Design of the battery management system of LiFePO4 batteries for electric off-road vehicles

This paper describes the design of a modular battery management system for electric off-road vehicles, where lithiumion batteries are expected to be widely used. A massive electrification of off-road vehicles can be enabled by the availability of a standard battery module, provided with an effective management unit. The design and some preliminary experimental results of the module management unit are discussed in this paper. The unit contains a high current active equalizer that enables the dynamic charge equalization among cells and maximizes the usable capacity of the battery

Smart LiFePO4 battery modules in a fast charge application for local public transportation

This paper describes the research effort jointly carried out by the University of Pisa and ENEA on electrochemical energy storage systems based on Lithium-ion batteries, particularly the Lithium-Iron-Phosphate cells. In more detail, the paper first illustrates the design and experimental characterization of a family of 12 V modules, each of them provided with an electronic management system, to be used for electric traction. Then, the sizing of the energy storage system for an electric bus providing a service with 'fast and frequent' charge phases is described

Design of the traction battery for a Formula SAE racing car

This paper describes the design of the traction battery for the new electric Formula SAE vehicle of the University of Pisa. A model based design methodology extended to the mechanical, electrical and thermal domains was applied to find the best trade-off between the battery weight and the maximum power available at the wheel. The designed battery configuration was validated by means of electrical and thermal simulations

Flexible platform with wireless interface for DC-motor remote control

Several portable applications, such as small electric vehicles and power tools, often require the use of direct current (DC) motors that significantly differ from one to another in terms of power, torque, and driving techniques. New market requirements of these applications suggest the implementation of smart user interfaces that may allow the introduction of those devices in the new Internet of Things paradigm by making them connected. This paper discusses the design and verification of a flexible platform able to drive different types of DC motors that is also provided with a Bluetooth connection for remote control and monitoring. As the platform can drive different motors with different driving techniques, it provides standardisation and cost reduction in the production of a set of tools. Two gardening tools are used as case study to verify the design and flexibility of the board. Both tools are successfully controlled and monitored with a wireless connected remote user interface

Sensorimotor gating impairments induced by MK-801 treatment may be reduced by tolerance effect and by familiarization in monkeys

Dizocilpine (MK-801) is a non-competitive NMDA antagonist that induces schizophreniclike effects. It is therefore widely used in experimental models of schizophrenia including prepulse inhibition (PPI) impairments in rodents. Nevertheless, MK-801 has never been tested in monkeys on a PPI paradigm. In order to evaluate MK-801 effects on monkeys’ PPI, we tested eight capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) using three different doses of MK-801 (0.01; 0.02; 0.03 mg/kg). Results show PPI impairment in acute administration of the highest dose (0.03 mg/kg). PPI impairment induced by MK-801 was reversed by re-exposure to the PPI test throughout treatment trials, in contrast with rodent studies. These results indicate that tolerance effect and familiarization with PPI test may reduce the sensorimotor gating deficits induced by MK-801 in monkeys, suggesting a drug-training interaction

Demonstrating a smart controller in a hospital integrated energy system

Integrated energy systems have recently gained primary importance in clean energy transition. The combination of the electricity, heating and gas sectors can improve the overall system efficiency and integration of renewables by exploiting the synergies among the energy vectors. In particular, real-time optimization tools based on Model Predictive Control (MPC) can considerably improve the performance of systems with several conversion units and distribution networks by automatically coordinating all interacting technologies. Despite the relevance of several simulation studies on the topic, however, it is significantly harder to have an experimental demonstration of this improvement. This work presents a methodology for the real-world implementation of a novel smart control strategy for integrated energy systems, based on two coordinated MPC levels, which optimize the operation of all conversion units and all energy vectors in the short- and long-term, respectively, to account also for economic incentives on critical units. The strategy that was previously developed and evaluated in a simulation environment has now been implemented, as a supervisory controller, in the integrated energy system of a hospital in Italy. The optimal control logic is easily actuated by dynamically communicating the optimal set-points to the existing Building Management System, without having to alter the system configuration. Field data collected over a two-year period, firstly when it was business as usual and when the new operation was introduced, show that the MPC increased the economic margin and revenues from yearly incentives and lowered the amount of electricity purchased, reducing dependency on the power grid

Implementation of the fast charging concept for electric local public transport: The case-study of a minibus

This paper shows an effective implementation of the fast charging concept in the electric local public transport context. An electric minibus powered with a lead-acid battery is considered as a case-study. Its traction battery is redesigned using 12 V standard lithium-iron-phosphate modules to benefit from the higher performance of the lithium battery technology compared to the lead-acid one. The minibus can achieve a continuous operation characterised by 20 min of traveling alternated with 10 min of standstill for fast recharging of the battery. Experiments performed on a single module of the battery show that the load profile is sustained without appreciable issues both in temperature and life degradation of the lithium cells

Experimental Analysis of an Electric Minibus with Small Battery and Fast Charge Policy

The lead-acid battery of an electric minibus has been replaced with a smaller size lithium-ion battery system consisting of standard 12 V modules and a hierarchical battery management system. The minibus has experimentally been tested to show that the reduced battery capacity, which also cuts costs, does not affect the daily operational mission. This is assuming that the driving phases are alternated with fast charging periods. Experiments show that fast charging of 8 min guarantees up to 1 h of operation

Ferulated Poly(vinyl alcohol) based hydrogels

New graft copolymers were prepared by reaction of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with mono-imidazolide or bis-imidazolide derivatives of ferulic acid (FA) with the formation of ester bonds. The obtained graft copolymers, thanks to the crosslinking capability of FA, formed in water strong gels as verified by rheological analyses. The resulting hydrogels were characterized to evaluate their applicability as wound dressing. In this perspective, their capability to absorb and retain a large amount of fluid without dissolving was verified by swelling kinetics and Moisture Vapour Transmission Rate measurements. Their stability towards mechanical solicitations was assessed by quantifying elasticity, compliance, stress-relaxation, and adhesivity properties. The analyses pointed out that hydrogel PVA-FA2-3 obtained by feruloylation of PVA with bis-imidazole derivative of ferulic acid using an acylation agent/polymer molar ratio 0.03/1 resulted the best candidate for the foreseen application

Spontaneous polymerization of benzofulvene monomers bearing a 4-Pyri- dylacetylene substituent in different positions of the benzofulvene scaffold

Two benzofulvene derivatives bearing a 4-pyridylacetylene substituent in different positions (i. e. 2 and 6) of the benzofulvene scaffold are designed and synthesized to evaluate the effects on the spontaneous solid-state polymerization of the presence of the same substituent in two different key positions of the 3-phenylbenzoful-vene moiety. Both the benzofulvene derivatives showed the tendency to polymerize spontaneously in the consequence of solvent removal under reduced pressure without the addition of catalysts or initiators. The macromolecular structure of the stemming polymeric materials was investigated by NMR spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Both NMR and MALDI-TOF studies confirmed the polymeric nature of the materials and suggested for the polybenzofulvene derivative bearing the 4-pyridylacetylene substituent in po-sitions 6 a higher structural homogeneity with respect to the one bearing the same substituent in position 2. The photophysical characterization of the most homogeneous polybenzofulvene derivative led to the discovery of its outstanding hole mobility value, which was found to be around one order of magnitude higher than that pre-viously measured for two oligothiophene-based polybenzofulvene derivatives and almost two orders of magni-tude higher than that of poly(vinylcarbazole), commonly used as hole-transporter matrix. This result places the new polybenzofulvene derivative in an outstanding position as a promising material for field-effect transistor (FET) device applications