Search Results

A hybrid electric vehicle simulation tool (IBZ-Simulator) has been developed at the Fuel Cell Institute of the University of Applied Sciences Esslingen to study the fuel economy potential of a Fuel Cell hybrid urban bus. In this paper, the fundamental architecture of the FC urban buses was described, as well as the control strategy to manage the power flow between the different elements of the drive train. A comparison of the hybrid with the conventional type and ICE-hybrid type is performed, and important factors relating to the vehicle efficiency (accessory loads, vehicle mass, Fuel Cell system ramping rate and battery capacity) were assessed. The using of supercapacitor (or ultracapacitors) as peak power buffer has been investigated.

Vehicle-cybernetic covers the area of information and control systems in the vehicle. The importance of this area for vehicle engineering is increasing because of two reasons: - With microelectronics, a technology has become available for a development which offers completely new possibilities for the realisation of complex cybernetic systems in the vehicle. - The interdisciplinary area of the control and data-processing interaction between driver, vehicle and environment is the one which has the highest potential of improvements in primary safety, economy and consistence with the environment, because each of the single systems have been largely optimized in the course of its long time of development. In the contribution the projects from the area of vehicle-cybernetics are presented in a systematical analysis.

The driving simulator is a computer-controlled tool to study the interface between driver and vehicle response under simulated traffic conditions. It permits a controllable, reproducible and cost-effective study of vehicle parameters up to the limits of active safety under non-dangerous conditions. It also permits driver participation in judging vehicle handling characteristics, and in evaluating the ‘feel’ of the steering, suspension, braking, and drive train, including the driver's environment, beginning with the initial vehicle design stages. The paper will describe fully the concept, design and planned activities as well as report on the new possibilities of using the driving simulator as a research and development tool.