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TB Battery Electric Project
TB Battery Electric Project
TB Battery Electric Project
Powertrain Team
Prateek Jain (Team manager)
Nihar Zanwar
Siddharth Purohit
Parth Samnani
Team BITS
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INDEX
3. Battery Design 9
3.1. Battery parameters
3.1.1. Chemistry
3.1.2. Energy density
3.1.3. Temperature
3.1.4. Depth of discharge
3.1.5. Discharge rate
3.2. Battery sizing calculations
3.2.1. Calculations
3.2.2. Physical configuration
4. Controller 14
4.1. Inverter circuit
4.2. Driver IC
4.3. MCU
4.4. Component selection & testing
5. Cruise control 18
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INTRODUCTION
An electric car is a plug-in electric automobile, that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using
energy typically stored in rechargeable batteries. Our team is involved in the design and development of
an electric vehicle.
This report presents a brief overview of the electric vehicle being made by our team at BITS Pilani. This
throws light on some of the subtle aspects of its making, functionality and what makes it so fuel efficient.
It is due to such a situation that the use of electric vehicles has increased manifold in many countries. While
production and acquiring of parts are major hurdles in the implementation and use of Electric vehicles,
there is also a lack of proper technology to run the vehicles of future in India.
2.3 Objective
The objective of the project is to build a lightweight fuel-efficient electric vehicle with single seating capability
using a carbon fibre monocoque to be presented as a prototype for the future of automobiles.
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1. MOTOR SELECTION
ADVANTAGES OF BLDC:
When compared with Brushed DC motors and induction motors, Brushless DC (BLDC) motors are
more advantageous. BLDC motors require less maintenance, thus have a longer life time than
brushed DC motors. BLDC motors produce more output power (per frame size) than brushed DC
motors and induction motors. Due to the absence of brushes, they have more efficiency than
brushed DC motors, and due to their synchronized operation (the stator fields and rotor rotate in
sync), they are more easily controllable and powerful than induction motors.
The rotor is made of permanent magnets, thus have less rotor inertia, compared to other type of
motors which improves acceleration and deceleration characteristics by shortening operating
cycles. Their linear speed/torque characteristics produce predictable speed regulation. With BLDC
motors, brush inspection is eliminated, making them ideal for limited access areas and
applications where servicing is difficult. BLDC motors operate much more quietly than brushed DC
motors, and also reduce Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). Low-voltage models are ideal for
battery operation, portable equipment or medical applications.
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controller can be used for variable only if variable speed is desired.
speed control.
Output Power/ Frame Size High – Since it has permanent Moderate – Since both
magnets on the rotor, smaller size stator and rotor have
can be achieved for a given windings, the output power
output power. to size is lower than BLDC.
Rotor Inertia Low – Better dynamic High – Poor dynamic
characteristics. characteristics.
Starting Current Rated – No special starter circuit Approximately up to seven
required. times of rated – Starter
circuit rating should be
carefully selected. Normally
uses a Star-Delta starter.
Control Requirements A controller is always required to No controller is required for
keep the motor running. The fixed speed; a controller is
same controller can be used for required only if variable
variable speed control. speed is desired.
Slip No slip is experienced The rotor runs at a lower
between stator and rotor frequency than stator by slip
frequencies. frequency and slip
increases with load on the
motor.
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2. MOTOR CALCULATIONS
2.1. OBJECTIVE
To calculate the load force, power output and the torque generated by the motor to propel the
car with either acceleration or a constant velocity.
This is done by taking into account the driving force supplied by the motor as well as the
various retarding forces on it.
AERODYNAMIC DRAG:
Fdrag = 0.5ρCdAv2
ρ = 1.225 kg/m3
Cd = 0.3
A = 1.1 m2
Fdrag = 0.202125 v2
ROLLING FRICTION:
Fr = Cr. Mg
Cr = 0.02 M =
200 kg g = 9.806
m/s2 Fr = 39.224 N
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2.4. TABLE FOR LOAD ON MOTOR
0 m/s 2 m/s 4 m/s 6 m/s 8 m/s 10 m/s
The peak power requirement is at 5 m/s and 1.5 m/s2 according to our assumption.
