Analysis of detailed electric vehicle data in electrical engineering education
There is a large quantity of data available on the CAN bus of the Chevrolet Volt that can be obtained through the OBD2 connectors on both the passenger and driver side of the vehicle. Although much of this is not available on the console of the vehicle to passengers, it can be logged and collected to analyse various vehicle performance measures and behaviours as well as charging characteristics. A set of pertinent data has been collected simultaneously for approximately 40 vehicle parameters for numerous trips and charging events for the 2012 Chevrolet Volt. Some of the key parameters are battery voltage, battery current, motor currents, state of charge, engine rpm, vehicle speed, longitude, latitude, altitude, battery power, motor power, etc. This data has been used as a learning tool in the electrical engineering classroom for senior students in both advanced machine courses and in sustainable energy courses. Through analysis the students develop a better understanding of general electric vehicle operation principles and energy useage and management. They also develop problem solving skills and experience with analysing large data sets (certain trips have over 15 million data points) and using appropriate tools to perform large but repetitive tasks.
Characterizing energy usage of Chevrolet Volt versus speed
There is a large quantity of data available on the CAN bus of the Chevrolet Volt that can be obtained through the OBD2 connectors on both the passenger and driver side of the vehicle. Although much of this is not available on the console of the vehicle to passengers, with additional equipment it can be logged and collected to analyze various vehicle performance measures and behaviors as well as charging characteristics. Average energy usage is determined for a constant speed portion of a trip over a range of speeds from 30 mph to 75 mph. The energy usage ranges from 170 Wh/mile at 30 mph to the high of 369 Wh/mile at 75 mph. The segment used for evaluation was selected to have the smallest practical elevation change to reduce the dependency of the energy usage on this factor. The optimum speed for energy efficiency over this range has been determined experimentally and is found to be the lowest speed of 30mph. The average energy usage for a variety of complete trips is also given as a comparison of the usage over a variety of speeds and elevations as well as potential driving behavior effects.
Physical Principles of Wind Energy Conversion
The primary component of a wind turbine is the energy converter which transforms the kinetic energy contained in the moving air, into mechanical energy. For the initial discussions of principles, the exact nature of the energy converter is irrelevant. The extraction of mechanical energy from a stream of moving air with the help of a diskshaped, rotating wind energy converter follows its own basic rules.