Electric Drive Controller Adaptation for TTR Hybrid Fuel Efficiency
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hybrid vehicle technologies in the trucking industry are limited in improving fuel efficiency as they primarily focus on hybridizing the primary engine and drivetrain, leaving 'dead' axles passive, and do not effectively adapt to diverse fuel-fed engines, thus not fully utilizing the potential for fuel savings.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a through-the-road (TTR) hybridization strategy that pairs an electric drive axle with a fuel-fed engine, using brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) data to adapt control strategies and apply an equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) to optimize fuel efficiency, allowing for retrofitting or new vehicle integration, and enabling over-the-air updates based on crowdsourced insights.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If existing hybrid vehicle technologies focus on hybridizing the primary engine and drivetrain, then the primary engine and drivetrain fuel efficiency is improved, but the overall fleet fuel efficiency improvement is limited and dead axles remain passive
Solution Approach 1:
The hybridization system is segmented into two independent parts: the primary engine/drivetrain hybridization and the supplemental electric drive axle. This allows the electric drive axle to be added to existing trucks without redesigning the primary powertrain, enabling retrofittability to existing fleets while still achieving overall fuel efficiency improvements through the combination of both systems
Solution Approach 2:
The supplemental electric drive axle acts as an intermediary power source that bridges the gap between existing primary engines and the need for improved fuel efficiency. It provides additional torque and power assistance without requiring modifications to the primary engine, allowing existing fleets to benefit from hybridization through add-on electric axles that can be controlled independently
2Device complexity
If a fixed pairing of fuel-fed and electrical power sources is used, then the control strategy is simplified, but the system cannot adapt to diverse fuel-fed engines already in service
Solution Approach 1:
The supplemental electric drive axle controller is designed with universal adaptability to work with diverse fuel-fed engines already in service. The controller can recognize different engine types and adapt its control strategy accordingly, allowing a single electric drive axle unit to be paired with various engine configurations without requiring engine-specific customization, thus maintaining simplicity while achieving broad compatibility
3Loss of energy
If TTR control strategies are adapted to particular paired-with fuel-fed engines, then fuel efficiency is optimized, but the system complexity increases requiring BSFC data retrieval and adaptation
Solution Approach 1:
The control system implements feedback mechanisms where the supplemental electric drive axle controller continuously monitors engine operating parameters and retrieves BSFC data to adjust its control strategy in real-time. This feedback loop allows the system to optimize fuel efficiency by adapting to the specific characteristics of the paired engine while using automated data retrieval and processing to minimize the operational burden on the system
Data Source
AI summary
Through-the-road (TTR) hybrid designs using control strategies such as an equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) or adaptive ECMS are implemented at the supplemental torque delivering electrically-powered drive axle (or axles) in a manner that follows operational parameters or computationally estimates states of the primary drivetrain and/or fuel-fed engine, but does not itself participate in control of the fuel-fed engine or primary drivetrain. On vehicle adaptation of BSFC type data for paired-with fuel-fed engine allows an ECMS implementation (or other similar control strategy) to refine efficiency curves for the particular fuel-fed engine and/or operating conditions in a manner that can improve overall efficiencies of a TTR hybrid configuration.