Title: Design and preliminary performance evaluation of a four wheeled vehicle with degraded adhesion conditions

Authors: Luca Pugi; Francesco Grasso; Marco Pratesi; Marco Cipriani; Argeo Bartolomei

Addresses: DIEF (Dipartimento Ingegneria Industriale), Università degli Studi di Firenze, Firenze, 50139, Italy ' DINFO (Dipartimento Ingegneria Informatica), Università degli Studi di Firenze, Firenze, 50139, Italy ' DIEF (Dipartimento Ingegneria Industriale), Università degli Studi di Firenze, Fi-renze, 50139, Italy ' DIEF (Dipartimento Ingegneria Industriale), Università degli Studi di Firenze, Fi-renze, 50139, Italy ' Argos Engineering SRL, Pistoia, 51100, Italy

Abstract: Green shuttle vehicle (GSV) is a multi-purpose, four wheeled electric vehicle designed to operate in naturally protected areas where the conventional vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICEs) should be forbidden as a possible source of noise and pollution. The powertrain is based on a traction system with four in-wheel, permanent magnet motors that allow the vehicle to exhibit potentially interesting performances in terms of longitudinal dynamics, autonomy, and stability, even considering degraded adhesion conditions. In particular, this work also simulates the behaviour of the vehicle in degraded adhesion conditions, implementing a preliminary version of electric traction/braking fuzzy logic controller. The complete design and simulation of the system are an interesting example of how modern multi-disciplinary simulation tools can really accelerate the development of such a system with time and cost that are affordable also for small scale production series.

Keywords: electric vehicles; direct drive technology; dynamic modelling; simulation; electric ABS systems; modular traction systems; vehicle design; performance evaluation; degraded adhesion; green shuttle vehicles; GSVs; permanent magnet motors; vehicle dynamics; fuzzy logic controllers; FLC; controller design; fuzzy control; anti-lock braking systems; ABS; vehicle braking.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEHV.2017.082812

International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, 2017 Vol.9 No.1, pp.1 - 32

Received: 12 Apr 2016
Accepted: 15 Jun 2016
Published online: 12 Mar 2017 *

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