Automotive Engineering Commons^™

Battery Power

SIGNED: The Magazine of The Hong Kong Design Institute

Electric cars have always looked like the future, but around the world they are becoming an everyday reality. Can Hong Kong avoid getting stuck in the past or will the city be able to join the electric car revolution?

Soft Target For Advanced Emergency Braking System Daimler Trucks, Kurt C. Ebert, Kolter Knapp, Esgar Pulido

Mechanical Engineering

This report provides an overview of the AEBS Soft Target project delivered to Daimler Trucks North Amer- ica as part of the 2016-2017 Mechanical Engineering Senior Design class at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The purpose was to build a soft target to test Advanced Emergency Braking Systems, or AEBS, on Daimler 0 s large trucks. Though this design is for Daimler specifically, there may be other interested parties such as highway safety groups and rival auto manufacturers. Currently, there are no suitable alternative products that satisfy every requirement for Daimler to validate their systems. They require a …

Sae Small Vehicle Lifts, Augustus G. Holz, Nathan K. Harry, Tobias W. Shirts

Mechanical Engineering

The SAE (Society for Automotive Engineers) vehicle teams at Cal Poly need an easy way to access the undersides of their vehicles to facilitate maintenance and servicing. The purpose of this project was to provide a solution that could lift the vehicles effectively and safely from above so that the underside of the vehicles can be accessed, as well as elevating the vehicles to an ergonomic working height. Design specifications were determined based off each vehicle’s requirements in addition to what the team intends to do with their suspended vehicle. After several concept iterations, the team decided to purchase an …

Guided Target Control System Final Design Report, John Barry, Zachary Eagan, Ryan Mackintosh

Mechanical Engineering

Daimler Automotive, the parent company of Mercedes-benz requires improved methods for testing their Autonomous Emergency Braking Systems. To this end they have presented a series of four senior projects to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. One of the Projects is to build a facsimile of a human crossing the street. The other three projects of which this is a part; are to produce an autonomous car facsimile. These projects are intended for use in testing new Autonomous Emergency Braking Systems and may serve as the basis for future senior projects.

Small-Scale Intelligent Vehicle Design Platform, Christopher Grant, Jay Miley, Evan Phillips

Mechanical Engineering

Intelligent Vehicle Design is a growing field with the potential to save many lives by actively minimizing the impacts of human error. Though there are many ways to research intelligent vehicle control, full-scale implementations are expensive and dangerous and computer simulations have extremely steep learning curves. Researchers and students need an accessible, adaptable, and robust development platform to rapidly create and test autonomous control algorithms. While small-scale platforms are often designed from the ground up for specific projects, this requires analysis, design, and manufacture. The goal of this project is to develop a small-scale intelligent vehicle that can be configured …

Electric Vehicle Drivetrain, Jimmy Andrew King, Kevin Kristopher Moore, Charissa Cadence Seid

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves to outline the design and development of Sharpell Technologies' ST5 electric vehicle drivetrain. Background research was conducted on various drivetrain components and testing methods, leading to the development of our drivetrain’s design requirements. Compiled in this report are the specifications of the components that will be integrated into our drivetrain design. All component calculations and specifications can be located in the appendices. An in-depth manufacturing plan features the modifications necessary to create several key components such as the shafts and housing. The assembly plan details a step-by-step process in which the components are arranged to ensure a …

Carbon Fiber Monocoque Chassis Platform For Formula Sae And Formula Sae Electric Race Cars, Ford Eimon, Michael Gonzalez, Michal Kramarz, Nathan Powell, Kevin Ziemann

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Formula Sae Power Distribution Controller, Daniel Baron

Electrical Engineering

The Power Distribution Controller senior project aims to replace the current Power Distribution Module (PDM) on Cal Poly’s Formula SAE internal combustion vehicle with a more advanced, configurable, and reliable system. The Power Distribution Controller is a MOSFET based system that can be controlled through either controller area network or a parallel interface to distribute and control power from the vehicle’s battery to the several electrical devices on the car. The Power Distribution Controller also collects output voltage and current data, and communicates this data to the vehicle’s data logger. This will allow engineers to troubleshoot electrical problems on the …

Auxiliary Power System, Karianne Laplante, Nidia Vara, Eve Wassenaar, Carter Whittington

Electrical Engineering

The main objective for this project is to design and build a prototype for an all-electric SUV for the start-up company, Sharpell Technologies. This vehicle will comprise of the following configurations: auxiliary power system (APS), battery management system, battery pack wiring, CAN bus system, DC-DC charging converter, DC/DC auxiliary converter, instrument cluster, and motor controller/inverter. Each car configuration is a project assigned to a 2-4 student team; in total, eight EE senior projects and one ME project is produced. New lightweight batteries are also in the process of being developed to provide a viable electric source for the car. A …

Are Solar Panels A Viable Power Source For A Green Energy Vehicle?, Mason C. Adams

Senior Theses

A solar cell powered go-kart has been built and tested. The result shows using solar energy alone cannot meet the requirement of running a regular passenger car. This is due to the limited surface area of the passenger car. This thesis also discusses the operating principles of solar panels, the physics of P type and N type semiconductors, and the formation of the PN junction, as well as the solar current. Modifications of an existing go-kart are described in detail in this thesis. Suggestions for making green vehicles are discussed as well.

It's No Accident: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Vehicle Safety Inspections, Alex Hoagland, Trevor Woolley

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Traffic fatalities have fallen steadily over the past two decades, particularly those due to car failure. Many have attributed this fall to safer vehicle technology. This trend has led many states to reevaluate mandatory vehicle safety inspection programs. This study sought to answer the question, does the elimination of vehicle safety inspections have an effect on traffic fatalities?

