Article 1

Development of Genetic Algorithm based Control Strategy for 2

Fuel Consumption Optimization in a Mild Hybrid (MHEV) 3

Electrified Propulsion System 4

Roberto H. Q. Filho 1, Rodrigo P. M. Ruiz1, Eisenhawer M. Fernandes2, Rosalvo B. Filho1, Felipe C. Pimenta2 5

1 Robert Bosch GmbH, 13065-900, Campinas, Brazil; roberto.queirogafilho@br.bosch.com, 6

rodrigo.ruiz@br.bosch.com, rosalvo.bertolucci@br.bosch.com 7
2 Department of Electrical Engineering, Laboratory of Electronic Instrumentation and Control (LIEC), Federal 8
University of Campina Grande, 58429-900, Campina Grande, Brazil; eisenhawer.moura@ee.ufcg.edu.br 9

Citation: Filho, R.H.Q.; Ruiz,
R.P.M., Fernandes, E.M.; Filho, R.B.;
Delgado, J.M.P.Q.; Lima, E.S.; Lima,
A.G. B. Development of Genetic
Algorithm-based Control Strategy
for Fuel Consumption Optimization
in a Mild Hybrid Electrified (MHEV)
Propulsion System. Computation
Abstract: Increasingly stringent pollutant emission regulations and customer demand for high fuel 10
economy drives the modern automotive industry in a rush for the problem of decarbonization and 11
powertrain efficiency, leading R&D to alternative powertrain solutions and fuels. Electrification 12
today plays the biggest role in the topic, with Mild Hybrid Electrified Vehicles (MHEVs) being the 13
most cost-effective architectures with dominance in smaller markets such as Brazil. One of the 14
biggest challenges for HEVs development is the complexity of the hybrid control system, knowing 15
when to actuate the electric machine and the optimum power delivery, plus the gearshift schedule, 16
becomes a hard optimization problem that plays a key role on powertrain efficiency and cost savings 17
for the customer. This paper proposes the implementation of a Genetic Algorithm (GA) as a machine 18
learning based control strategy to determine the torque split and the gear engaged for each driving 19
condition of a MHEV operation aiming to optimize fuel consumption. A quasi-static model of the 20
vehicle was developed in Matlab/Simulink, the virtual vehicle was then tested following the FTP75 21
and HWFET driving cycles. Simulation results indicate that the control decisions taken by the GA 22
are qualitatively coherent for all operation conditions and even quantitatively coherent in some 23
cases and that the software has potential to be used as control strategy outside simulation 24
environment in future steps of development. 25
Keywords: Hybrid vehicles, Virtualization, Vehicle Simulation, Machine learning, Genetic 26
algorithm, Tuning Automation/Automatic Calibration, Fuel consumption optimization, Gear shift 27

2023, 11, x. control, Matlab/Simulink. 28

https://doi.org/10.3390/xxxxx 29

Academic Editor(s): Name

Lastname 1. Introduction 30

Received: date Amid the 19th century, Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) revolutionized the 31
Revised: date mobility industry, introducing to modern society a new concept of transportation: the 32
Accepted: date automobile. Today, the global automotive fleet has exceeded 1.5 billion vehicles [1], 33
Published: date
making it one of the largest sectors in the global economy. Nevertheless, undesired 34
byproducts from this advancement have led to negative environmental impacts and 35
health issues due to the emission of greenhouse gases [2]. Additionally, the continual rise 36
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. in fossil fuel prices, presents another challenge. 37
Submitted for possible open access
Consequently, achieving carbon neutrality [3] and enhancing fuel economy has 38
publication under the terms and
become paramount for the automotive industry, pushed by strict emission legislations 39
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license
and consumer preference for economical vehicles, leading Research & Development to 40

(https://creativecommons.org/license many solutions including hardware and software enhancements, alternative fuels, and 41
s/by/4.0/). electrification. 42

Computation 2023, 11, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/xxxxx www.mdpi.com/journal/computation

Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 20

1.1. The Electrification Path 43

An electrified vehicle consists of adding one or more electric machines to support 44

the ICE or completely supply the propulsion power demand from the driver. When 45
properly controlled such powertrains can actuate the electric machines in ways to avoid 46
engine operation in regions of lower efficiency or when not needed, and even provide 47
energy recovery during deceleration events (Regenerative Braking). The electrification 48
level is categorized by the power electronics operation voltage, battery energy storage, 49
and power, which combined, determines the capability of the electric path and constrain 50
energy-saving features. Table 1 makes a capability comparison between the six main EVs 51
architectures: micro Hybrid (mHEV), mild Hybrid (MHEV), full/strong Hybrid (fHEV), 52
Plug in Hybrid (PHEV), Range Extended Electric Vehicle (REEV), Battery Electric Vehicle 53
(BEV) [4], and the state of the art Fuel Cell Hybrid Electrified Vehicles (FCHEV) [11]. 54

Table 1. xEVs capabilities comparison based on electrification level. 55

micro HEV mild HEV full HEV PHEV REEV BEV

Voltage 12 V 48 V + 300 V + 300 V + 300 V + 400 V +

Elec. System Power 1 - 2 kW 3 - 15 kW 15 - 40 kW 40 - 120 kW 120 kW + 160 kW +
Battery Capacity ~ 0.5 kWh 0.4 – 0.8 kWh 0.8 – 3 kWh 8 – 20 kWh 20 kWh + 60 – 200 kWh +
Start-Stop • • - - - -
Torque Split o • • - -
Regenerative Braking o • • • •
Pure Electric Driving o • • •
External Charging • • •
● Full capability; ○ Partial capability; - Not applicable. 56

