AN ENERGY EFFICIENT ELECTRIC VEHICLE

THIS PROJECT IS PURSUING THE DESIGN AND PRODUCTION OF A LINE OF INTEGRATED MECHANICAL, ELECTRONIC, AND SOFTWARE MODULES TO PROVIDE A LOGICAL FRAMEWORK WITHIN WHICH MOTION CONTROL SYSTEMS OF GREAT EFFICIENCY AND VERSATILITY MAY BE DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED. THESE PRODUCTS ARE CALLED GENERAL-PURPOSE MOTION MODULES (GPMS). GPMS ARE, IN EFFECT, MECHATRONIC ELECTRIC MOTOR SYSTEMS, INTEGRATING THE MOTOR, TRNSMISSION, SENSING, AND CONTROL FUNCTIONS FOR A SINGLE AXIS OF MOTION INTO A LIGHTWEIGHT MODULAR PACKAGE. THIS FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION WILL ACHIEVE SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN SIZE AND WEIGHT, WHILE INCREASING OUTPUT TORQUE AND ELECTROMECHANICAL CONVERSION EFFICIENCY. DUE TO THE HIGH POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATION OF THESE DEVICES, AS WELL AS THEIR HIGH OPERATING EFFICIENCY, AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS ARE PARTICULARLY APPROPRIATE FOR GPM TECHNOLOGY. PHASE I WILL EXPAND THE CURRENT GPM BASELINE DESIGNS TO ALLOW THEIR USE IN NUMEROUS AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS. A HIGH-LEVEL DESIGN WILL BE PRODUCED, AT THE MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, AND CONTROL LEVELS, OF A VEHICLE EMPLOYING A REGENERATIVE POWERTRAIN BASED ON GENERAL-PURPOSE MOTION MODULES (GPMS). CURRENT GPM DESIGNS WILL BE MODIFIED TO PROVIDE THE HIGH TORQUE AND HIGH EFFICIENCY REQUIRED BY PRACTICAL ELECTIC VEHICLES. PREDICTIONS OF OVERALL VEHICLES EFFICIENCY WILL BE PRODUCED. THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT, COMPUTER-BASED SIMULATION WILL BE EMPLOYED TO FACILITATE DESIGN AND TO ALLOW SYSTEM PERFORMANCE TO BE PREDICTED.