Fload = 374.277125 N at 5 m/s and 1.5 m/s2
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16 in = 0.4064 m, 17 in = 0.4318 m Rated
torque is to be calculated at 10 m/s ω =
24.6063 rad/s at 16 in,
= 23.1589 rad/s at 17 in τ
= 594.364 / ω
The rated torque with the wheels of
16in is 24.1549 N-m, 17in is 25.6646 N-m
• Power – 1.7kW
• Voltage – 48V
• Rated current – 35A
• RPM – 1000rpm
• Rated torque – 16N-m
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3. BATTERY DESIGN
Aim: To select battery pack parameters based on performance requirements
Abstract: Each type of vehicle has a specific power requirement, while some require high
power while others might require long battery life. Achieving maximum fuel efficiency is the
aim of every team at Shell Eco-Marathon competition. Keeping this in mind, we take
efficiency as the primary criteria to decide the battery pack parameters. Other criteria such
as temperature, discharge rate, depth of discharge and cost are then taken into
consideration.
3.1.1. Chemistry
The cathode material of lithium ion battery determines many parameters. Current
chemistries used for transport applications are -
● LiFePO4 (LFP)
● Li4Ti5O12 (LTO)
● LiNiMnCoO2 (NMC)
● LiNiCoAIO2 (NCA).
Each chemistry being different from the other on many parameters.
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Thus, from the table above NCA has the highest energy density.
3.1.3. Temperature
It is directly proportional to the capacity of battery. Batteries have operating temperature
ranges where they operate safely. Some battery operation ranges for discharging and
charging are -
NCA -20 to 60 °C -0 to 45 °C
NCA has good operational range for discharging though the charging range being lesser
than others.
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3.1.5. Discharge rate
This determines the rate at which the battery can be discharged. Higher discharge rates
allow more power but decreases the capacity. The discharge rates of a few chemistries
are given in the following table -
Based on all the parameters we prefer Lithium ion NCA batteries for our car.
NCA has highest energy density, good discharge rates, and good operation temperature
range. Lower number of life cycles is not useful parameter for the competition.
3.2.1. Calculations
Power: 800W for motor + 100W for auxiliary components + 100W buffer Voltage: 48V
Note: These calculations indicate the approximate size of the battery, the exact duty
cycle of the motor is not known as of now.
A battery 48V li-ion battery pack was then purchased with a capacity of 20Ah.
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Battery Pack
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4. CONTROLLER
The basic requirements and design considerations thought upon by the controller- team are
elaborated here-
The rulebook of SEM clearly states that the motor controller must be purposely built for the
competition and any modifications to purchased motor controller or evaluation kits are not
permitted. This leaves the controller-team with the only option of studying components of a generic
motor controller and figuring out essential components in the design of a controller for our purpose
- Driving a brushless DC motor.
The study of various controller designs suggests that the basic components of a controller are:
• 3 phase inverter (3 half bridges)
• Gate driver IC
• Microcontroller
A brushless DC motor needs to be driven using a specific commutation sequence, with a feedback
system. The rotor positions of the motor can be detected either by Hall Effect sensor or by sensing
back emf of the motor coils. We decided upon using the Hall Effect sensors to reduce complexity
and improve the accuracy at low speeds.
The free-wheeling diodes with the mosfets are used as a rectifier for the regenerative
braking.
The implementation of regenerative braking also needs boost converters.
This inverter will be driven using gate drivers present in the Driver IC.
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4.2. DRIVER IC
A Driver IC consists of gate drivers which drive the gates of the mosfets of the inverter.
