I-Corps: Electro Hydraulic Mobile Solutions

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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.