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Written by Webmaster
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Monday, 30 July 2007 |
This page presents a high-level overview of the GM/DoE Challenge X competition, and then a low-level examination of the Ohio State University's approach to it.
Introduction
Personal mobility is a fundamental cornerstone of our society, and awareness of its sustainability is increasing rapidly in the public and technical consciousness. Behind this public awareness of alternative fuels and transporation issues has been the series of advanced technology competitions sponsored by US Department of Energy that create a synergy among government, industry, and academia. The Ohio State University and its Center for Automotive Research have participated in these competitions since the 1998 FutureCar Challenge.
Challenge X (official site) is the latest in this series of university student-oriented projects to explore the cutting edge in hybrid electric vehicles. Challenge X will be a four-year competition where student teams at 17 American and Canadian universities follow a vehicle development process modeled after the General Motors Global Vehicle Development Process to convert a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox into a hybrid electric vehicle, powered by one or more forms of alternative energy. Teams will strive to maximize fuel economy and reduce emissions while maintaining stock performance and consumer acceptability.
Begun in Fall 2004, teams and sponsors gather every summer to competitively measure progress. Year 1 competition was held on June 6-9, 2005 at GM global headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. The Ohio State team, advised by Dr Giorgio Rizzoni and led by Joe Morbitzer, placed 3rd place overall and won 2nd place in the Freescale Silicon on the Move award.
Vehicle architecture
During Year 1, the Ohio State team defined a set of vehicle technical specifications (VTS) to achieve. Highlights of the published VTS included a 0–60 mph acceleration time of <10 seconds, a combined fuel economy of >35 mpg, a 275 mile highway range, a federal emissions rating of Tier 2, Bin 5, while preserving seating and trailering capacity. Starting time would be reduced to <2 seconds, and a four wheel drive mode would be added.
The Ohio State team also specified the set of modes that the vehicle could occupy at any given time: modes such as electric-only, engine start, deceleration, and four wheel drive described a vehicle that would shut off its engine when stopped, and which would pull away from a stop using electric power to conserve fuel. Once the engine was up to a certain speed, the engine would be restarted to resume driving, but where a control strategy would split the driving intelligently between all torque sources. During braking, the electric motors would generate electricity to store for later use.
The VTS and these modes subsequently were used to guide the specification of a vehicle architecture, the main points of which follow—
- The 3.4L V6 gasoline engine will be replaced by a GM 1.9L turbodiesel engine to capitalize on substantial experience with diesel engines and aftertreatment.
- A six-speed automatic transmission to replace the stock five-speed transmission.
- Belted to the 1.9L TurboDiesel is an integrated (belted) starter alternator (an ISA or BSA is a small electric motor) Used to perform start stop operations.
- A large electric machine drives the rear axle to allow the vehicle to both pull away from a stop and supply torque during normal driving.
- All electric machines will be powered by 1.3 sets of Panasonic Prismatic nickel metal hydride battery modules, the same as in the Toyota Prius hybrid.
- A DC/DC converter will power all electric accessories directly from this battery pack, precluding the need for an alternator.
Latest developments
The state of major team projects is maintained at the Projects page, and updates are posted on the Blog.
Team
This overview would be incomplete without a mentioning of the people behind this architecture and its implementation. At the helm of the Ohio State Challenge X team are our advisor Dr Giorgio Rizzoni, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Center for Automotive Research, and our team leaders Craig Pavlich and Eric Schacht, with Craig pursuing a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and Eric pursuing a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering. The team comprises of several undergraduates as well as a number of graduate students like Kerem, who are pursuing research in hybrid electric vehicles.
Due to the strong and equal emphasis on mechanics, control, and electrical systems, the majority of the students come from electrical or mechanical engineering, though there is a healthy representation from other engineering fields as well as business and the liberal arts.
An overview of the team organization, as well as detailed contact information is given on the Team page. Students are encouraged to get involved with the project should their interests be even remotely related to making a complex and highly skilled group of individuals deliver a successful product.
Welcome!
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