ZF invests in nationalizing airbag components

By Redação AutoIndústria | Translated by Jorge Meditsch

ZF announced this Wednesday, 10/26 that it has nationalized the newest generation of the safety component ACU, Airbag Control Unit. It is now being produced in Limeira, SP. This control unit works as the airbags’ brain, commanding the moment they are deployed.

The production of the new ACU generation, the 7.5, brings great benefits for vehicle users, as it was designed to meet increasingly advanced safety demands”, explains Gustavo Ducatti, director of Engineering and Passive Safety Operations and Electronics at ZF South America.

According to the executive, there are being produced locally the versions GEN1.8BRIC, GEN6.5 and GEN7.5. “It means we are also offering the most recent ZF global technology for our region. The Limeira unit started the production of the new generation just six months after the global launch in Asia.

Ducatti remembers that ZF was the first company to offer this technology in the Brazilian market in 2013, and since then, is still the only company in the country producing this and other electronic safety components. Besides the ACU, the Limeira plant also produces Electronic Control Units for ABS (Anti-locking Braking System), EPS (Electric Power Steering) and EPP (Electric Power Pack).

The operation was also projected to meet the demands for ESC (Electronic Stability Control), a technology with projects still under the homologation process, which production will start in 2023.

The ACU made in Brazil by ZF actuates together with the safety belts, which are equipped with pre-tensioners deployed by the unit a few instants before the airbag opening. The solution eliminates possible webbing slacks and allows the seat belt to work adequately.

“Once the accident becomes inevitable, the role of the ACU is to detect the accident through the continuous reading of internal and external sensors, processed by a complex algorithm that decides when to deploy the pre-tensioners and airbags, minimizing harm to the driver and passengers”, explains Plínio Casante, senior manager of Engineering and Operations at ZF South America Electronics Unit.