IT Infrastructure: The Workhorses of the Alternative Fuels Team

When students first step into the University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT) office, they are typically surprised by the number of computers and laptops. Typically the team has five desktops, eight monitors, and three laptops churning on anything from finite element analysis (FEA), to powertrain models.

In the summer of 2011 UWAFT realized that it needed to update its computing power for EcoCAR 2. Competition level sponsors such as dSPACE, Siemens Unigraphics, MathWorks, AVL, Vector and CD-Adapco provided each team with cutting edge software.  Three more desktops were added to the UWAFT’s lineup: a new Computer-Aided Design (CAD) workstation, an HIL/modeling computer and a Linux server.

The CAD workstation uses a solid state hard drive to allow for faster loading of CAD model files. A very powerful graphics card and 32 GB of RAM were also added. The benefit of this powerful machine is the ability to manage large CAD files quickly. The machine is also used for FEA analysis using Unigraphics NX-NASTRAN and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) using CD-Adapco’s Star-CCM+.

 

The HIL/modeling computer built by the team is not as powerful as the CAD machine. It is normally used to compile models for dSPACE’s Mid-Sized Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Simulator. The modeling computer has a very large hard drive (over 2 terabytes) to save all of the results of the HIL simulations. In years two and three, this machine will also be used to review and compare drive cycle data using Mathwork’s MATLAB and AVL Drive.

The final machine UWAFT built is a Linux Server. Running Ubuntu, the machine operates as the central file storage machine for the office, using an FTP server. This computer also hosts several of the team’s license servers for various software packages. Laptops are used throughout the office and garage with 90% of them being Lenovo ThinkPads (the team swears by them!). The laptops are used extensively during years two and three for referencing documentation and building vehicle code. Some people call us computer nerds… but we just call it another day in the office.

UWAFT Partners with GM for Earth Week Presentations

For Earth Week, the University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT) partnered with Dan Mepham from General Motors (GM) to conduct a series of presentations to high school students at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario. Over 150 students and teachers were present across a total of three presentations, where a PowerPoint presentation was conducted by UWAFT’s Outreach Coordinator followed by a demonstration session of a 2012 Chevrolet Volt by Dan Mepham.

Students from grades 9-12 gathered in the school’s automotive shop where they were taken through a presentation about UWAFT, EcoCAR 2, hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technologies, the team’s vehicle architecture and the importance of science, math and technology as well as types of careers available in the automotive industry; both technical and non-technical oriented.

Mark Goody, Outreach Coordinator, presenting to students

At the beginning of each presentation, a poll was taken to establish students’ baseline knowledge of HEVs. Across all three presentations, an average of only 15 percent of the students confidentially knew what a HEV was. However, after being polled at the end of each presentation, a whopping average of 80 percent of the students confirmed that they then knew what a HEV was, illustrating that the presentation was effective. It is important to measure before and after change in knowledge to determine whether or not the presentation taught the students and if any changes need to be made for future presentations. Altogether, UWAFT is extremely happy with the amount the students learned!

Students then gathered around the Chevrolet Volt where Dan Mepham performed a demonstration of how the car works, what features it has, and how the battery is recharged by a standard wall outlet. Students were very engaged and asked plenty of questions relating to the vehicle, how it works and the benefits of driving electric. Doors of the Volt then opened and students had the opportunity to sit inside to view the interior design and features of the sleek vehicle.

Building a better battery pack with A123, CD-Adapco and Dana-Long Manufacturing

A key part of the EcoCAR 2 learning experience is designing the main traction battery. With competition level sponsor A123 Systems Inc . having provided each team with a battery system, the University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT) needed to prove their battery design is safe and robust. One of the key elements of the battery design is the thermal performance.  UWAFT quickly realized that good thermal performance will be critical to achieving every joule and kW from the main traction battery. A cooler battery allows for more power and a longer lifetime.

UWAFT turned to Dana-Long Manufacturing to provide cold-plates that would extract heat from the modules. The cold-plates feed water through them, providing a cooling surface for the batteries. These plates are custom made for UWAFT and the A123 module geometry. Before the plates could be used, the team needed to analyze if the plates could perform under the most extreme conditions – a hot summer day in Yuma, Arizona – where the team expects to be in either year two or three of EcoCAR 2 finals.

