Project Description & Research

We met this past friday and discussed the specifics of the project. We are all currently working on specifying the engineering requirements for our electric drivetrain. Both teams will be working together for the first few weeks while we decide on battery and motor sizes. By the end of the semester we hope to have our simulations complete so that fabrication can begin next semester.

Below are the guidelines set by our advisor, Dr. Vishnu Baba Sundaresan.

 

Electric 4WD Drivetrain Design, Simulation, & Fabrication

Virginia Commonwealth University

School of Mechanical Engineering

Integrated Circuits Lab

The project is divided into the following sub-systems

• 1. Energy Storage
• 2. Electric Drive
• 3. Drivetrain Management & Electronics
• 4. Embedded Software Design
• 5. Vehicle Chassis Selection/Design

Technical Objectives:

1. Energy Storage

a. Selection of battery chemistry
b. Cost to the user/environment per mile for different driving cycles
c. Modeling, Design (and Assembly)
d. Evaluation of safety requirements

2. Electric Drive

a. Drivetrain requirements analysis
b. Motor selection and Design
c. Modeling, Analysis and Testing
d. Safety analysis

3. Drivetrain Management & Electronics

a. System Design & Function Development
b. Electronic Control Unit – selection/design
c. System Integration

4. Embedded Software Design

a. Firmware design
b. Software for Drivetrain Control
c. Software Integration
d. Communication stack design

5. Vehicle Chassis Design

a. Chassis architecture design
b. Physical Integration of the power source, electric drive into the chassis
c. System Integration