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The three major challenges in the power electronics in hybrid and electric vehicles are: System cost, power density and reliability. High temperature power device and packaging technologies increases the power density and reliability while reducing system cost. Advanced Silicon devices with synthesized high-temperature packaging technologies can achieve junction temperature as high as 200C (compared to the present limitation of 150C) eliminating the need for a low-temperature radiator and therefore these devices reduces the system cost. The silicon area needed for a power inverter with high junction temperature capability can be reduced by more than 50 - 75% thereby significantly reducing the packaging space and power device and package cost. Smaller packaging space is highly desired since multiple vehicle platforms can share the same design and therefore reducing the cost further due to economies of scale.

Ford's thermal management with batteries. Presenter Robert Taenaka, Ford Motor Co.

Wireless power transfer (WPT) of plug-in and battery electric vehicles (PEV�s) rely on loosely coupled transformer operating in magnetic resonance to tune out reactive effects. Depending on the degree of coupling, such systems experience a single peak response that trends to bifurcate as the coefficient of coupling increases. This places additional burden on the WPT grid side power controller to not only manage the power transfer process but to manage the transmit coil to receiver coil reactive power in response to vehicle ground clearance and misalignment tolerance. In addition, the WPT rectified output voltage must dynamically match the vehicle on-board regenerative energy storage system (RESS). This paper examines the essentials of WPT operation and challenges facing the commercialization of wireless charging. Experimental results obtained from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory WPT apparatus are presented as validation of the theory. Presenter John Miller, ORNL

Hybrid systems have been available for several years now, and offer customers a decrease in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions at an incremental price. Hybrids, in some cases, have offered improved other customer benefits such as reduced noise, vibration and harshness or better acceleration and the satisfaction of increased societal benefit. Sometimes the vehicle utility is compromised by the volume dedicated to energy storage systems. Several hybrid architecture arrangements exist in the market, and offer various levels of hybrid feature. But considering acquisition cost and operating expense, most hybrid vehicles have not offered a direct total cost advantage when compared to non-hybrids. GM's new e-Assist system is highly integrated with the engine and transmission functionality, and takes advantage of the highest value fuel economy enablers available with light electrification.

The energy crisis and rising gas price in the 2000s led to a growing popularity of hybrid vehicles. Hyundai-Kia Motors has been challenging to develop the new efficient eco-technology since introducing the mild type compact hybrid electric vehicle for domestic fleet in 2004 to meet the needs of the increasing automotive-related environmental issues. Now Hyundai has recently debuted a full HEV for global market, Sonata Hybrid. This system is cost effective solution and developed with the main purpose of improving fuel consumption and providing fun to drive. Presenter Seok Joon Kim, Hyundai Motor Company

This presentation proposes an approach to use ABS wheel speed sensor signals together with other vehicle state information from a brake control module to detect an unbalanced tire or tires in real-time. The proposed approach consists of two-stage algorithms that mix a qualitative method using band-pass filtering with a quantitative parameter identification using conditional least squares. This two-stage approach can improve the robustness of tire imbalance or imbalances. The proposed approach is verified through vehicle testing and the test results show the effectiveness of the approach. Presenter Jianbo Lu, Ford Motor Co.

When vehicles share certain information wirelessly via Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), they enable a new layer of electronic vehicle safety that, when needed, can generate warnings to drivers and even initiate automatic preventive actions. Vehicle location and velocity provided by Global Navigation Systems (GNSS), including GPS, are key in allowing vehicle path estimation. GNSS is effective in accurately determining a vehicle's location coordinates in most driving environments, but its performance suffers from obstructions in dense urban environments. To combat this, augmentations to GNSS are being contemplated and tested. This testing has been typically done using a reference GNSS system complimented by expensive military-grade inertial sensors, which can still fail to provide adequate reference performance in certain environments.

Virtual testing is a method that simulates lab testing using multi-body dynamic analysis software. The main advantages of this approach include that the design can be evaluated before a prototype is available and virtual testing results can be easily validated by subsequent physical testing. The disadvantage is that accurate specimen models are sometimes hard to obtain since nonlinear components such as tires, bushings, dampers, and engine mounts are hard to model. Therefore, virtual testing accuracy varies significantly. The typical virtual rigs include tire and spindle coupled test rigs for full vehicle tests and multi axis shaker tables for component tests. Hybrid simulation combines physical and virtual components, inputs and constraints to create a composite simulation system. Hybrid simulation enables the hard to model components to be tested in the lab.

Polypropylene is typically reinforced with commodities that are non renewable and require a great deal of energy to produce. The marketplace needs a reinforcement that can offer beneficial physical properties, such as impact, while being attained from a renewable green source. Compounding flax fiber, which is traditionally an agricultural waste product burned by farmers, with polypropylene yields physical properties similar to traditional glass filled polypropylene. This combination should lead to cost saving opportunities while not sacrificing part performance. Presenter James Preston, Rhetech Inc.

