Control System Design and Optimization Using LabVIEW for a Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle as Part of EcoCar: The NeXt Competition

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Harries ◽  
Brandon Smith ◽  
Sean Carter ◽  
Darris White ◽  
Marc Compere
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Electric Vehicle ◽  
Hybrid Electric Vehicle ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Battery Pack ◽  
Engine Operation ◽  
Control Module ◽  
Efficient Operation ◽  
Hybrid Electric

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University is part of EcoCar: The NeXt Challenge, an advanced vehicle competition run by Argonne National Labs and sponsored by General Motors and the Department of Energy. The competition tasks 16 schools around the country with designing and implementing the most efficient vehicle architecture. As part of the EcoCar Challenge, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University is working on developing a controls strategy for a Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. The control system is designed to optimize efficiency and consumer acceptability by allowing the EcoEagles to control each of the cars sub-systems. Control is done using CAN bus communication that utilizes National Instruments (NI) single board reconfigurable input / output (sbRIO) real time hardware. The EcoEagles powertrain architecture includes GM’s two-mode hybrid electric transmission which contains two 55kW electric motors, a 1.3 liter turbo diesel engine running on B20 biodiesel, and a 12.8 kWh lithium-ion battery pack produced by A123 Systems. Each component has a control module that interfaces directly with the subsystems and hardware on the vehicle. These controllers are: the Traction Power Inverter Module (TPIM), the Engine Control Module (ECM), and the Battery Pack Control Module (BPCM). Vehicle control and communication between these modules is managed by the EcoEagles, two controllers called the Supervisory Control Unit (SCU) and the Gateway (GW). The purpose of the gateway is to control the flow of CAN communication between modules and to isolate the ECM and BPCM from the vehicle to avoid data interference. Communication is done on two separate CAN buses, the Power Train Expansion Bus (PTEB), and the High Speed Bus (HS). The controls diagram can be seen in Figure 1. The paper will go into detail on shift strategy and engine operation where optimization was used to maintain efficient operation of the engine. The paper will also describe the control strategy that was developed using coupled LabVIEW Statecharts [1] with CAN messaging inputs from all of the control modules in order to maintain safe efficient operation.

Progression Over the Years: The EcoEagles Student-Designed Biodiesel Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Carter ◽  
Jenna Beckwith ◽  
Marc Compere ◽  
Darris White ◽  
Brandon Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electric Vehicle ◽  
Fuel Economy ◽  
Hybrid Electric Vehicle ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Biodiesel Fuel ◽  
Vehicle Development ◽  
Technical Specifications ◽  
Hybrid Electric

The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) EcoEagles are participating in the EcoCar: The NeXt Challenge competition. The competition is a three-year collegiate event where 16 teams from North America compete to build a more efficient and better performing GM production vehicle. The three year collegiate competition is sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE), General Motors (GM), and Argonne National Labs (ANL). The advanced vehicle technology competition has a history, and has been organized and ran for the past 20 years. The competition challenges collegiate minds to reduce the environmental impact of a Chevrolet EcoCAR by minimizing fuel consumption and reducing emissions while retaining the vehicle’s performance, safety, and consumer appeal. The main focus of the competition is to use real world vehicle development strategies and processes that would meet GM’s standard practices and safety protocols. All of the sponsors of the competition provide teams with engineering tools, equipment needed to create a realistic vehicle, and project design support to the teams throughout the competition. The ERAU team, the EcoEagles, has successfully devised a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) propulsion system that meets those requirements. The electrification of the powertrain and the use of biodiesel fuel are central themes in the EcoEagles’ strategy for improving fuel economy and tailpipe emissions. The team selected an electric range of approximately 25 miles based on the average commuter driving less than 33 miles per day [1]; meaning that most of the vehicle operation will be conducted using either fully electric or electric-assisted propulsion. The vehicle design consideration was accomplished by implementing a 1.3L GM Turbo Diesel coupled with a 2-Mode electrically variable transmission (EVT) and an A123 Lithium-Ion Iron-Phosphate 330V 12.8kWhr battery pack. The EcoEagles design will reduce petroleum energy consumption by 78%, improve fuel economy by 66%, and reduce well-to-wheel greenhouse gas (WTWGHG) emissions by 30%. The paper will focus on the 99% production readiness. The paper will also discuss and include vehicle test data supporting the energy efficiency, emissions, and performance / utility capabilities of the vehicle as determined by the first two years of vehicle development. The vehicle architecture and background information will also be presented to help the reader understand why the given architecture was chosen and how it might compare to the Chevrolet EcoCAR. Performance predictions made from simulations will be contrasted against those from the Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) development. Finally, on-road testing will also be compared with the same predictions with the goal of showing why the model-based, HIL enhanced, and vehicle technical specifications (VTS) did or did not agree.

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