An Experimental Study On Drag Reduction Of Aftermarket Additions On An Suv, Christiana L. Katsoulos

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Over recent years, the awareness of climate change has become more prevalent worldwide and one major contributor to global warming has been the use of transportation. Vehicles contribute to global warming by releasing petroleum based emissions such as significant amounts of carbon dioxide and numerous other harmful environmental pollutants. SUVs contribute to the emissions problem more so than sedans, since they have lower gas mileage and need more gasoline regularly. The main functionality of sport utility vehicles, or SUVs, includes hauling or off-roading and fuel efficiency is not always the focus in the design process. However, aerodynamic enhancements could improve …

Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (Bsfc) In Gasoline Powered Cars, Michael Carlson, Dr. Cecilia J. Vogel

Celebration of Learning

The goal of this experiment was to determine which driving behaviors result in the highest fuel efficiency for a given trip. We collected data for speed (MPH), engine speed (RPM), engine power (Torque/LOD), and fuel consumption (MPG) using the ScanGauge II.

Electrical Optimization Of A Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Andre J. Napier

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Hybrid electric vehicles electrification and optimization is a prominent part of today’s automotive industry. GM and the Department of Energy challenge 16 universities across North America to redesign a Chevrolet Camaro into a hybrid electric vehicle. This thesis will address how Embry Riddle Aeronautical University’s EcoCAR team electrified and optimized the vehicle. The objective of the thesis is to optimize the electric portion of the vehicle, particularly the low voltage circuitry. Prior work is discussed in detail on the vehicle communication bus, building the power distribution unit and the approach the electrical team took when building the electric portion of …

Supervisory Controls Strategy To Reduce Utility Factor Weighted Criteria Emissions For A Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Thomas Francis Gorgia Iii

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Criteria emission reduction techniques are being more sought out in the automotive industry due to current government regulation for light duty vehicles. Parallel-series plug in hybrid electric vehicles can have multiple strategies to balance emissions and fuel consumption. Common controls strategies in industry target fuel economy by using a large electric vehicle range, known as charge depletion, followed by maintaining a state of charge after a specific vehicle threshold, or charge sustaining. A charge preserve strategy works by running an engine at an optimal loading condition, the engine will burn the fuel more complete reducing criteria emissions. Charge preserve will …

Optimization Of Roadway Electrification Integrating Wireless Power Transfer: Technoeconomic Assessment And Lifecycle Analysis, Braden J. Limb

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Electric vehicles are the main technology currently being pursued to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in the transportation sector. These vehicles provide both reduced greenhouse gas emissions and decreased operating costs when compared to conventional internal combustion vehicles, while providing the flexibility to use both renewable and fossil energy. However, these vehicles have seen limited consumer adoption due to their large purchase prices and limited driving range. Both purchase price and driving range are related to the large onboard battery systems required for electric vehicle travel.

One solution to decrease dependence on large battery systems has focused on charging vehicles …

High Performance Computing Simulations To Identify Process Parameter Designs For Profitable Titanium Machining, Mathew Kuttolamadom, Joshua Jones, Laine Mears, James Von Oehsen, Thomas Kurfess, John Ziegert

Publications

The objective of this paper was to conduct a study of the multi-level multi-variable design space in titanium machining through high performance computing (HPC) simulations that was otherwise too vast to be explored by physical experiments alone. For tool wear-based performance metrics, this resulted in a validated set of machining parameters for achieving profitable material removal rates (MRR) (optimized cost of processing and tooling) across multiple operational configurations, alloys, tool geometries, and process conditions. The approach was to include all machining-related variables and their distributions available within the software as inputs to finite-element models (FEM) of the machining process. The …

Dynamic Understeer Control Using Active Rear Toe, Mark Oliver Dixon Kaufman

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This thesis was conducted to show the ability of Active Rear Toe to control the understeer characteristics of a vehicle. Active rear toe is the ability to control the angle of the rear wheels around the vertical axis, allowing the car’s turning radius to change. By changing this radius, the lateral acceleration can be controlled, therefore the understeer of the vehicle can be controlled. The controls scheme is a sliding mode control, specifically a hyperbolic tangent boundary layer and a type 1 zeno controller. The system shows effectiveness to control the understeer of the vehicle up until limit grip on …

Optimizing Jets For Wake Control Of Ground Vehicles, Domenic Barsotti, Sandra Boetcher

Publications

A system of wake control for a ground vehicle to help promote increased fuel efficiencies of the ground vehicle by modifying an air flow wake generated during the movement of the vehicle in a forward direction. The system includes at least one slot jet configured to be located along a rear profile portion of the ground vehicle. The at least one slot jet is configured to provide a continuous flow of air at a non-zero velocity when the ground vehicle is moving in a forward direction, the non-zero velocity being at least partially directed in a rearward direction with an …

Indicators Of Assessing Vehicle Safety Status Under Platoon Conditions At Freeway, Jianan Zhou

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Issue on level freeway segment (Interstate 80) in Nebraska: • High truck percentage (higher than 25%) • Different speed profile - The speed of trucks are set to 67 mph, on average. - The speed of passenger cars are 75 mph, on average. • Result platoons - Approximately 85% of vehicles are observed in platoon. - the degree of freedom to maneuver for drivers are constrained by other in-platoon vehicles. - Vehicles in platoons may face unsafe situation. Goal: Develop indicators to assess the safety status of vehicles under platoon conditions at level freeway segment.

The data were collected at …