacturing.

Transcription

1 PEY Internship Report Karen Mok Electrical Engineering U of T Honda of Canada Manufacturing.

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3 Table of Contents Introduction Page 1 Job Description Page 1 Project Report Page 2 8 Problem Description Page 3 Research Methods Page 3 4 Experiments/Techniques Page 5 Discussion Page 5 Results Page 6 Conclusions Page 6 Recommendations Page 7-8 Technical Skills Page 8 Values Page 9 10 Career Plans Page 10 Conclusion Page 10

4 Introduction This report describes the design project which is completed at Honda of Canada Manufacturing during the PEY Internship Program. The description of internship responsibilities, a design project description, and results from gained technical skills, values, and career direction is explored. This internship has been valuable and effective in gaining practical experience and technical knowledge of the automotive industry. The design project is a contribution which increases efficiency of the warranty testing involved in my role as an intern and goes on to impact warranty testing in the future. Job Description The Electrical Engineering Intern in the Warranty Denso Group at Honda of Canada Manufacturing has the following major roles which are: root cause analysis of warranty parts, report creation from parts analysis, warranty report database maintenance and determination of part trends from test results. The warranty information is used by the engineering department to monitor market trends and perform market and part investigations which improve the quality of products. If necessary, countermeasures will be issued for vehicles in-market. The information is also used for improved production of emerging models. The following list describes the tasks that were performed during the duration of the internship: - organization of daily incoming warranty parts - organization and maintenance of warranty shelves - visual/dimensional and user witness mark checks during root cause analysis Page 1 of 10

5 - vehicle installation of warranty part (function check) - electrical bench testing of warranty parts (function check) - continuity checks of warranty parts (function check) - development of test systems using instrumentation - development of tester assemblies to improve efficiency of warranty testing - design and build of tester assemblies - report creation for warranty analysis - database maintenance and follow-up - sending warranty parts to supplier - evaluation of supplier analysis on warranty parts - market trend analysis of warranty parts During this internship, several bench tester assemblies were constructed, including a long term project for the design and assembly of an SRS Simulator as described in the Project Report below. These tasks involved planning and scheduling, as well as technical skills and techniques. Skills in analysis, written and verbal communication skills. independent working ability, organization, time and project management skills were all important skills which were demonstrated throughout the term. Project Report The Safety Restraint System (SRS) of a vehicle is a system of the vehicle that is paramount to ensuring the safety of passengers. SRS warranty parts that are received at Honda of Canada Manufacturing from dealerships are tested, analysed, reported and investigated to ensure continual improvement to the quality of our products. Page 2 of 10

6 To increase efficiency in warranty testing, function checks on sensors, the control unit, and harnesses are performed for root cause analysis. This has previously been performed in vehicle, however, installing warranty parts, performing a test-drive and reinstalling the original part into the test vehicle is time consuming. It is also not ergonomic over years of testing to the SRS warranty associate. Problem Description Warranty parts root cause analysis frequently require in-vehicle testing to ensure vehicle conditions are simulated and customer failure modes can be confirmed. This project improves on the warranty SRS parts test analysis, where a SRS (Safety Restraint System) simulator is designed to duplicate vehicle conditions. The bench tester increases efficiency and decreases the cost of the testing by allowing attachment of peripheral warranty parts. It also allows for bench testing through power cycling and thermal cycling in a cost-effective amount of time. The components to the system include: an SRS main control unit, impact and position sensors, airbag inflators, seatbelt pretensioners, seatbelt buckle switches, ODS unit, gauge control module (handles communication and LED indication). Research Methods The duration of the project, consisting of the extraction, housing design, and assembly of this simulator takes place over 11 months, from October of 2007 to August of The project involves 3 major design changes, and 3 stages of operation where the Simulator is used for warranty testing and analysis. Page 3 of 10

