Configurable Modular Electrically Propelled and Advanced Actuated Axles Installations for Heavy Duty Vehicles

Research Project, 2020 – 2025

Research Motivating Problem:
Energy will always be needed for our goods transports on road. Electric propulsion and other advanced actuation systems can reduce energy losses and flexibility of using different ways to produce the electricity. However, heavy vehicles will always have to appear with different axle groups (axle installations) and different axles lifted/lowered. There will also be different towed units (trailers). Hence, vehicle control can hardly be designed for only one such configuration.
Therefore, such advanced actuation can not be fully utilized, leading to non‐optimal energy. The control of an axle group should be able to handle variation in number of axles, suspension linkage, actuation (Electric Propulsion, Friction Brake, Active Suspension, Steering).

Envisioned product/solution, targeting SoP 2025‐2030:
• Split Vehicle Motion Management VMM so that one generic upper part and a “modular/replaceable” lower part which is axle configuration dependent.
• Vision: Automatically generated and downloaded B-matrices in factory.
• Focus: Off‐road/construction vehicle applications with single unit up to 6 axles. Both Manual and Automated Driving.
Research questions:
• Which are realistic actuator and sensor sets?
• How to integrate best possible control in a modular way? Especially which virtual requests, e.g. Fx,Fy,Fz,Mx,My,Mz.
• How much energy can be saved?
• How is control and architecture extended to multi-unit vehicles?

Deliverables:
• Answers to research questions
• 1 Vehicle Dynamics PhD, employed in Swedish Vehicle Industry

Participating person outside Chalmers:
• Anders Eriksson, Volvo GTT, Powertrain Strategic Development