Competition level sponsor CD-Adapco Star-CCM+ was deployed to analyze the performance of the cold-plates. Star-CCM+ is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package that can simulate fluid flow and heat transfer. By using Start-CCM+, UWAFT avoided using an expensive and complex thermal test bench. Parameters such as flow rate could also be changed quickly and the results compared easily. CD-Adapco staff also provided invaluable training and advice at the Winter Workshop that helped the team set-up the cold-plate simulation. The team is confident in its design and is ready to test it out in the heat of Yuma!

Public School Students ‘Eat Up’ EcoCAR 2 Presentation by UWAFT

On the evening of March 12th, 2012, the University of Waterloo opened its doors to local elementary school students for the Faculty of Engineering’s annual Engineering Explorations night. Thousands of grade 6-8 students and their parents descended upon Waterloo Engineering to experience the faculty by viewing a mix of displays in a tour of the various departments. The three main objectives of Explorations are to excite students about engineering and technology in hopes of sparking an interest in continuing their math and science studies throughout high school, to provide the public with an opportunity to see what engineers do at the University of Waterloo, and to promote the Faculty of Engineering.

The University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT) had a booth set up and engaged in interactive presentations to groups of students and their parents about UWAFT, EcoCAR 2, and advanced vehicle technologies. “The students asked many questions about UWAFT, EcoCAR 2 and even alternative fuels, so we knew they were well engaged during these discussions” said Rachael Morin, Director of Youth Outreach. This exemplified their interest in UWAFT‘s project goals such as reducing fuel consumption, tailpipe emissions and well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions. According to Mark Goody, Director of Outreach “many students were actually very knowledgeable about the problems that exist from society’s dependence on fossil fuels, the environmental risks associated with their extraction, and the environmental damage caused by their emissions.”

UWAFT was very happy to give young students and their parents an opportunity to learn more about advanced vehicle technologies and the EcoCAR 2 program. Getting students interested in engineering and science is important as it ensures that there will be a next generation of passionate students, dedicated towards solving real-world problems that society is currently facing.

Director of Outreach Mark Goody setting up Carbon Calculator game

UWAFT Collaborates with EcoCAR 2 Sponsor FleetCarma

University of Waterloo Collaborates with FleetCarma to Design a Vehicle that Meets Customer Needs!

When a group of engineers set out to design a vehicle, especially a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle where fuel economy is paramount, there is a lot more to think about than the look and feel. In order to connect with the consumer it is important to understand them, and more importantly their driving habits, so that the specific needs of consumers can be met in the most efficient way possible. What better way to apply this design philosophy than using the driving habits recorded in over 171,675 km of driving data provided by FleetCarma.

EcoCAR 2:Plugging In To the Future is three-year collegiate student engineering competition that builds on a 23-year history of advanced vehicle competitions. It is established by US Department of Energy and General Motors and is the only program of its kind. Fifteen universities across North America are challenged to re-engineer a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu to minimize energy consumption and reduce emissions without compromising consumer acceptability, performance or safety. EcoCAR 2 provides students with hands on automotive engineering experience as well as exposure to world-class organizations and industry standard tools.

 

The University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT) is a student team comprised of undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. UWAFT’s primary mandate is to research, design and implement advanced vehicle technologies using existing gasoline-powered vehicle platforms. In addition to technical research and development, UWAFT educates the public about alternative fuels and hybrid technologies, while raising environmental awareness through public outreach events and social media.

As part of the competition, each team is required to design a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. When UWAFT began to design its EcoCAR, the team looked over all the combinations of fuel types, motor sizes and architectures, and quickly realized there were thousands of different options. The challenge that faced team was determining the appropriate combination of engine, motors, energy sources and energy storage systems that would meet the majority of customers needs. That’s when the team turned to FleetCarma.

FleetCarma is a division of CrossChasm Technologies Inc. The majority of the team at FleetCarma has graduated from previous advanced vehicle competitions, similar to EcoCAR 2. The co-founder and CEO of CrossChasm, Matt Stevens, was co-team captain of UWAFT from 2004-2006 and participated in Challenge X. Chris Shum was a member of UWAFT during EcoCAR: The Next Challenge and currently works at CrossChasm on the controls engineering team. These two individuals are just a few examples of the opportunities EcoCAR 2 provides to participants.

