Ford Partnering With University of Michigan to Speed Development of Control Systems for Next Generation of Hybrids
22 October 2009
Ford Motor Company and the University of Michigan are working together on a project to accelerate the development of future hybrid vehicles. Researchers are analyzing data from 2,500 road trips to determine how internal electronic vehicle controls could be tweaked to further improve fuel efficiency and fun-to-drive attributes.
Working with U of M, Ford has tested nearly 1 million design simulations of hybrid vehicle control systems to date—as many as 175,000 per week—and continues to conduct about 50,000 a week. While other academic work in hybrid vehicle technology primarily has been focused on fuel economy, Ford and U of M are looking at the union fuel economy and drivability.
The new hybrid controller design method we have created has the potential to offer consumers more choice in how efficient and drivable their vehicles are. I envision hybrids of the future featuring multiple modes or offering customers the ability to customize their driving experience.
— Jessy Grizzle, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at U of M
Working together with the University of Michigan research team, we are testing the boundaries of hybrid vehicle technology, exploring innovative ways to raise the bar on fuel economy and drivability. This joint work on hybrid software development shows great promise in helping us lead the development of more efficient hybrid systems for the future.
—Dr. Gerhard Schmidt, chief technical officer, Ford Research and Advanced Engineering
The research is still in its early research stages, but the partners say the initial results are promising.
Ford now has four hybrid vehicles on sale, with more electrified vehicles coming. Ford Motor Company’s hybrid vehicle sales have risen 73% this year, compared with a 14% decline in hybrid sales across the industry. (Earlier post.)
While the simulations can only approach real world conditions, it is also possible from the service end to analyse and fault find circuits.
Compare service specs downloaded from the worldwide net and freely available to the present servicepesons dilemma.
The auto manufacturers hold their servicing specs (at very loose tolerances) close and proprietary.
The public are effectively excluded,never ending model changing and within model changes.
the components are similarly changing,generally application specific each supplier having supplier specs (not to confuse with the auto manufactures specs)
All this information as I said is hard to impossible to find.
The end result is the car makers have a captive market and service capability.
Then add the complexity. It is apparent these machines will not be performing as they need to including by legislated requirement. Those in the trade will understand what I'm railing at.
On the other hand electrical components are all sourced from suppliers who (in my experience) without fail provide detailed specs, a list of applications and alternative components both higher rated, lower rated. The technician should know how to derive the missing or faulty design or component from numerous other approaches to do the same job (or better) using off the shelf components.
The first part of this comment describes the broken state of auto engineering.
The alternative on offer is te E Motor that can and will (IMO) solve the majority of the issues.
The article describes fords application on motor controllers in design stage. They aren't market ready or production, they exist within the model.
They are produced and modified at the higher 175,000 per week.
This should say to me that anyone with a basic utility tool will be using this in this workshop in coming years.
Any E design that for some reason cant find the circuit (with fixes) cant be analysed fault found and repaired or upgraded using off the shelf components that the workshop is familiar with.
For me - I'll be better off when not covered in old motor oil and grease.
Posted by: arnold | 22 October 2009 at 03:04 PM
"I envision hybrids of the future featuring multiple modes or offering customers the ability to customize their driving experience."
It is already here. 2010 Prius has 4 driving modes. Normal / EV / ECO / Power.
Posted by: usbseawolf2000 | 25 October 2009 at 08:57 PM