Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power

ERC的愿景是创造紧凑高效的新型流体动力技术。这将导致流体动力的彻底变革，显著降低能源消耗，并催生全新的行业。将开发新的控制方法和系统配置，以取代目前低效的阀门节流方法。这些包括高性能泵控制，再生，开关阀PWM控制和仿生分布式泵和控制。新一代泵电机和执行器将通过主动控制摩擦学表面来提高效率。生物涂层将减少阻力。相变储能将创造更紧凑的储能和能源。Chemofluidie驱动和自由活塞发动机压缩机将为自供电和移动设备提供数量级更高的能量和功率密度，从而实现许多新应用。使用复合材料和功能分级材料，并将部件集成到统一系统中，将使流体动力系统的重量和体积最小化。噪音、振动、泄漏、污染和尴尬的界面问题将得到解决，从而更广泛、更高效、更令人满意地使用流体动力。其结果将是流体动力的使用，目前仅限于重型设备，扩展到便携式和自供电设备，如大功率可穿戴工具和救援机器人。将创造出全新的行业，紧凑和高效的流体动力可用于水下勘探、救援行动、远程操纵核材料、拆弹、医疗和康复应用以及家庭和工业使用的可穿戴或紧凑工具。改进的紧凑性将使流体动力能够执行目前无法完成的任务。提高效率将显著减少石油消耗和污染。交通运输总燃料消耗每提高1%，每年就能节省24亿美元的原油。流体动力的卓越功率密度使其成为再生制动的理想选择，现场测试表明，卡车可节省25%至35%的燃油。ERC将开发新的高密度蓄电池，使再生方法适用于乘用车，从而节省更多的能源。在建筑、采矿、农业和工业部门也可以实现显著的节能。ERC在教育和推广方面的创新包括：(1)建立基准流体动力实验室，并增加带回家的实验室；(2)与明尼苏达科学博物馆合作，开发永久性和巡回展览、流体动力教育材料以及初中和高中的课外流体动力项目；(3)与Project Lead the Way合作，将流体动力纳入高中技术课程。(4)为本科生和研究生创建工业实习和合作项目；(5)通过实践短期课程和远程教育加强工业流体动力方面的继续教育。

The vision of the ERC is to create new fluid power technology that is compact and efficient. This will cause a radical transformation of fluid power, signigicantly reducing energy consumption and soawning whole new industries. New control approaches and system configurations will be developed to replace current, inefficient valve throttling approaches. These include high performance pump control, regeneration, on-off valve PWM control and biomimetic distributed pumping and control. A new generation of pump motors and actuators with improved efficiency, enabled by actively controlled tribological surfaces, will be developed. Biologically inspired coatings will reduce drag. Phase-change energy storage will create more compact energy storage and soures. Chemofluidie actuation and free-piston engine compressors will provide order-of-magnitude better energy and power density for self-powered and mobile devices, enabling a host of new applications. Use of composite and functionally graded materials and integrating components into unfied systems will minimize the weight and volume of fluid power systems. Problems with noise, vibration, leakage, contamination and awkward interfaces will be addressed, leading to wider, more efficient and more satisfactory use of fluid power. The result will be an expansion of fluid power use, currently limited to heavy equipment, to portable and self-powered devices such as high-power wearable tools and rescue robots. Whole new industries will be created where compact and efficient fluid power can be used for underwater exploration, for rescue operations, for remotely manipulating nuclear materials, for bomb disposal, for medical and rehabilitation applications and for wearable or compact tools for home and industrial use. Improved compactness will enable fluid power to perform tasks that are not presently possible. Improved efficiently will significantly reduce petroleum consumption and pollution. For each one percent improvement in overall fuel comsumption for transportation, $2.4 billion of crude oil is saved each year. The superior power density of fluid power makes it ideal for regenerative braking with field tests showing fuel savings of 25 to 35% for trucks. The ERC will develop new, high density accumulators making the regeneration approach feasible for passenger vehicles, resulting in much larger energy savings. Significant energy savings can also be achieved in the construction, mining, agricultural and industrial sectors. Education and outreach innovations of the ERC include (1) the development of benchmark fluid power labs augmented with take-home laboratory ,odules (2) collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota to develop permanent and traveling exhibits, educational materials on fluid power and an extracurricular fluid power program for middle schools and high schools, (3) collaboration with Project Lead the Way to include fluid power in a high school technology curriculum, (4) the creation of industrial internship and co-op programs for both undergraduate and graduate students, and (5) the enhancement of continuing education in fluid power for industry through hands-on short courses and distance education.