I-Corps: Electro Hydraulic Mobile Solutions

I-Corps项目的广泛影响和商业潜力将传统内燃机机械传动系统或机电传动系统与静压传动系统相结合，提高了能源效率，改善了性能，延长了行驶里程。这个概念与现有的方法有着根本的不同，因为它是基于一个紧凑的套件设计，用于混合城市中使用的大型运输车辆的现有动力传动系统。该项目将重点挖掘拥有、运营和维护5吨以上车队的潜在客户。由于发动机舱内的空间便于在短时间内轻松安装，这些类型的车辆特别适合采用拟议的套件。潜在客户的例子包括市区的客运巴士车队、垃圾车辆、包裹配送车辆、物料搬运车辆，以及经常走走停停的一般车辆。I-Corps项目是对车辆动力传动系统的彻底改进，因为与现有的和其他提出的方法（如电池、飞轮或超级电容器）相比，它能有效地从行驶的车辆中捕获更多的动能。液压蓄能器将与液压泵/马达紧密耦合，以配合安装在车辆前轴上的再生静压传动装置。该技术将有助于提高高启停占空比车辆的能效。该液压附加组件可作为辅助动力系统，以延长车辆的行驶里程，减少电池放电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。使用液压蓄能器的优势在于它的功率密度，这将为系统的能量管理和性能提供理想的解决方案。液压蓄能器将与液压泵和液压马达紧密耦合，以使安装在车辆前轴上的再生静压传动系统保持一致。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 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.