Saturday, 5 November 2011

Future car technologies


Future car technologies

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Audi RSQ sports coupé from the 2004 film I, Robot, envisioned as being motivated by spherical "wheels"

The General Motors Hy-wire hydrogen car on display at the Test Track attraction atDisney World's Epcot
Potential future car technologies include new energy sources and materials, which are being developed in order to make automobiles more sustainable, safer, more energy efficient, or less polluting. Cars are being developed in many different ways.
With rising gas prices, now the future of cars is leaning towards fuel efficiency, and energy-savers, hybrid vehicles, battery electric vehicles and fuel-cellvehicles.

Contents

  [hide] 

[edit]Advanced control

[edit]Energy sources

Main article: Alternative fuel vehicle
One major problem in developing cleaner, energy efficient automobiles is the source of power to drive the engine. A variety of alternative fuel vehicles have been proposed or sold, including electric cars, hydrogen cars, compressed-air cars and liquid nitrogen cars.
In one experiment done to improve the future of cars, an old kind of battery was installed which can not be removed, and recharged in two different ways. First, by a generator integrated with the IC and second by removing the cassettes so that they can be recharged off-board in the home ( Charters, Watkinson, Wykes, & Simpkin, 2008).

[edit]Energy saver

Conventional automobiles operate at about 15% efficiency. The rest of the energy is lost to engine and drive-train inefficiencies and idling. Therefore, the potential to improve fuel efficiency with advanced technologies is enormous.
Various technologies have been developed and utilized to increase the energy efficiency of conventional cars or supplement them, resulting in energy savings.
  • Regenerative braking technology saves and stores energy for future use or as back up power. When conventional brakes are used, 100% of the kinetic energy lost is converted to thermal energy, and dissipated in the form of heat. Regenerative braking recovers some of this energy to recharge the batteries in a hybrid vehicle.
  • BMW's Turbosteamer concept uses energy from the exhaust gases of the traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) to power a steam engine which also contributes power to the automobile (Hanlon, 2005). This can increase energy efficiency by up to 15%.
  • Compressed air Hybrid is an engine made by researchers at Brunel University in Britain, which forces highly compressed air into the engine, which they claim reduces fuel consumption by 30%. [1]
  • Utilization of waste heat from D.W. as useful mechanical energy through exhaust powered steam, stirling engines, thermal diodes, etc.[1]
  • Using computational fluid dynamics in the design stage can produce vehicles which take significantly less energy to push through the air, a major consideration at highway speeds. The Volkswagen 1-litre car and Aptera 2 Series are examples of ultra-low-drag vehicles.

[edit]Materials

[edit]See also

[edit]References

  1. ^ "BMW unveils the turbosteamer concept". Gizmag. 2005-12-14. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  2. ^ Spira4U car

[edit]External links

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive and inappropriate external links. (November 2010)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Future car technologies
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, 31 October 2011

dbw drive by wire


Drive by wire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Drive-by-wire, DbW, by-wire, or x-by-wire technology in the automotive industry replaces the traditional mechanical control systems with electronic control systems using electromechanicalactuators and human-machine interfaces such as pedal and steering feel emulators. Hence, the traditional components such as the steering column, intermediate shafts, pumps, hoses, belts, coolers and vacuum servos and master cylinders are eliminated from the vehicle. Examples include electronic throttle control and brake-by-wire.

Contents

  [hide] 

[edit]Advantages

Safety can be improved by providing computer controlled intervention of vehicle controls with systems such as Electronic Stability Control (ESC), adaptive cruise control and Lane Assist Systems.
Ergonomics can be improved by the amount of force and range of movement required by the driver and by greater flexibility in the location of controls. This flexibility also significantly expands the number of options for the vehicle's design.
Parking can be made easier with reduced lock-to-lock steering wheel travel as with BMW's Active Steering System, or semi-automatic]] which is available in Ford/Lincoln vehicles in the US, someToyota Prius in Japan, Lexus LS460 models worldwide and newer European Volkswagen models. Although neither of these are strictly Steer-by-Wire (SbW) because they retain mechanical linkages, they show the capabilities that are possible.

[edit]Disadvantages

The cost of DbW systems is often greater than conventional systems. The extra costs stem from greater complexity, development costs and the redundant elements needed to make the system safe. Failures in the control system could theoretically cause a runaway vehicle, although this is no different from the throttle return spring snapping on a traditional mechanical throttle vehicle. The vehicle could still be stopped by turning the ignition off if this occurred. Another disadvantage is that manufacturers often reduce throttle sensitivity in the low-mid throttle range to make the car easier or safer to control - or to protect the drivetrain (gearbox, clutch, etc.) from driver abuse. The feeling to the driver is that the throttle feels less responsive. There are aftermarket electronic kits to increase throttle sensitivity, to re-gain a more direct-feeling relationship between pedal position and throttle valve opening.

[edit]Steer by Wire

This is currently used in electric forklifts and stockpickers and some tractors [1]. Its implementation in road vehicles is limited by concerns over reliability although it has been demonstrated in several concept vehicles such as ThyssenKrupp Presta Steering's Mercedes-Benz Unimog, General Motors' Hy-wire and Sequel and the Mazda Ryuga. A rear wheel SbW system by Delphi called Quadrasteeris used on some pickup trucks but has had limited commercial success.
This is not to be confused with Electric Power Steering.

[edit]Passenger car state-of-the-art

Electronic fuel injection metering in diesel and gasoline engines is now widely used. Electronic throttle control is also in widespread use for gasoline engine control. Purely electronic brake and steering systems have yet to find widespread application in passenger cars. This is primarily because of the significant safety implications of steering or braking systems without a redundant mechanical backup in case of failure of the DbW system. Although it is technically feasible to address these concerns with multiple redundant electronic systems (as in fly-by-wire systems used by many airliners and military aircraft), the additional cost and service requirements have made these systems commercially uncompetitive to date. Hybrid electric vehicles employ limited electronically controlled regenerative braking, but the standard hydraulic braking system is retained. The growth in sales of hybrid and electric vehicles is likely to become an enabling factor for drive-by-wire systems in the future cars because of the availability of high power electrical supplies required for the new electrical actuators.

[edit]The future

Some fanciful theories and applications abound as to what the ultimate implications of DbW technology might be. It has been suggested that DbW might allow a car to become completely separate from its controls, meaning that a car of the future might theoretically be controlled by any number of different control systems: push buttons, joysticks, steering wheels, or even voice commands — whatever device that designers could come up with.

[edit]See also

[edit]External links

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)