I-Corps: Electro Hydraulic Mobile Solutions

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将传统的ICE-机械或机电传动系统与液压传动系统的好处结合在一起，以提高能源效率、改善性能和扩大行驶里程。这一概念从根本上不同于现有的方法，因为它基于紧凑型套件的设计，以混合现有的驱动系统，用于城市中使用的大型交通工具。该项目将重点挖掘拥有、运营和维护车队车辆超过5吨的潜在客户。这些类型的车辆特别适合采用拟议的套件，因为发动机舱中有空间，便于在短时间内安装。潜在客户的例子包括城市地区的客车车队、垃圾车、包裹配送车、物资搬运车和经常停下来行驶的车辆。这个i-Corps项目是对车辆传动系统的根本改进，因为与现有和其他拟议的方法，如电池、飞轮或超级电容器相比，它有效地从移动的车辆中捕获更多的动能。液压蓄能器将紧凑地耦合到液压泵/马达上，以符合安装在车辆前轴上的再生静液传动系统。拟议的技术将导致高启动和停止占空比的车辆的能效提高。建议的液压附加组件用作辅助动力总成，以扩大车辆的行驶里程，减少电池放电的压力或减少车辆加速时发动机的使用，并提供额外的推进和制动能力。采用液压蓄能器的优点是其功率密度，这将为系统的能量管理和性能提供理想的解决方案。液压蓄能器将紧凑地耦合到液压泵和液压马达上，以符合安装在车辆前桥上的再生静液传动系统。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 I-Corps project couples the benefits of a traditional ICE-mechanical or an electro-mechanical drivetrain with a hydrostatic drivetrain for increased energy efficiency, improved performance and extended driving range. This concept is fundamentally different from the existing approaches, since it is based on the design of a compact kit to hybridize an existing drivetrain for a large transportation vehicle used in cities. The project will focus on exploring potential customers who own, operate and maintain fleet vehicles larger than 5 tons. These types of vehicles are especially suited for the adoption of the proposed kit due to the room in the engine compartment facilitating ease of installation in a short time. Examples of potential customers include passenger bus fleets in urban areas, refuse vehicles, parcel distribution vehicles, material handling vehicles and in general vehicles with frequent stop and go drive cycles.This I-Corps project is a radical improvement to a vehicle drivetrain system because it effectively captures larger amounts of kinetic energy from a moving vehicle compared to existing and other proposed methods, such as electric batteries, flywheels, or supercapacitors. A hydraulic accumulator will be compactly coupled to a hydraulic pump/motor to conform a regenerative hydrostatic transmission mounted to the front axle of the vehicle. The proposed technology will lead to the improvement of energy efficiency in vehicles with high start and stop duty cycles. The proposed hydraulic add-on kit serves as an auxiliary powertrain to extend the driving range of the vehicle, reducing the stress of the battery discharge or reducing engine use during the vehicle accelerations, and provide extra capability for propulsion and braking. The advantage of using the hydraulic accumulator is its power density, which will lead to an ideal solution for energy management and performance of the system. A hydraulic accumulator will be compactly coupled to a hydraulic pump and hydraulic motor to conform a regenerative hydrostatic transmission mounted to the front axle the vehicle.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.