05-03-2013, 04:06 PM
Renewable Energy Vehicle Instrumentation
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Renewable Energy Vehicle Instrumentation:Graphical User Interface and Black Box
Abstract
The current energy conservation and climate change discourse is no longer about
lip service to a cause out there in the future. It is a here and now issue focused
on alternative energy sources for road transport, fuelled in part by depleting fossil
fuels, its increasing costs and the need to control vehicular emissions. One of the
most viable solutions available is the Electric Car.
A Hyundai Getz has already been converted into a fully electric car as a part of
the Renewable Energy project and a conversion is currently being undertaken on
a Lotus Elise. The Getz is road legal, and the Elise will soon be. Both cars have
performances similar to their petrol-powered counterparts, but with much better
fuel economy and with zero emissions.
This thesis focuses on designing Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) and developing
code for the onboard controllers for both the Getz and Elise. The code is designed to
read various sensors, process the data and display it though the GUI. In addition,
there is a \Black Box" implemented in software to record relevant data gathered
from the sensors. The onboard controller for the Getz is the Eyebot Mark 6, which
runs Busy Box Linux and the controller for the Elise, is a PC running Windows XP
embedded. The code for the Eyebot is written entirely in C, while the PC uses a
Flash frontend with a Visual C++ backend. The project also focuses on interfacing
the sensor hardware with the onboard controllers.
Introduction
This project was completed as part of the Renewable Energy Vehicle (REV) project.
The goal of the REV project is to \make electric cars that can be charged at ordinary
plug points, and produce no pollution. It is planned to produce cars, which are both
commercially viable and performance driven."[1] Currently, both a Hyundai Getz
and a Lotus Elise are being worked on as part of this goal. The REV project also
aims at combating increasing fuel costs. [1]
The rst part of the nal year project is an extension on the author's third year
project involving designing a Graphical User Interface for an Eyebot Mark 6, which
is the onboard controller in the electric Hyundai Getz. The project this year involved
integrating Black Box code with the existing GUI and interfacing with various sensors.
The second part of the project dealt with the instrumentation for the Lotus
Elise. The onboard controller for the Lotus was a PC running Windows XP. The
coding here was done partially in Visual C++ in the .NET environment and partially
in Action Scripting 3 using Adobe Flash. The author was the team leader of
the instrumentation team and was also responsible for allocating tasks to the rest
of the team.
This project is particularly relevant in the context of the energy conservation debate
and the discourse around climate change. There is an increased urgency the world
over to meet the growing threats of depleting fossil fuels, energy security and global
warming. There are numerous eorts around the globe to combat this challenge.
This project is one small step towards a better, safer, cleaner and a greener planet.
INTRODUCTION
Description of the problem
Modern electric cars feature a lot of new and unconventional technologies. The
REV's Hyundai Getz and Lotus Elise are no exceptions. There is use of Lithium
Iron Phosphate batteries, a battery management system, voltage converters, an
electric motor, a controller for the motor and various safety circuitry. The use of
these technologies means there was a need to monitor their state for:
1. Checking that they are performing as they should be and alerting the driver
about any errors present.
Using the data gathered to make further improvements.
In particular, the driver needs to be aware of the state of charge of the batteries so
he knows how much longer he may drive.
All the information gathered needs to be displayed graphically to the driver as well
as logged. The GUI needs to be easy to use while driving and at the same time
present a multitude of data.
The use of an embedded controller in the Getz and a PC in the Elise meant that
there was an opportunity to provide the driver with several extra features. Though
not absolutely essential for driving, these were handy as they provided the driver
with a one stop solution for all his needs.
HARDWARE USED
Hardware Used
Eyebot M6
The Eyebot Mark 6 (shown in Figure 1.1) is an embedded controller developed and
built at UWA. It is used in the Hyundai Getz to display and log data.