Automotive Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)

Anyone who has operated, serviced, or designed an automobile or truck in the last few years has most certainly noticed that the age of electronics in our vehicles is here! Electronic components and systems are used for everything from the traditional entertainment system to the latest in “drive by wire”, to two-way communication and navigation. The interesting fact is that the automotive industry has been based upon mechanical and materials engineering for much of its history without many of the techniques of electrical and electronic engineering. The emissions controls requirements of the 1970’s are generally recognized as the time when electronics started to make their way into the previous mechanically based systems and functions. While this revolution was going on, the electronics industry developed issues and concepts that were addressed to allow interoperation of the systems in the presence of each other and with the external environment. This included the study of electromagnetic compatibility, as systems and components started to have influence upon each other just due to their operation. EMC developed over the years, and has become a specialized area of engineering applicable to any area of systems that included electronics. Many well-understood aspects of EMC have been developed, just as many aspects of automotive systems have been developed. We are now at a point where the issues of EMC are becoming more and more integrated into the automotive industry.