HETEROGENEOUS INTEGRATED VEHICULAR ELECTRONICS FOR FUEL CELL/SOLAR ELECTRIC VEHICLE (FCSEV

OTEKON’14

7. Otomotiv Teknolojileri Kongresi

26 – 27 Mayis 2014, BURSA

HETEROGENEOUS INTEGRATED VEHICULAR ELECTRONICS

FOR FUEL CELL/SOLAR ELECTRIC VEHICLE (FCSEV)

Lucian Ștefăniță Grigore*

*Lumina University of South-East Europe, Bucharest, Romania

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the possibility of  building the next generation of electric vehicles through a novel concept which reunites the most recent advances in the fields of renewable energy, automobile propulsion systems and information-communication technology. More specifically, the novelty consists in equipping the vehicle with driving wheels, electric accumulators, hydrogen fuel cell, solar panels, advanced smart sensors and a highly-performing car computer. We will describe in what follows the different layers of this electric vehicle design, the various components required to build it, how they are interconnected and what is their justification.

Keywords: electric car, intelligent transportation, renewable energy

1. INTRODUCTION

Following scientific progress and societal trends, next-generation vehicles will be based on a series of technologies which recently entered mass production:

- driving wheels for propulsion

- various accumulator types

- hydrogen fuel cell

- photovoltaic panels

- smart sensors and actuators

- embedded systems

Industrial manufacturers have already started equipping new models with some of the features mentioned above, but their implementation is too specific, proprietary and far from inclusive. Our research initiative will provide a complete multi-device electronic solution meant to easily connect and control all these new technologies if installed on board of a car.

HIVE (Heterogeneous Integrated Vehicular Electronics) represents a novel approach for building the “brains” of electric vehicles. Such a solution consists of embedded computing devices, data transmission links, various instruments, device interfaces, visualization consoles, software, algorithms and strategies, all consolidated into one car computer. Upon availability, HIVE will basically enable anybody to install the aforementioned technologies on a car chassis in straightforward fashion, by providing the digital infrastructure for their connectivity and control. The final product will be developed from the ground up, in order to address present-day challenges like:

- energy efficiency and autonomy

- international automotive standards

- passenger comfort and safety,

- intelligent transportation and mobility

- human-computer interaction

This project will significantly advance the state-of-art for energy efficiency, electric vehicles, ICT systems and others. Our concept is meant to be safe for the environment and its modular design will reduce production and maintenance costs. HIVE caters to the needs of manufacturers and private entrepreneurs by being a fully-customizable plug’n’play product, which can be adapted to any particular car designs, and also trucks, locomotives and mobile robots.

[pic 1]

Figure 1. Schematic fuel cell/solar electric vehicle.

2. MOTIVATION FOR RESEARCH

The electrification of mobility and road transportation has the potential to reduce Europe’s dependence on limited resources (e.g. petroleum), by tapping into sources of energy which are clean and sustainable. Hybrid and electric vehicles are popular because they appeal to a wide range of consumers: from those who appreciate the benefits of clean fuel on the environment, to those who appreciate lower transportation costs. However, the adoption rate is still small and more effort must be directed towards research, development and demonstration in order to reach full market potential.

Due to its physical nature, electricity is inherently compatible with other modern technologies about to penetrate the automotive industry. For example, electric energy enables the use of in-wheel hub motors for the propulsion system (driving wheels), which makes obsolete the classical power train for cars with internal combustion engines. Also, it becomes more accessible to equip the car with advanced smart sensors and to install a human-computer interface that is both ergonomic and informative. The electric batteries can be recharged as needed from backup sources mounted on the vehicle, such as fuel cells or solar panels. All these opportunities require a thorough scientific investigation in order to harmonize the performance of the various car components, reduce overall cost and guarantee safety and reliability.

Of particular interest are mergers of the electrified vehicle with intelligent controls and broadband communication technologies can be expected to lead to a wholly new mobility world. Fundamental transformations are imminent for the automobile today: propulsion technologies are going to shift to electric motors; cars and roads will soon be as safe as never before; and traffic will flow increasingly efficient. These advancements are due to innovative ICT (Information and Communication Technology), controls and smart systems, both in the vehicle and at its interfaces with the systems for power supply, mobility and data communication. Smart concepts for the combination of energy storage systems, electric drives and brakes and power electronic controls in the vehicle will enable radical cuts in weight, energy consumption and cost.

The goal of our research is to build an intelligent command system for electric vehicles, which we shall call HIVE (from Heterogeneous Integrated Vehicular Electronics), designed with an emphasis for optimal energy management. HIVE is composed of multiple embedded devices, i.e the hardware and software counterparts required for collecting measurements in real-time from on-board sensors, determining numerically the appropriate course of action, dispatching the command to each car component and communicating with the human driver and centralized networks on the current status. Thus, a feedback loop is established between the working environment and the car functional parameters, in order to determine in an automated fashion the optimal scenarios for maximizing energy efficiency and trip comfort.

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