7 Design 1: Mid-End of October 2007: The circuitry of the SRS was extracted from vehicle harnesses and simulation was added to the circuit in place of test parts. Using in-house resources, known good parts were gathered for use: the SRS control unit, gauge control module handling the system communication, indicators on the dash panel, and from wire harnesses. Operating Stage 1: November February 2008: This initial design of the simulator is used for warranty testing during this period. Design 2 / Operating Stage 2: March - Mid-June 2008: The Simulator is to be encapsulated to a user interface panel. A layout was designed to ensure effective usage of the simulator by associates who may not have technical expertise to operate the SRS system. Based on an existing simulator design for another vehicle model, the design layout was developed to ensure a similar interface for bench testing capability. An electrical schematic was created from reference circuit drawings due to the rerouting of circuitry, and the interface and shape of the housing was prototyped. Sheet metal was measured and cut to proper dimensions. Research into electrical components and parts from relevant suppliers was conducted and purchased for implementation of the design. The simulator was also used for warranty parts testing as necessary, as no changes have been made to the simulator during this time. Design 3 / Operating Stage 3: Mid-June August 2008: During the implementation and drilling process, equipment limitations were reached with the sheet metal layout design. After collaboration with experienced associates, an existing housing container was Page 4 of 10

8 implemented into the design. Major modifications were applied to the design layout, although the simulation circuitry remained unchanged. The electronic parts were received and the build, including drilling and soldering, proceeded. Labels were printed and the final design was implemented and assembled. Experiments/Techniques During the design stages, experiments were performed to confirm functionality of the Simulator at all times in order to maintain warranty testing capability. During the second design stage, a 1-to-1 scale prototype was designed from paper to ensure proper dimensioning and supportive structure of that was consistent to the base design from the existing simulator. The prototype revealed that the design dimensions were feasible, however, due to physical drilling limitations the design was not finally implemented. This project also required techniques for soldering for the implementation of the circuit design. Discussion This Simulator design process involved an assembly design stage in Design 1, and two major design changes to the Simulator interface and housing (Design 2 and 3). Within regards to these changes, the following adjustments were applied to the Simulator design: design layout change, removal of wire harness test capability when housing is applied to the Simulator. Due to the reduction of wire circuitry to the containment of the housing, this step would be a necessary part to the design. Thus, the following SRS parts may be tested using the Simulator: an SRS main control unit, impact sensors, airbag inflators, seatbelt pretensioners, seatbelt buckles, indicator LEDs. Page 5 of 10

9 Results The results were presented to the project supervisor and used for warranty parts root cause analysis and testing during the latter two stages of the design. In August 2008, the final design was presented to the Group Leader of the electrical group of the Quality Engineering Division of Honda of Canada Manufacturing. The design and functionality of the Simulator was demonstrated. Conclusions This design project is a vehicle simulator for the SRS (Safety Restraint System) for use as a warranty parts root cause tester for the MDX model which has been produced at Honda of Canada Manufacturing. Warranty parts are received for this model at the plant, where root cause analysis is performed to confirm parts failure. The simulator system components were extracted from known good product and encapsulated into a bench-sized module. The components for the module were ordered from an electronics components supplier. Through the duration of the 12 months of the internship, the design and implementation of the simulator occurred for 10 ½ months. A prototype was completed to verify the dimensional design. There were 2 additional design changes. The final product is a Simulator is able to simulate and test warranty parts of the Safety Restraint System, greatly reducing the time and cost of root cause analysis parts testing. Page 6 of 10

10 Recommendations Due to the nature of the tester, implementation into a bench tester assembly removes the capability for wire harness installation and testing. Root cause analysis for warranty harnesses would be required to be tested separately from the remainder of the SRS system. In the final stage of the design, additional electronic components for the user interface were purchased and ordered. The purpose pertained to the aesthetic interfacing of the assembly, however, the parts could not be received within the allotted time frame for final installation by the end of August Recommendations for this Simulator is for a time-effective parts order. The parts will be received, and installed 1 or 2 weeks later. ODS simulation capability is a feature that currently is not yet implemented into the Simulator. As such, the Simulator requires a known good ODS unit to be attached to the tester in order for sufficient operation to occur. ODS and other warranty parts of the SRS may be tested, however, no simulation for this feature currently exists for its implementation. When SRS control units are tested using the Simulator, verification of identification codes is performed on all peripheral control units. The ODS control unit is the peripheral which returns a unique identification code. The SRS control unit and ODS control unit would contain matching codes if they belong to the same vehicle. However, the warranty parts received into the plant originate from various vehicles, therefore this code verification procedure does not likely match, and error codes will be registered into the system to indicate a failure in the warranty part. This does not interfere with the parts testing, as this is a known limitation of the simulator at this point. However, a Page 7 of 10

