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Model Predictive Adaptive Cruise Control with Consideration of Comfort and Energy Savings

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team (HEVT) of Virginia Tech is partaking in the 4-Year EcoCar Mobility Challenge organized by Argonne National Labs. The objective of this competition is to modify a stock 2019 traditional internal combustion engine Chevrolet Blazer and to transform the vehicle into a P4 hybrid. Due to the P4 Hybrid architecture, the HEVT vehicle has an internal combustion engine on the front axle and an electric motor on the rear axle. The goal of this competition is to create a vehicle that achieves better fuel economy and increases customer appeal. The general target market of hybrids is smaller vehicles. As a midsize sport utility vehicle (SUV), the Blazer offers a larger vehicle with the perk of better fuel economy. In the competition, the vehicle is assessed on the ability to integrate advanced vehicle technology, improve consumer appeal, and provide comfort for the passenger.

The research of this paper is centered around the design of a full range longitudinal Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) algorithm. Initially, research is conducted on various linear and nonlinear control strategies that provide the necessary functionality. Based on the ability to predict future time instances in an optimal method, the Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm is chosen and combined with other standard control strategies to create an ACC system. The main objective of this research is the implementation of Adaptive Cruise Control features that provide comfort and energy savings to the rider while maintaining safety as the priority. Rider comfort is achieved by placing constraints on acceleration and jerk. Lastly, a proper energy analysis is conducted to showcase the potential energy savings with the implementation of the Adaptive Cruise Control system. This implementation includes tuning the algorithm so that the best energy consumption at the wheel is achieved without compromising vehicle safety. The scope of this paper expands on current knowledge of Adaptive Cruise Control by using a simplified nonlinear vehicle system model in MATLAB to simulate different conditions. For each condition, comfort and energy consumption are analyzed. The city 505 simulation of a traditional ACC system show a 14% or 42 Wh/mi reduction in energy at the wheel. The city 505 simulation of the environmentally friendly ACC system show a 29% or 88 Wh/mi reduction in energy at the wheel. Furthermore, these simulations confirm that maximum acceleration and jerk are bounded. Specifically, peak jerk is reduced by 90% or 8 m/s3 during a jerky US06 drive cycle. The main objective of this analysis is to demonstrate that with proper implementation, this ACC system effectively reduces tractive energy consumption while improving rider comfort for any vehicle. / Master of Science / The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team (HEVT) of Virginia Tech is partaking in the 4-Year EcoCar Mobility Challenge organized by Argonne National Labs. The objective of this competition is to modify a stock 2019 Chevrolet Blazer into a hybrid. This modification is accomplished by creating a vehicle that burns less gasoline and increases customer appeal. The general target market of hybrids is smaller vehicles. As a midsize sport utility vehicle (SUV), the Blazer offers a larger vehicle with the perk of better fuel economy. In the competition, the vehicle is assessed on the ability to integrate advanced technology, improve consumer appeal, and provide comfort for the passenger.

The research of this paper is centered around the design of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). Initially, research is conducted on various control strategies that provide the necessary functionality. A controller that predicts future events is selected for the Adaptive Cruise Control. The main objective of this research is the implementation of Adaptive Cruise Control features that provide comfort and energy consumption savings to the rider while maintaining safety as the priority. Rider comfort is achieved by creating a smoother ride. Lastly, a proper energy analysis showcases the potential energy savings with the implementation of the Adaptive Cruise Control system. The scope of this paper expands on current knowledge of Adaptive Cruise Control by using a simplified vehicle model to simulate different conditions. The city simulations of a traditional ACC system show a 14% reduction in energy at the wheel. City simulations of the environmentally friendly Adaptive Cruise Controller show a 29% reduction in energy. Both of these simulations allow for comfortable ride. Specifically, maximum car jerk is reduced by 90%. The main objective of this analysis is to demonstrate that with proper implementation, this ACC system effectively reduces energy consumption at the wheel while improving rider comfort.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/103744
Date09 June 2021
CreatorsRyan, Timothy Patrick
ContributorsMechanical Engineering, Nelson, Douglas J., Southward, Steve C., Gerdes, Ryan M.
PublisherVirginia Tech
Source SetsVirginia Tech Theses and Dissertation
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
FormatETD, application/pdf
RightsIn Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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