PREDICTIVE ENERGY MANAGEMENT IN SMART VEHICLES: EXPLOITING TRAFFIC AND TRAFFIC SIGNAL PREVIEW FOR FUEL SAVING

This master thesis proposes methods for improving fuel economy and emissions of vehicles via use of future information of state of traffic lights, traffic flow, and deterministic traffic flow models. The first part of this thesis proposes use of upcoming traffic signal information within the vehicle\u27s adaptive cruise control system to reduce idle time at stop lights and lower fuel use. To achieve this goal an optimization-based control algorithm is formulated for each equipped vehicle that uses short range radar and traffic signal information predictively to schedule an optimum velocity trajectory for the vehicle. The objectives are timely arrival at green light with minimal use of braking, maintaining safe distance between vehicles, and cruising at or near set speed. Three example simulation case studies are presented to demonstrate potential impact on fuel economy, emission levels, and trip time. The second part of this thesis addresses the use of traffic flow information to derive the fuel- or time-optimal velocity trajectory. A vehicle\u27s untimely arrival at a local traffic wave with lots of stops and goes increases its fuel use. This paper proposes predictive planning of the vehicle velocity for reducing the velocity transients in upcoming traffic waves. In this part of the thesis macroscopic evolution of traffic pattern along the vehicle route is first estimated by combining a traffic flow model and real-time traffic data streams. The fuel optimal velocity trajectory is calculated by solving an optimal control problem with the spatiotemporally varying constraint imposed by the traffic. Simulation results indicatethe potential for considerable improvements in fuel economy with a little compromise on travel time

Predictive energy-efficient motion trajectory optimization of electric vehicles

This work uses a combination of existing and novel methods to optimize the motion trajectory of an electric vehicle in order to improve the energy efficiency and other criteria for a predefined route. The optimization uses a single combined cost function incorporating energy efficiency, travel safety, physical feasibility, and other criteria. Another focus is the optimal behavior beyond the regular optimization horizon

Evaluation of the Driving Performance and User Acceptance of a Predictive Eco-Driving Assistance System for Electric Vehicles

In this work, a predictive eco-driving assistance system (pEDAS) with the goal to assist drivers in improving their driving style and thereby reducing the energy consumption in battery electric vehicles while enhancing the driving safety and comfort is introduced and evaluated. pEDAS in this work is equipped with two model predictive controllers (MPCs), namely reference-tracking MPC and car-following MPC, that use the information from onboard sensors, signal phase and timing (SPaT) messages from traffic light infrastructure, and geographical information of the driving route to compute an energy-optimal driving speed. An optimal speed suggestion and informative advice are indicated to the driver using a visual feedback. pEDAS provides continuous feedback and encourages the drivers to perform energy-efficient car-following while tracking a preceding vehicle, travel at safe speeds at turns and curved roads, drive at energy-optimal speed determined using dynamic programming in freeway scenarios, and travel with a green-wave optimal speed to cross the signalized intersections at a green phase whenever possible. Furthermore, to evaluate the efficacy of the proposed pEDAS, user studies were conducted with 41 participants on a dynamic driving simulator. The objective analysis revealed that the drivers achieved mean energy savings up to 10%, reduced the speed limit violations, and avoided unnecessary stops at signalized intersections by using pEDAS. Finally, the user acceptance of the proposed pEDAS was evaluated using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The results showed an overall positive attitude of users and that the perceived usefulness and perceived behavioral control were found to be the significant factors in influencing the behavioral intention to use pEDAS.Comment: Submitted to Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies Journa

Towards the development and verification of a 3D-based advanced optimized farm machinery trajectory algorithm

Efforts related to minimizing the environmental burden caused by agricultural activities and increasing economic efficiency are key contemporary drivers in the precision agriculture domain. Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) techniques are being applied against soil compaction creation, using the on-line optimization of trajectory planning for soil-sensitive field operations. The research presented in this paper aims at a proof-of-concept solution with respect to optimizing farm machinery trajectories in order to minimize the environmental burden and increase economic efficiency. As such, it further advances existing CTF solutions by including (1) efficient plot divisions in 3D, (2) the optimization of entry and exit points of both plot and plot segments, (3) the employment of more machines in parallel and (4) obstacles in a farm machinery trajectory. The developed algorithm is expressed in terms of unified modeling language (UML) activity diagrams as well as pseudo-code. Results were visualized in 2D and 3D to demonstrate terrain impact. Verifications were conducted at a fully operational commercial farm (Rostenice, the Czech Republic) against second-by-second sensor measurements of real farm machinery trajectories

