With tightening legislation and ongoing crude oil price volatility, the automotive industry has been under increasing pressure to develop vehicles that are more fuel efficient and lower in emissions. As a result, hybrid powertrains are gaining considerable momentum.
Key challenges include the selection of appropriate powertrain configuration, component size and energy management algorithms.
Our expertise in the field includes:
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Control engineering;
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Estimation techniques;
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Hardware-in-the-loop simulation;
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Mechatronic modelling;
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Prototyping;
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Static and dynamics optimisation methods.
We have a long history of working closely with the industry to investigate complex engineering problems and emerging technologies.
Our interaction with the industry is either through joint research projects funded by research councils, e.g. the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) or Technology Strategy Board (TSB), or direct collaborative research with businesses such as AVL, Cenex, Jaguar Land Rover, Liberty Electric Cars, Lotus, MIRA and Mitsubishi SWAG合集.
We offer the possibility of providing academic supervision to PhD or MSc students to work on a research topic to address specific demands from the industry.
About our research
Our greatest strength is the ability to combine the academic rigour and long-term perspective of a university with the commercial and business focus of industry.
Our excellence in strategic and applied research has enabled us to make significant contributions to the world around us for over 60 years. We address real life challenges and focus on research that is of strategic and practical importance.
We provide a supportive research community for students and our academic work is regularly published in journal article, book or thesis form.
Our facilities
• Mechatronic Laboratory - offers a number of hardware-in-the-loop test benches for the simulation and fast prototyping of control algorithms for hybrid and hybrid-electric vehicles. Real-time simulation is performed in standard dSpace hardware such as the 'Simulators' and the 'MicroAutoBox'. Such setup is ideal for testing physical components.
• Transient Dynamometer - configured for testing real hybrid powertrains.