Energetic Efficiency Evaluation of the Lunar Roving Vehicles Using Computer Simulation

This paper studies the energetic performance of a Lunar Roving Vehicle using computer simulation with the AVL Cruise software. The simulation tasks include an energy consumption calculation over the determined extra vehicular activity and based on the simulation results, a comparative analysis is performed between the AVL Cruise simulation results and the NASA recordings of the energy balance resulting from computer simulations made in 1971, as well as the real results recorded by the crew of astronauts during the Apollo 15 mission. The purpose of this paper is to design a virtual Lunar Roving Vehicle and to simulate its operation in the lunar environment. The architecture of the Lunar Roving Vehicle will be based on the original NASA LRV design, but using current technology for the battery pack. Finally, the rovers will be simulated using the AVL Cruise software by implementing the digitized paths of the rovers during the Apollo 15 missions. The purpose of this simulation is to extract operating data of the old and the new rovers and compare their performances. This will allow us to highlight the technological advances made in the last 40 years and to have an idea of the new rover’s capabilities should it be used during a future lunar mission

Simulation in the Loop of Electric Vehicles

The objective of this chapter is to underline the importance of pre‐production and prototyping simulation in the loop of electric vehicles, by considering as many vehicle characteristics as possible. Basic simulations were made, using IPG CarMaker, to simulate electric vehicles with different properties for batteries, transmission, electric motors, aerodynamics of the vehicle, and most importantly, driver properties. This chapter also explains all the necessary steps to create a model and run it in IPG CarMaker, including data exports, so that the results could be reproduced easily. This chapter underlines the importance of batteries and answers the questions: what is the correct number of batteries that a vehicle must equip in order to have a bigger range? Basically, one should carry more batteries that add weight but at what range in price

Analysis of the Electric Bus Autonomy Depending on the Atmospheric Conditions

The public-transport sector represents, on a global level, a major ecological and economic concern. Improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) production in the urban environment can be achieved by using electric buses instead of those operating with internal combustion engines (ICE). In this paper, the energy consumption for a fleet of electric buses Solaris Urbino 12e type is analyzed, based on the experimental data taken from a number of 22 buses, which operate on a number of eight urban lines, on a route of approximately 100 km from the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania; consumption was monitored for 12 consecutive months (July 2018–June 2019). The energy efficiency of the model for the studied electric buses depends largely on the management of the energy stored on the electric bus battery system, in relation to the characteristics of the route traveled, respectively to the atmospheric conditions during the monitored period. Based on the collected experimental data and on the technical characteristics of the electric buses, the influence of the atmospheric conditions on their energy balance was highlighted, considering the interdependence relations between the considered atmospheric conditions

Autonomous Vehicles Technological Trends

Twenty years ago, only the most adventurous scientist might have been in the position of dreaming up such a dramatic change for the automotive industry, where fossil fuels are in a position of being banned and vehicles are driverless [...

ELECTRIC BUSES FOR URBAN TRANSPORTATION - ASSESSMENTS ON COST, INFRASTRUCTURE AND EXPLOITATION

Urban transport is one of the most challenging sectors of the public administration of a metropolitan area. Fuel cost, maintenance, transport capacity, pollution represent only a small amount of the data that is taken into consideration in the decision of purchasing a new fleet of urban buses for public transport. Electrification of the public transport is not a new solution; there is the tram, the trolleybus. Is there going to be a place for the electric bus taking into consideration the purchasing cost of the bus, the battery need to be replaced, the weight of the bus, the charging infrastructure, the limitations of the bus due to the range of no more than 150 (km), battery charging time and road gradient. It is possible that these limitations overcome the benefit of zero local emissions reduced the cost of exploitation, and almost no maintenance of the power-train, all of them being immediate benefits of the electric buses use as a solution in the urban transportation environment

Possibility to Increase Biofuels Energy Efficiency used for Compression Ignition Engines Fueling

The paper presents the possibilities of optimizing the use of biofuels in terms of energy efficiency in compression ignition (CI) engines fueling. Based on the experimental results was determinate the law of variation of the rate of heat released by the combustion process for diesel fuel and different blends of biodiesel. Using this law, were changed parameters of the engine management system (fuel injection law) and was obtain increased engine performance (in terms of energy efficiency) for use of different biofuel blends