A brushless DC motor can be driven using 3 different types of commutation types namely
trapezoidal, sinusoidal and FOC (field oriented control). Out of these, the trapezoidal is the
easiest to implement because its logic sequence are built in many available driver ICs. It is
preferred to use a driver IC which can take input from the Hall Effect sensors and commute
the motor by itself. Typical driver ICs need to be configured using SPI interface and take in
PWM input from the Microprocessor for speed. It should also be able to detect fault
conditions of over-current and over-voltage and report to the microprocessor.
We came across driver ICs made by Texas Instruments, Allegro Microsystems, and
Monolithic power systems which match our needs. The procurement of these ICs in India is
hard. Few of these ICs are available online but the package type is unsuitable for testing
(QFN). Out-pin packages or DIP packages are not available readily. As testing is an
important part of the designing process we have decided to make a test circuit of the driver
and inverter and take it inputs from a micro-controller in order to drive the motor. After this is
done we will make the final schematic and find a vendor for PCB designing and
manufacturing.
4.3. MCU
The role of the MCU is to take input from the different switches and sensors, and give proper
inputs to the driver. As it has been decided to drive the rear wheels using two motors, there
will be two tachometers, one for each motor, in order to maintain a closed loop. A major part
of the controller is the programming of the MCU, done in embedded C and consisting of the
different algorithms associated with the different systems. Another important feature of the
MCU is taking input from the rotary sensor on the steering wheel and distributing power
accordingly to both the rear wheels essentially acting as an electronic differential for the
vehicle.
There are two options as to how the microprocessor can be integrated. We can either put a
microprocessor and build the subsidiary circuitry for components like RAM, ROM, and UART
etc or buy a micro-controller which has everything integrated together and interfacing with the
computer becomes easy and use of GPIOs also becomes easy.
The final circuit cannot be made until proper testing has been done and the test circuit is able
to run the motor. Making this test circuit will require the inverter circuit and the driver IC circuit
at least, so that the primary goal of driving the motor can be achieved. On the other hand, the
circuitry involving the sensors and the switches can be worked upon simultaneously.
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MCU- We need processors that have high processing speed, high ADC sampling rates,
multiple processors, and a large flash memory (to enable large codes to be mounted).
Models: Texas instruments delfino c2000 tms320f2837xd, tms320f2837xd, tms320f28335
etc..
After researching about different components the driver IC selected was DRV8323R by
Texas Instruments. An IC for testing purpose was purchased online which came in QFN
package. The IC was then soldered on to a 48 pin breakout board and made ready for
testing. After considering resources and some constraints the testing of the IC was
outsourced to an external consultant which would be responsible for the testing the IC on a
less power motor. As of now the motor testing with the driver ICs was successfully conducted
and designing of the final PCB board is under progress. The selection of the microcontroller
is also being discussed considering future plans of the teams and compatibility with external
components added is also being taken under consideration.
Above is the test circuit that was implemented with the help of the external vendor.
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TEST CIRCUIT
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6. CRUISE CONTROL
Cruise control is an energy saving feature available in many cars today. When the
cruise control is turned on, the controller drives the vehicle at the current speed, the input is taken
from the tachometer for the current speed of the vehicle. The controller then takes the speed
input of the vehicle again with the help of tachometer and compares it with the previously set
speed and sends in the required PWM signals to the driver to change the speed of the vehicle
back to its set speed, if needed. This makes it comfortable for the driver and also saves energy if
the speed at which this is turned on is at the rated speed so that it maximizes the torque output.
Cruise control can be turned off by turning it off manually or by hitting the brake pedal.
Apart from including cruise control in our vehicle, we plan to include a button to change the
speed by +/- 1 km/h. This would ease the driver’s work while performing operations such
as Overtaking, etc. We also plan to include a button to take the vehicle to the rated speed
of the motor using the most efficient path. This will be done by
pre-programming the controller to use the best torque from the Torque v/s Speed graph ensuring
that the motor always delivers the maximum torque possible at that speed.
This would ensure the best use of the energy available and would also minimise human error.
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