Fuel Optimal Control Algorithms for Connected and Automated Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles

Improving the fuel economy of light-duty vehicles (LDV) is a compelling solution to stabilizing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and decreasing the reliance on fossil fuels. Over the years, there has been a considerable shift in the market of LDVs toward powertrain electrification, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are the most cost-effective in avoiding GHG emissions. Meanwhile, connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies permit energy-efficient driving with access to accurate trip information that integrates traffic and charging infrastructure. This thesis aims at developing optimization-based algorithms for controlling powertrain and vehicle longitudinal dynamics to fully exploit the potential for reducing fuel consumption of individual PHEVs by utilizing CAV technologies. A predictive equivalent minimization strategy (P-ECMS) is proposed for a human-driven PHEV to adjust the co-state based on the difference between the future battery state-of-charge (SOC) obtained from short-horizon prediction and a future reference SOC from SOC node planning. The SOC node planning, which generates battery SOC reference waypoints, is performed using a simplified speed profile constructed from segmented traffic information, typically available from mobile mapping applications. The PHEV powertrain, consisting of engine and electric motors, is mathematically modeled as a hybrid system as the state is defined by the values of the continuous variable, SOC, and discrete modes, hybrid vehicle (HV), and electric vehicle (EV) modes with the engine on/off. As a hybrid system, the optimal control of PHEVs necessitates a numerical approach to solving a mixed-integer optimization problem. It is of interest to have a unified numerical algorithm for solving such mixed-integer optimal control problems with many states and control inputs. Based on a discrete maximum principle (DMP), a discrete mixed-integer shooting (DMIS) algorithm is proposed. The DMIS is demonstrated in successfully addressing the cranking fuel optimization in the energy management of a PHEV. It also serves as the foundation of the co-optimization problem considered in the remaining part of the thesis. This thesis further investigates different control designs with an increased vehicle automation level combining vehicle dynamics and powertrain of PHEVs in within-a-lane traffic flow. This thesis starts with a sequential (or decentralized) optimization and then advances to direct fuel minimization by simultaneously optimizing the two subsystems in a centralized manner. When shifting toward online implementation, the unique challenge lies in the conflict between the long control horizon required for global optimality and the computational power limit. A receding horizon strategy is proposed to resolve the conflict between the horizon length and the computation complexity, with co-states approximating the future cost. In particular, the co-state is updated using a nominal trajectory and the temporal-difference (TD) error based on the co-state dynamics. The remaining work aims to develop a unified model predictive control (MPC) framework from the powertrain (PT) control of a human-driven to the combined vehicle dynamics (VD) and PT control of an automated PHEV. In the unified framework, the cost-to-go (the fuel consumption as the economic cost) is represented by the co-state associated with the battery SOC dynamics. In its application to automated PHEVs, a control barrier function (CBF) is augmented as an add-on block to modify the vehicle-level control input for guaranteed safety. This unified MPC framework allows for systematically evaluating the fuel economy and drivability performance of different levels and structures of optimization strategies.PHDMechanical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/169876/1/dichencd_1.pd

Pontryagin's Minimum Principle based model predictive control of energy management for a plug-in hybrid electric bus

To improve computational efficiency of energy management strategies for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), this paper proposes a stochastic model predictive controller (MPC) based on Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle (PMP), which differs from widely used dynamic programming (DP)-based predictive methods. First, short-time speed forecasting is achieved using a Markov chain model, based on real-world driving cycles. The PMP- and DP-based MPCs are compared under four preview horizons (5 s, 10 s, 15 s and 20 s), and the results show that the computational time of the DP-MPC is almost four times of that in the PMP-MPC. Moreover, the influence of predication horizon length on computational time and energy consumption is examined. Given a preview horizon of 5 s, the PMP-MPC holds a total energy consumption cost of 7.80 USD and computational time per second of 0.0130 s. When the preview horizon increases to 20 s, the total cost is 7.77 USD with the computational time per second increasing to 0.0502 s. Finally, DP, PMP, and rule-based strategies are contrasted to the PMP-MPC method, further demonstrating the promising performance and computational efficiency of the proposed methodology