Reliability in Electromagnetic Systems: The Role of Electrical Contact Resistance in Maintaining Automobile Speed Control System Integrity

• Sturgeon’s Electromagnet 1824 showing mercury cup connectors • Single pin of a gold-on-nickel multi-pin connector showing fretting • Block diagram of typical automobile speed control system • A typical magneto-resistive speed sensor • Simulating the false speed signal effect with a reed relay • Low speed operation of speed control system - False speed signal generated by a vibrating speed sensor connection

Antony Anderson is an electrical engineering consultant and expert witness. He has extensive experience of managing industrial R & D projects in the field of electrical machines and their control. He has spent many years investigating the root causes of unreliability in large electromagnetic systems. He now specialises in electrical machine and control system failure investigations. He has acted as an expert witness in the USA in a number of cases involving alleged automobile speed control malfunctions.