SBIR Phase II: Integrated Hydraulic Suspension Energy Recovery System for Heavy Vehicles

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目旨在为重型公共汽车和其他商用车开发一种功能齐全的可再生半主动减震器。在典型的悬架中，相当多的能量以热量的形式损失掉了，尤其是在重型车辆中。现有的技术还不能以经济有效的方式有效地捕获这种能量。该项目包括液压和电子模型优化、车辆原型设计、制造、实验室测试、安装和液压自适应阻尼能量收集系统的运行测试。该项目的目的是展示高效、可调阻尼再生减震器在市政交通机构运营的公共汽车上的实际效益。重点将放在提高效率、半主动驾驶控制和特定应用的集成要求上，以确保无缝安装和操作。工作的最终结果将是一个全面的试点示范和量化可再生能源（提高燃油效率），并使用可再生半主动减震器改善乘坐效果。如果能够克服廉价、可靠、高效地捕获悬浮能量的挑战，该项目的广泛影响和商业潜力将是巨大的。这项技术有可能每年为大型车队节省数百万美元的燃料，并显著减少美国和其他国家的碳排放。有效地整合售后市场或OEM可改装的可再生能源捕获系统可能会为运输和汽车行业的许多新再生技术打开大门，从而大大减少浪费能源。此外，该研究可能会为紧凑、密封、高效的液压致动器和能量采集器在多个工业应用中带来支持技术。这可能在其他领域有应用，如离网海洋（水动力）能源，航空航天执行器，重型机械阻尼器，矫形/假肢和机器人技术。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project proposes to develop a fully functional turnkey regenerative semi-active shock absorber for heavy-duty transit buses and other commercial vehicles. An appreciable amount of energy is lost in a typical suspension as heat, especially in heavy vehicles. Existing technologies have been unable to efficiently capture this energy in a cost-effective manner. This project entails hydraulic and electronic model optimization, design of vehicle-ready prototypes, fabrication, lab testing, installation, and operational testing of a hydraulic adaptive damping energy harvesting system. The objective of the project is to demonstrate real-world benefits of an efficient, adjustable damping regenerative shock absorber on a transit bus in operation with a municipal transit agency. Emphasis will be on efficiency improvements, semi-active ride control, and application specific integration requirements to ensure seamless installation and operation. Work will culminate in a fully fielded pilot demonstration and quantification of regenerated energy (improved fuel efficiency) and ride improvement benefits using the regenerative semi-active shock absorber. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is significant if the challenges of inexpensively, reliably, and efficiently capturing suspension energy are overcome. The technology has the potential to save millions of dollars per year in fuel for large fleets, and significantly reduce carbon emissions in the United States and abroad. Effectively incorporating an aftermarket or OEM retrofit-able regenerative energy capture system may open doors to many new regenerative technologies in the transportation and automotive sector, facilitating significant reductions in waste energy. In addition, the research may lead to enabling technology for compact, sealed, and efficient hydraulic actuators and energy harvesters across several industrial applications. This may have applications in other fields such as off grid marine (hydrokinetic) energy, aerospace actuators, heavy machinery dampers, orthotics/prosthetics, and robotics.