The anti-lock braking system aka ABS is a safety feature in cars that prevents their wheels from locking up and helps to maintain the steering control.

ABS enables the wheels of a car to maintain retroactive contact with the ground to avoid an uncontrolled skid on sudden braking.

Major components Speed sensor Valves Electronic control unit Hydraulic control unit

Speed sensor These sensors are attached to each wheel and determines whether to accelerate and decelerate, the speed of the wheels. It consists of an exciter (a ring with V-shaped teeth) and a wire coil or magnet assembly, which generates the pulses of electricity as the teeth of the exciter pass in front of it. 1 2

Valves 1 2 There is a valve in the brake line of each wheel that regulates the air pressure to the brakes during the ABS action. The resistance that you feel, while braking suddenly at high speeds is actually the brake valves controlling the pressure that is being transferred to the brakes.

Electronic control unit The ECU is an electronic unit that receives, amplifies and filters the sensor signals for calculating the wheel rotation speed and acceleration. It collects the signal from the sensors in the circuit, analyzes them and controls the brake pressure. 1 2

Hydraulic control unit The hydraulic control unit receives a signal from the ECU to apply or release the brakes under the anti-lock conditions. It controls the brakes by increasing the hydraulic pressure or bypassing the pedal force to reduce the braking power. 1 2

How ABS works ?

ABS is a part of an overall stability system, which monitors the wheels under heavy braking.

When the speed sensors detect that a wheel is about to lock or stop moving, the system releases the brake for a moment.

The hydraulic control unit controls the brake pressure in each wheel cylinder based on the inputs from the sensors which controls the speed of the car.

ABS, then continuously applies and releases pressure, which results in optimum braking pressure to all wheels. So that they don't get locked up.

Advantages

The ABS brakes are designed to combat the problem of tire lock up and uncontrolled spins.

It provides stable braking characteristics on all road surfaces, be it slippery or snowy.

ABS reduces friction between the tires and road, thus increases the efficiency of the tires.

With the application of ABS, a car stops at a shorter distance than the conventional brakes.

ABS has transformed the mechanism of braking in cars making it more automatic and efficient. And also has made our drive highly safe and comfortable. Summing up

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