Building a Driving Simulator as an Electric Vehicle Hardware Development Tool

Driving simulators have been used to support the development of new vehicle systems for many years. The rise of electric vehicles (EVs) as a means of reducing carbon emissions has lead to the emergence of a number of new design challenges related to the performance of EV components and the flow of power under a variety of circumstances. In this paper we describe the integration of an EV drive train test system with a driving simulator to allow the performance of EV systems to be investigated while under the control of real drivers in simulated scenarios. Such a system offers several potential benefits. The performance of EV drive trains can be evaluated subjectively by real world users while the electrical and mechanical properties can be tested under a variety of conditions which would be difficult to replicate using standard drive cycles

The State of the Art in Fuel Cell Condition Monitoring and Maintenance

Fuel cell vehicles are considered to be a viable solution to problems such as carbon emissions and fuel shortages for road transport. Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells are mainly used in this purpose because they can run at low temperatures and have a simple structure. Yet to make this technology commercially viable, there are still many hurdles to overcome. Apart from the high cost of fuel cell systems, high maintenance costs and short lifecycle are two main issues need to be addressed. The main purpose of this paper is to review the issues affecting the reliability and lifespan of fuel cells and present the state of the art in fuel cell condition monitoring and maintenance. The Structure of PEM fuel cell is introduced and examples of its application in a variety of applications are presented. The fault modes including membrane flooding/drying, fuel/gas starvation, physical defects of membrane, and catalyst poisoning are listed and assessed for their impact. Then the relationship between causes, faults, symptoms and long term implications of fault conditions are summarized. Finally the state of the art in PEM fuel cell condition monitoring and maintenance is reviewed and conclusions are drawn regarding suggested maintenance strategies and the optimal structure for an integrated, cost effective condition monitoring and maintenance management system

Palaeomagnetic studies in the British Caledonides

In this study a large amount of new palaeomagnetic data is reported from the Paleozoic of the British Isles. The data are consistent with episodic polar shift from the vicinity of 10°N, 180°E in the Ordovician to 0°, 145°E in the Siluro-Devonian and to 25°N, 160°E in the late Devonian-early Carboniferous. The Cambrian pole is less well defined but may have lain near 30°N, 170°E. Each polar shift appears to predate a phase of deformation, i.e. crustal drift and oceanic plate consumption significantly precedes orogenesis and continental plate collision. Large collections were made from two regions within the British Caledonides; the English Lake District, and the South Mayo Trough. Palaeomagnetic data from the Carrock Fell Gabbro Complex indicate intrusion as a dyke at some time during the Upper Ordovician subject only to slight subsequent tilting. Folding in both the Eycott and Borrowdale Volcanic Groups is found to be essentially simple and complete by the end of the Ordovician. The end-Silurian deformation which many authors have considered 'climactic' produced tight folds only in the high-level Silurian sediments. The stratigraphically lower and more competent lavas were merely tilted and cleaved. A similar sequence of deformation has affected the rocks of the South Mayo Trough. In this case however, the end-Silurian deformation accompanied major azimuthal rotation and complicated southward thrusting. A Proto-Atlantic ocean on the site of the present Caledonian orogenic belt has been cited by many authors on a number of separate geological criteria. Palaeomagnetic evidence from the margins of this belt in the British Isles indicates that little (or no) closure has taken place across the Caledonides since early Ordovician time. The available data do however, indicate apparent discrepancies between the Baltic/Russian and North American plates, and a British sub-plate. A number of explanations is possible: (1) Euramerica was a rigid plate, hence some of the data are invalid, (2) the three units of Euramerica were tenuously attached: geological evidence for postulated plate margins outside Britain is discussed (3) the present data are inadequate to define a British sub-plate. In this thesis the third alternative is preferred

The Use of Markov Chain Analysis for Rule-Based Power and Energy Management Optimisation in Electric Vehicles

In this paper the development of a Rule-Based Power and Energy Management Strategy as a result of Markov Chain analysis will be shown. Using real-world drive cycle data a Markov Chain Transition matrix is build from which a Bias matrix is developed showing the difference between acceleration and deceleration with respect to the next velocity as an extension to the Markov Chain. From this the parameters for a PEMS are developed, simulated and the results discussed and compared to other strategies

Development of a low cost mixed fuel hydrogen/petrol system for reducing vehicle emissions

Discussions surrounding the hydrogen economy centre primarily on the use of ultra clean hydrogen to power Fuel Cells. This paper examines the potential for burning hydrogen in ICEs as part of a mixed fuel charge in order to take advantage of cheaper brown hydrogen and the advanced nature of the modern petrol ICE. This paper presents a low-cost mixed fuel ICE solution that was developed and fitted to a gasoline spark ignited production vehicle. The findings from a series of investigative performance tests are presented, which show a reduction of three primary pollutants: CO2; CO and hydrocarbons along with a set of drive cycle tests from which full emission results were collected. These showed that in a full driving cycle care must be taken with the engine mapping in order to ensure a complete burn in all modes of operation. In addition the anticipated NOx increase was impossible to avoid but the authors suggest practical steps to reduce this to acceptable levels