FutureSteelVehicle's (FSV) objective is to develop detailed design concepts for a radically different steel body structure for a compact Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV). It also will identify structure changes to accommodate larger Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) and Fuel Cell (FCEV) vehicle variants. The presentation will demonstrate seven optimized structural sub-systems that contribute to the program's 35 percent mass reduction goals and meet its safety and life cycle emissions targets. It will explain the advanced design optimization process used and the resulting aggressive steel concepts. Presenter Jody R. Shaw, US Steel

Given the fast changing market demands, the growing complexity of features, the shorter time to market, and the design/development constraints, the need for efficient and effective verification and validation methods are becoming critical for vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. One such example is fault-tree analysis. While fault-tree analysis is an important hazard analysis/verification activity, the current process of translating design details (e.g., system level and software level) is manual. Current experience indicates that fault tree analysis involves both creative deductive thinking and more mechanical steps, which typically involve instantiating gates and events in fault trees following fixed patterns. Specifically for software fault tree analysis, a number of the development steps typically involve instantiating fixed patterns of gates and events based upon the structure of the code. In this work, we investigate a methodology to translate software programs to fault trees.

Real-time simulation of truck and trailer combinations can be applied to hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) systems for developing and testing electronic control units (ECUs). The large number of configuration variations in vehicle and axle types requires the simulation model to be adjustable in a wide range. This paper presents a modular multibody approach for the vehicle dynamics simulation of single track configurations and truck-and-trailer combinations. The equations of motion are expressed by a new formula which is a combination of Jourdain's principle and the articulated body algorithm. With the proposed algorithm, a robust model is achieved that is numerically stable even at handling limits. Moreover, the presented approach is suitable for modular modeling and has been successfully implemented as a basis for various system definitions. As a result, only one simulation model is needed for a large variety of track and trailer types.

Rapid control prototyping (RCP) is a widely used technique for verifying a controller's functional behavior. Typically, RCP uses a target processor with ample processing power and memory, which makes the technique attractive for engineers exploring new concepts. Presenter Thomas Erkkinen, MathWorks Inc.

Software content within commercial vehicles is growing exponentially. Emissions requirements, multiplexed communications, hybrid-electric technologies, active suspensions and smart sensors are amongst the technologies driving the increase in embedded code. Presenter Christoph Braeuchle , MKS Software, Inc.

Some the OBD-II regulations have been around for a long time or seem to be intuitively obvious. It is easy to assume to assume that everyone knows how to implement them correctly, that is, until someone actually reads the words and tries to do it. Most often, these issues come up when modifying existing OBD features, not when creating completely new ones. This presentation contains a few examples of features that should have been easy to implement, but turned out not to be easy or simple. Presenter Paul Algis Baltusis, Ford Motor Co.

The amount of software, computation and logic embedded into the vehicle systems is increasing. Testing of complex real time embedded systems using Hardware in Loop (HIL) simulations across different vehicle platforms has been a challenge. Data driven testing enables a qualitative approach to test these complex vehicle systems. It consists of a test framework wherein the test logic and data are independent of the HIL test environment. The data comprises variables used for both input values and output verification values. This data is maintained in a database or in the form of tables. Each row defines an independent test scenario. The entire test data is divided into three categories, High, Medium and Low. This feature gives the advantage of leveraging the same set of test data from Unit Level Testing phases to the Integration Test phase in the V-Cycle of software development. A data driven test approach helps the reuse of tests across vehicle platforms.

Finding ways to reduce the amount of fuel burned per flight takes top priority in aircraft operations and design. Three experts show how the smallest on-board components can make a huge difference.

This session will explore connector concerns related to the needs of Commercial Vehicle Manufacturers and problems/opportunities from a connection system supplier perspective. It will look at differences in requirements for the global market, and their relation to local requirements. Presenter Robin D. Reed, Deutsch Industrial/LADD Industries

Driver assistance systems (e.g. the emergency brake assist Active Brake Assist2, or ABA2 for short, in the Mercedes-Benz Actros) are becoming increasingly common in heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Due to the close interconnection with drivetrain and suspension control systems, the integration and validation of the functions make the most exacting demands on processes and tools involved in mechatronics development. Presenter Thomas Bardelang, Daimler AG

The Idaho National Laboratory is collecting data from grid-connected electric drive vehicles and charging infrastructure that have been deployed across the United States in five large-scale demonstrations funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. These demonstrations include The EV Project infrastructure demonstration, led by ECOtality North America; Coulomb Technologies� ChargePoint America infrastructure demonstration; General Motors� Chevrolet Volt extended range electric vehicle demonstration; Chrysler�s Ram plug-in hybrid electric vehicle demonstration; and the Ford Escape plug-in hybrid electric vehicle advanced research fleet demonstration. This presentation describes real-world vehicle and charging infrastructure usage observed during the early stages of these demonstrations. Presenter John Smart, Idaho National Lab.