11 microcontroller programmable array would be required to configure proper signals in order to prevent these error codes which would otherwise be a nuisance to work with. Technical Skills This internship has developed my technical skills through the warranty testing procedure at Honda of Canada Mfg. Skills in practical application of electrical instrumentation such as oscilloscopes, signal generators and multimeters has been further developed for use in a practical setting. I have become familiar with other instruments, through use, observation, or demonstration, such as the use of an X-ray compound, digital microscopes, the Honda Diagnostic System tool, and thermal chamber use. Use of mechanical tools such as socket wrenches, torque wrenches, cordless drills, was developed and refined, as it was a required skill and daily procedure for warranty parts analysis. Disassembly of the vehicle in an efficient manner, of parts such as the dashboard, pillars, seats, centre consoles, tires, relay and fuse modules required the use of many mechanical tools. Warranty testing methods for various components were developed during this internship. HVAC system test method involved determining leaks in each branch of the system. Air pressure, air vaccuum or water immersion tests were performed on warranty parts in order to test for leaks which would appear as jet-streams in water or air, as well as through measurement using a pressure meter. I learned the techniques to maintain vehicles in a warranty test environment, with multiple techniques on maintaining battery voltage on test vehicles, as well as restarting vehicles during incidences of electrical failure induced by warranty part failure. Page 8 of 10

12 Values This internship experience has refined the perspective of which I view the working environment and enhanced the way in which I perceive my values. My values in a work environment are the following: Variety: This warranty position offered a large variety of electrical parts for analysis and testing. There were also at least 4 different models of vehicle for which to work with. Therefore, it was a valuable and effective learning experience to be able to perform various test and analyses on a wide range of warranty parts during this internship. Structure: In addition to warranty parts analysis, technical reports are generated for record-tracking and part trend analysis. These reports are required for reference when collaborating with suppliers. I valued the report tracking database since it provided a structured and effective methodology for in-depth analysis and tracks a wide range of trend variables. Supervision: Due to the nature of the warranty role and breadth of parts analysis, it is not frequently possible to have this type of guidance. Although working independently is also enjoyable for me, I value the feedback, guidance and efficiency that is gained with working in a team or under supervision. Responsibility: I value the accountability and responsibility which a corporate organization operates. Organizations would have a structured system for accountability which would allow all associates to track and locate equipment and resources. Learning: I believe this internship is a valuable learning experience and has familiarized myself with many aspects of the automotive industry, including automotive tools, technical skills, testing procedures relevant for warranty root cause analysis, as well as Page 9 of 10

13 the methodology with which Honda of Canada Manufacturing collaborates with its automotive suppliers. Career Plans There are multiple career plans which appeal to me, however, completing this internship period has brought to my attention that I would like to take a future position which is technical in nature, through working in a practical, market environment rather than simply designing in an engineering laboratory. The automotive industry is one which is extremely practical, with a breadth of mechanical and electrical systems applied in vehicle design, engineering, modification, and development. Therefore, this type of industry application is appealing. Conclusion In conclusion, this internship has been a wonderful learning experience in gaining practical experience, knowledge and technical skills in the automotive industry. It has provided a greater understanding to the vehicle product development and engineering processes in the warranty, model development, and vehicle testing by Honda of Canada Manufacturing. The process of developing the SRS simulator project contributes to the improvement of SRS warranty testing and analysis and has also added valuable experience for the type of design work involved in engineering. Page 10 of 10