Racing car chassis

Cílem této bakalářské práce je analýza současných konceptů podvozků závodních okruhových aut. V první části práce je zpracován historický vývoj, charakteristika kol a pneumatik s reprezentací dobře známých produktů. V druhé části je popsán systém odpružení, pružné média a tlumící členy. Systémy odpružení je zde rozdělen na nezávisle a polozávislé zavěšení kol a odpružení pevných náprav. Následující oddíl této práce je zaměřený na standardní kontrolní systémy, jako jsou ABS, ESC a TSC. Závěr přináší rychlé shrnutí této problematiky.The aim of this bachelor thesis is to analyse contemporary concepts of circuit race car chassis. In the first part of the thesis, the historical evolution is described and then wheels and tires characteristic within some well-known brand products are represented. The second important part includes the suspension systems, springing medium and damping members. The suspension systems are further divided to independent and semi-independent solutions and rigid axle suspensions. The end of this thesis deals with the standard braking control systems, such as ABS, ESC and TCS. The conclusion brings the quick summary of this subject.

Vehicle Speed Control Using Neural Network Predictive Controller

This thesis focuses on the enhancement of the previous work on path following ability of a linear car model. The path following is the ability of the vehicle to follow the vehicle’s path and keeping the vehicle in its lane as accurately as possible

Design and Validation of a High-Level Controller for Automotive Active Systems

Active systems, from active safety to energy management, play a crucial role in the development of new road vehicles. However, the increasing number of controllers creates an important issue regarding complexity and system integration. This article proposes a high-level controller managing the individual active systems - namely, Torque Vectoring (TV), Active Aerodynamics, Active Suspension, and Active Safety (Anti-lock Braking System [ABS], Traction Control, and Electronic Stability Program [ESP]) - through a dynamic state variation. The high-level controller is implemented and validated in a simulation environment, with a series of tests, and evaluate the performance of the original design and the proposed high-level control. Then, a comparison of the Virtual Driver (VD) response and the Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) behavior is performed to assess the limits between virtual simulation and real-driver response in a lap time condition. The main advantages of the proposed design methodology are its simplicity and overall cooperation of different active systems, where the proposed model was able to improve the vehicle behavior both in terms of safety and performance, giving more confidence to the driver when cornering and under braking. Some differences were discovered between the behavior of the VD and the DiL, especially regarding the sensitivity to external disturbances

Automobile Safety Technology

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the educational level of the WPI community on automobile safety devices and develop an interactive medium through which visitors can establish a better understanding of the technology. A video presentation and museum exhibit were constructed together to educate the community on the criteria of history, purpose, and functionality for several automotive technologies. The presentation component incorporates pictures, videos, and diagrams to portray the educational material about each technology, while the actual exhibit includes physical components from each category to aide in visualization of these devices. This project produced positive feedback from members of the community as well as several recommendations for future revisions of this project

Parametric optimization of a single-tracked vehicle

ABSTRACT The purpose of a suspension system for a vehicle is to contribute to the handling and assist in isolating the occupants from vibrations due to road irregularities. Generally, these primary functions are often at odds so the goal is to design a suspension system that finds the appropriate compromise. The focus of this thesis is to develop a two degree of freedom model and use parametric analysis to demonstrate an optimization technique by varying several geometric characteristics on a single-track vehicle. Furthermore, a dynamic vibration absorber will be added to the model to demonstrate its effect on the system. Also, out-of-plane motion will be discussed qualitatively. After modeling the system in the symmetric (vertical) plane, the equations of motion can be found using rigid body dynamics. The frame and suspension can be considered as a rigid body connected to the wheels with elastic systems. Basically, the rigid body constitutes the sprung mass while the masses attached to the wheels constitute the unsprung masses. Then the expression can be linearized and converted into a state space matrix where the eigenvalues, eigenvectors, and natural frequencies can be extracted. The parametric analysis consists of a perturbation of one parameter and measuring the effect on the natural frequency. The results show that the system is most sensitive to mass perturbations, especially at resonance. A dynamic vibration absorber is then attached to the system and subject to parametric analysis as well. The results show the system is most sensitive to variations in the forcing frequency on the primary mass. So a dynamic absorber would be more appropriate for a system subject to a single, fixed excitation frequency

SAFER: Search and Find Emergency Rover

When disaster strikes and causes a structure to collapse, it poses a unique challenge to search and rescue teams as they assess the situation and search for survivors. Currently there are very few tools that can be used by these teams to aid them in gathering important information about the situation that allow members to stay at a safe distance. SAFER, Search and Find Emergency Rover, is an unmanned, remotely operated vehicle that can provide early reconnaissance to search and rescue teams so they may have more information to prepare themselves for the dangers that lay inside the wreckage. Over the past year, this team has restored a bare, non-operational chassis inherited from Roverwerx 2012 into a rugged and operational rover with increased functionality and reliability. SAFER uses a 360-degree camera to deliver real time visual reconnaissance to the operator who can remain safely stationed on the outskirts of the disaster. With strong drive motors providing enough torque to traverse steep obstacles and enough power to travel at up to 3 ft/s, SAFER can cover ground quickly and effectively over its 1-3 hour battery life, maximizing reconnaissance for the team. Additionally, SAFER contains 3 flashing beacons that can be dropped by the operator in the event a victim is found so that when team members do enter the scene they may easily locate victims. In the future, other teams may wish to improve upon this iteration by adding thermal imaging, air quality sensors, and potentially a robotic arm with a camera that can see in spaces too small for the entire rover to enter

Minimum Lap Time of Race Cars: Modelling and Simulation

The work investigates minimum lap time problems of race cars. A careful modelling activity is carried out first, with different levels of complexity. The problem is then transcribed in a form suitable for the solution as an NLP problem. A validation of the numerical model against road tests is provided, together with a focus on the the different modelling approaches. Finally, a parametric analysis on the main parameters affecting vehicle performance is carried ou

A Visual Decision-Support System using Fingerprint Matrices applied to Cyclical Spatio-Temporal Data from Motorsports

Visualizing cyclical spatio-temporal data is an important part of understanding how and why objects move in the context of motorsports, which is critical feedback for drivers to improve their performance. Current methods have problems such as occlusion and loss of context which significantly limit our ability to see and understand vehicle data. Here we demonstrate how the fingerprint matrix method (which is normally used in lexical analysis) can be applied in vehicle motion analysis to overcome these two problems. Compared to traditional methods using traction circle scatterplot displays of acceleration force data from a race car, our prototype design allows decision makers to see individual datapoints in a more concise display. We show that informative but previously-hidden anomalies and patterns become more easily recognized in the data. Our design generalizes to other cyclical spatio-temporal visualization problems involving transportation, medicine, and the natural world