The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Electric and Hybrid Vehicle System Research and Development Project, 1977-1984: A Review

The JPL Electric and Hybrid Vehicle System Research and Development Project was established in the spring of 1977. Originally administered by the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) and later by the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Division of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the overall Program objective was to decrease this nation's dependence on foreign petroleum sources by developing the technologies and incentives necessary to bring electric and hybrid vehicles successfully into the marketplace. The ERDA/DOE Program structure was divided into two major elements: (1) technology research and system development and (2) field demonstration and market development. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has been one of several field centers supporting the former Program element. In that capacity, the specific historical areas of responsibility have been: (1) Vehicle system developments (2) System integration and test (3) Supporting subsystem development (4) System assessments (5) Simulation tool development

Linkage between knowledge management practices towards library user’s satisfaction at Malaysian University Libraries

Academic library services have begun to apply various knowledge management (KM) practices in the provision of library services. KM has been developed to enhance the use of organizational knowledge through practices and organizational learning. KM practices include the creation, capture and/or acquisition of knowledge, its retention and organization, its dissemination and re-use, and general responsiveness to the new knowledge. The focus of this research is the assessment of KM practices, particularly creation, acquisition, capture, sharing, recording and preservation, and their effects on Library User’s Satisfaction (LUS) in Malaysian university libraries. The objective of this research is the development of a model to enhance KM processes (i.e. Creation, acquisition, capturing, sharing, recording, and preserving) and to improve library users’ satisfaction. A quantitative approach in research methodology is employed (e.g. Questionnaire) for the purpose of generating new knowledge and understanding of library concerns. The findings of this research show that the overall KM practice at six Malaysian university libraries is at a high level. The findings from the structural model indicated that two KM processes, namely knowledge creation and acquisition, are not supported in terms of KM practices at Malaysian university libraries. Other KM processes, namely capturing, sharing, recording, and preserving are fully supported towards KM practices in the library. Hence, the major contribution of this research is a model, namely KM Practice-Library User’s Satisfaction (KMP-LUS) highlighting six KM processes based on strong Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) fit indices

Automated mixed traffic vehicle design AMTV 2

The design of an improved and enclosed Automated Mixed Traffic Transit (AMTT) vehicle is described. AMTT is an innovative concept for low-speed tram-type transit in which suitable vehicles are equipped with sensors and controls to permit them to operate in an automated mode on existing road or walkway surfaces. The vehicle chassis and body design are presented in terms of sketches and photographs. The functional design of the sensing and control system is presented, and modifications which could be made to the baseline design for improved performance, in particular to incorporate a 20-mph capability, are also discussed. The vehicle system is described at the block-diagram-level of detail. Specifications and parameter values are given where available

The application of rapid prototyping technology and FMEA quality tool in the development of automotive component

The purpose of this research is to study and apply the rapid prototyping technique using fused deposition modeling (FDM) in improving the quality of an automotive part. A machine that works under FDM principle will be used to produce the final product. An automotive component has been selected as the product for this research and application. Before continuing the fabrication of product, the critical path that must be considered is the design improvement to the target product. Failure mode effect analysis (FMEA) introduced as a tool in to improve the quality design to a better product level. The analysis from FMEA tool is translated to the design and product development. The research's findings however focus to only a selected part in automotive component. This result is inapplicable to other automotive component. Selection of material for fabrication limited to the machine availability and ability. This is the first known research that adopts a FDM machine to improve the existing product without ignoring the product functionality in real condition

Phase 1 of the near term hybrid passenger vehicle development program

In order to meet project requirements and be competitive in the 1985 market, the proposed six-passenger vehicle incorporates a high power type Ni-Zn battery, which by making electric-only traction possible, permits the achievement of an optimized control strategy based on electric-only traction to a set battery depth of discharge, followed by hybrid operation with thermal primary energy. This results in a highly efficient hybrid propulsion subsystem. Technical solutions are available to contain energy waste by reducing vehicle weight, rolling resistance, and drag coefficient. Reproaching new 1985 full size vehicles of the conventional type with hybrids of the proposed type would result in a U.S. average gasoline saving per vehicle of 1,261 liters/year and an average energy saving per vehicle of 27,133 MJ/year

Automated Mixed Traffic Vehicle (AMTV) technology and safety study

Technology and safety related to the implementation of an Automated Mixed Traffic Vehicle (AMTV) system are discussed. System concepts and technology status were reviewed and areas where further development is needed are identified. Failure and hazard modes were also analyzed and methods for prevention were suggested. The results presented are intended as a guide for further efforts in AMTV system design and technology development for both near term and long term applications. The AMTV systems discussed include a low speed system, and a hybrid system consisting of low speed sections and high speed sections operating in a semi-guideway. The safety analysis identified hazards that may arise in a properly functioning AMTV system, as well as hardware failure modes. Safety related failure modes were emphasized. A risk assessment was performed in order to create a priority order and significant hazards and failure modes were summarized. Corrective measures were proposed for each hazard

Automotive Electronic/Electric Architecture Modeling, Design Exploration and Optimization using Clafer

Modern car systems are getting more complex, so do car electronic/electric (E/E) architectures. E/E architecture of a car includes sensors, actuators, programmable ECUs and all the related communications. The complexity of E/E architectures increases dramatically: modern car have more than 100 of ECUs and communications spread over the entire vehicle. Therefore, the development of such architectures is a major challenge. Additional complexity comes from cross-cutting concerns, such as, variability and dependability. To manage this complexity and reduce costs, architects and engineers apply model-based methods to automate analysis, perform simulation, and make key decisions before the actual implementation. To quantify the analysis results, engineers use quality attributes, such as, cost, power consumption, complexity, maintainability, and wire length. Introduction of quality attributes also allows engineers to perform architecture optimization. In this work, we explore applicability of a modeling language called Clafer to address E/E architecture modeling, exploration and optimization problems. Clafer is a general-purpose domain-modeling language that comes with tools and solvers that are capable of performing consistency checking, design exploration and optimization. Clafer has minimalistic syntax, but its first-order logic based semantics is rich enough to represent a wide range of domains. Our main contributions include: formulation of Clafer domain modeling principles with respect to architecture modeling, identification of Clafer design patterns in general, and demonstration of applicability of Clafer to architecture exploration and optimization. To evaluate our approach, we develop the Power Window case study. The Power Window system's E/E architecture is a rich representative of a car E/E architecture: it can be decomposed into subsystems, it can have smart or dumb sensor and actuators, and it requires wire or bus communications within and across subsystems. We consider the following topics: representing Power Window system's features and functions, automated hardware topology generation, and automated deployment of functions to hardware. Our case case study concludes that Clafer is capable of representing all structural aspects of E/E architectures: from modeling a device to modeling an entire system. Clafer tools can facilitate automated deployment and hardware topology generation and perform architecture multi-objective optimization within a reasonable time. And finally, Clafer language features, such as arbitrary property nesting, result in clear, concise and lightweight structural models

Variable gravity research facility

Spin and despin requirements; sequence of activities required to assemble the Variable Gravity Research Facility (VGRF); power systems technology; life support; thermal control systems; emergencies; communication systems; space station applications; experimental activities; computer modeling and simulation of tether vibration; cost analysis; configuration of the crew compartments; and tether lengths and rotation speeds are discussed