SBIR Phase I: Novel position sensor and controller for free piston engines

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是协助一种新型发动机的商业化。宏观汽车电气化为以前不实用的新型发动机打开了大门。其中最有趣的是自由活塞发动机。自由活塞发动机（FPE）和自由活塞线性发电机（FPLG）非常适合电气化，因为它们直接发电而不是产生扭矩，而且更清洁、更高效，更适合先进的电动汽车。这些发动机本质上更有能力使用多种燃料，以提高低碳燃料的消耗和美国的能源独立。该技术的关键是先进的控制和新型传感器的开发。该项目的重点是开发一种新型传感器，而这种传感器的缺乏是这些先进发动机商业化的关键障碍。这种新型传感器将立即用于实验室和测试这些发动机的车辆开发。这个STTR第一阶段项目建议开发一种新的集成电路（IC）框架，使大规模采用清洁、高效的自由活塞发动机成为可能。为了实现实用的自由活塞发动机，需要能够测量活塞位置到0.1微米（百万分之一英寸）和高达30米/秒（超过1000英寸/秒）的速度的位置传感器。目前还没有传感器能够提供所需的速度和精度。功能接近的传感器是大型设备，几乎是发动机长度的两倍。所提出的传感器必须在发动机恶劣的热和振动环境中生存。在第一阶段，公司将从现有的分立电路中建立一个概念验证；在第二阶段构建实际的定制集成电路。该传感器将与分布式高速计算相结合，允许以大于10kHz的速率进行高速活塞控制。该集成电路将为机器人和工厂自动化中的其他快速，大功率线性机器提供额外的二级市场。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to assist in the commercialization of a new type of engine. Macro-scale vehicle electrification has opened doors to new types of engines not previously practical. Amongst the most interesting of these is the free-piston engine. Free-piston engines (FPE) and Free-piston linear generators (FPLG) are well-suited to electrification because they directly produce electricity instead of torque and do it in a way that is cleaner, more efficient, and better suited to work with advanced electrified vehicles. These engines are inherently more capable of running on a diversity of fuels to enhance both low-carbon fuel consumption and US energy independence. Key to this technology is advanced controls and development of new sensors. This project focuses on development of a new sensor whose lack is a key roadblock to the commercialization of these advanced engines. This new sensor will be employed immediately in the laboratory and test vehicle development of these engines.This STTR Phase I project proposes to develop the framework of a new integrated circuit (IC) that will enable the mass adoption of clean, efficient free-piston engines. In order to realize practical free-piston engines a position sensor able to measure piston position to 0.1micron (4 millionths of an inch) and up to speed of 30m/s (over 1000 inch/second) is needed. Currently there is no sensor that gives the required speed and precision. The sensors that are close in functionality are large devices that nearly double the length of the engine. The proposed sensor must survive in the harsh thermal and vibration environment of an engine. In phase 1 the company will build a proof of concept from available discrete circuits; to build the actual custom IC in phase II. This sensor will be combined with distributed high-speed computation allowing high-speed piston control at a rate of greater than 10kHz. This IC will serve additional secondary markets for other fast, high power linear machines in robotics and factory automation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.