Design Overview Summary

Each team lead is responsible for team members who are working on tasks to complete the Design Strategy of our EcoCAR vehicle.

Overview of Stock Vehicle Modeling

The stock vehicle modeling team is responsible for designing, simulating, and verifying the stock vehicle model of the Saturn VUE.  Through the use of Matlab and Simulink, they have worked to effectively model the stock VUE in order to obtain the most accurate model possible.  The stock vehicle is a constant work in progress that is continually being updated and modified to better match the performance and specifications of the actual vehicle.  As more is learned about the vehicle and new data is presented, this information is integrated into the current model keep it up to date.  The ultimate goal is to provide the most precise representation of the stock Saturn Vue through a model based design process.

Overview of Contols Team

The Controls team is in charge of the design and implementation of the Hybrid Vehicle Supervisory Controller (HVSC) which can be split into two functions:  Dynamic Controls and Fault Management.  Dynamic controls is the software that strives to satisify multiple functions: Higher Fuel Economy, Lower Emmissions, and making the hybrid vehicle system  'transparent' (meaning the end user can not tell the difference from a normal vehicle and does not have to do anything differently).  Without this code, the vehicle would not move, let alone start.   The Fault Management software detects and properly responds to a part failure or a software malfunction.  This code allows for a robust design that does not damage components, or harm the user.  You can see the results of this software whenever the dreaded "check engine" light turns on.