FleetCarma offers a system to fleet managers to help them make better-informed purchasing decisions when expanding or updating their fleets. The process involves connecting the data logger to current gasoline powered fleet vehicles for approximately three weeks to collect data on driving distances, locations and driving habits. The information collected is then applied to a vehicle model that simulates how an electric vehicle would perform under the exact same driving habits of the fleet. This information provides the fleet manager with the ability to determine the total cost of ownership of the proposed electric vehicles prior to incorporating them into their fleet.

FleetCarma’s technology helped UWAFT refine the development process to make more informed decisions on vehicle architecture and powertrain components. Their collection process resulted in over 171 000 km worth of driving data, which is equivalent to driving from Vancouver to Halifax 28 times. From this data UWAFT was able to process key metrics including; average speed, trip distance, acceleration, power and load requirements. This data was then used to determine driving habits of a broad customer segment. For example, Canadians do not exceed 150km/h top speed and 80% of Canadians drive 70 km or less per day. The collected patterns allowed UWAFT to form a set of technical performance targets that were subsequently incorporated into the design process as guides. The data indicated that we required a design that would allow drivers to travel a minimum of 70 km per trip and therefore UWAFT picked a battery that could support this distance without needing to be recharged. Through UWAFT’s partnership with FleetCarma, UWAFT was able to translate driving habits into technical specifications, which ultimately allowed UWAFT to build a vehicle that meets the documented needs of customers.

FleetCarma is breaking ground in the electric vehicle industry and EcoCAR 2 is proud to have them on board. Their system helps organizations reduce their vehicle cost, fuel consumption and emissions to advance the adoption of electric vehicles now and into the future.

UWAFT’s Outreach Team Examines Consumer Attitudes and Behaviours Related to AFVs in Waterloo Region

Despite the variety of automotive manufacturers that offer alternatively fuelled options, the uptake of alternatively fuelled vehicles has been slow. Consumer expectations play a critical role when analyzing why alternatively fuelled vehicles have been so slow in penetrating the market.

UWAFT’s Outreach Team consists of five University of Waterloo Environment and Business students, who have been working on their fourth year research project over the past eight months while participating in the EcoCAR 2 competition.

The group, Synchronous Solutions, consists of Bob Michniak, Rachael Morin, Denis Pankov, Kyle Pinto and Eva Mathieu.

They wanted to explore the apparent gap that exists between consumer attitudes toward green products and their willingness to actually purchase such items. Specifically, consumers’ willingness to purchase green products is higher than the sales of those products indicate. Investigating this relationship for large purchases such as vehicles could provide insights on how to better market them to consumers.

Synchronous Solutions developed a survey that was distributed to consumers within the Region of Waterloo as well as available on the UWAFT website here. A total of 111 surveys were completed over February and March of 2012. The group noted some limitations of their findings, which included issues with the sample population being over representative of both females and students compared to the Canadian population.

The following graphs show some of the most interesting findings that the group obtained from their surveys. The first graph shows each respondent’s ranking of deterrents if they were considering an AFV purchase. Clearly, price is the most prevalent deterrent.

Figure 1 - If you were considering an AFV, what deterrents would be likely to stop you? (%)

The second graph compares how often consumers question the validity of environmental claims to the likeliness that they would trust the environmental claims of a vehicle if 3rd party certification was required. The graph indicates that those who question claims ‘All the time’ or ‘No, not if there’s a 3rd party certification’ would be the most likely to trust 3rd party certification of a vehicle’s environmental claims.

Figure 2 - How often do you question the validity of environmental claims on products compared to likeliness of trust in the environmental claims of a vehicle if 3rd party certification was required (%)

Synchronous Solutions’ Recommendations:

• Explore 3rd party certification for all vehicles and which metrics would be most useful
• Analyze the price premium on AFVs to determine how or if they can be adjusted to not deter purchases while maintaining profitability
• Better communication of AFV technology costs and benefits is needed for consumers
• Improved sampling technique for any further research on the topic

A full copy of their report is available here.