In Brazil the electrified market is very promising, although the current adhesion is 57
still incipient, an exponent-like growth in market share has been taking place over the last 58
five years as shown in Figure 1a (created from [5](p.14) and [6] data). Amongst the 59
electrified category, xHEV architecture (micro, mild and full HEVs) holds the biggest 60
market share, followed by PHEVs and BEVs as shown in Figure 1b (created from [6] data). 61
There are strong prospects for electrifieds in general, with Ethanol Hybrid technology 62
(Hybrid powertrain where engine is fueled by ethanol) as main solution to achieve carbon 63
neutrality and legislation compliance, this can be evidenced by substantial recent 64
investments from global leading automakers to develop the technology [7][8]. Ethanol 65
Hybrid is not a novel concept [9], however, just recently with stringent emission legislation 66
and government subsides it became feasible and profitable. 67

a) b) 68
Figure 1. (a) Market share for light vehicles in Brazil over the last 5 years; (b) Market share withing 69
electrified category in Brazil 2023, 44% slice include (micro, mild and full HEVs). 70
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 20

1.2. Challenges in the Control Strategy. 71

On electrified powertrains, the hardware architecture has ultimate influence over 72

the control strategy complexity. The addition of more actuators besides the ICE [4] unlock 73
new degrees of freedom to be controlled and optimized, enabling a better dynamic 74
response and higher powertrain efficiency, at the cost of a more complex hardware and 75
software. In other words, knowing when the electric machines should help the ICE, the 76
amount of power to be delivered at each driving condition to have optimal fuel 77
consumption, and the gear shift schedule for vehicles equipped with computer actuated 78
transmissions [10], are complex optimization problems [11]. 79
Currently, the automotive industry relies mostly on rule-based control strategies 80
such as in [14] and a great effort from Calibration Engineers to tune controllers’ 81
parameters. The problem with this method is that it requires a huge amount of manual 82
effort due to the iteration process, especially when the system is complex. 83

1.3. Purpose of this research. 84

A promising approach to shorten development time and improve robustness of 85

calibration data is to employ computers on the iteration process, this can be done by 86
associating two concepts: 87
• Virtualization: Data-based hardware (engine and e-motors) modeling and model- 88
based control development, through acquisition of experimental hardware data. 89
• Tuning Automation: The use of optimization algorithms to iterate and tune the 90

controller parameters. (E.g., GA and other optimization algorithms )[12]. 91

This paper presents a simplified virtualization of a MHEV vehicle and the 92
development of a genetic algorithm (GA) to act as Automatic Tuner and calibrate the torque 93
split (ratio between the torque delivered by Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and Belt 94
Starter Generator (BSG)) and gear engaged aiming for optimal fuel consumption. 95

1.4. State of the art. 96

Currently, the automotive industry relies mostly on rule-based control strategies 97

and great efforts from Calibration Engineers to tune controllers’ parameters. The concept 98
of automated tune and the use of machine learning techniques and other optimization 99
algorithms for the purpose of automatic tuning is still mainly research material. 100
Table 2 summarizes advances in research related to this manuscript’s content and 101
the use of Genetic Algorithms and other techniques to perform similar tasks to what is 102
being proposed. 103

Table 2. Literature review about GA based control strategies and other control methods for HEVs. 104
Reference Highlight of review
Xu et al. present a comprehensive review of energy management control strategies for
[13],[14] HEVs, emphasizing the need for smarter systems. The paper evaluates various
controls strategies to optimize energy usage in hybrid vehicles.

Jalil et al. propose a rule-based energy management strategy tailored for series hybrid
vehicles. The paper introduces a set of rules governing energy usage to enhance the
[15]
vehicle's performance and efficiency, through control of Power Split and battery State
of Charge (SoC) management.

Lü and colleagues provide a review focusing on energy optimization of fuel cell hybrid
[16]
power systems in hybrid electric vehicles using genetic algorithms. The paper explores
how genetic algorithms can enhance energy management strategies.
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 4 of 20

Denis et al. employs a genetic algorithm that optimizes the power split strategy for a
[17] plug-in three-wheeler parallel hybrid vehicle. The paper proposes a methodology to
determine the optimal power distribution between the internal combustion engine and
the electric motor for improved efficiency.

Chen et al. present an energy management approach for power-split plug-in hybrid
[18] electric vehicles, integrating genetic algorithms and quadratic programming.
Employment of GA to optimize power threshold for engine to turn on based on
vehicle fuel-rate, SoC and driveline power demand.

Ahmadi and Bathaee focus on multi-objective genetic algorithm for off-line

[19] optimization of the supervisory system for fuel cell hybrid vehicles. The paper
discusses the integration of Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC) and Operating Mode Control
(OMC) strategies to achieve superior performance.

Li et al. analyze and optimize the energy management strategy of a new energy
[20]
hybrid 100% low-floor tramcar employing a genetic algorithm. The study aims to
enhance the efficiency and sustainability of tramcar operations.

Saini et al. propose a genetic algorithm-based approach to optimize gear shifts for
[21],[10] electric vehicles. The paper discusses how this optimization can improve vehicle
performance and energy efficiency.

The proposed paper introduces a novel approach to streamline the development 105
process of controller tuning and enhance the robustness of calibration data for hybrid 106
vehicles, which differs from the previous bibliographic review in following key aspects: 107
• Integration of Virtualization and Tuning Automation: While the literature review, 108
primarily focus on discussing existing energy management strategies and 109
optimization techniques, this proposal combines two concepts: virtualization and 110
tuning automation. Virtualization involves data-based hardware modeling and 111
model-based control development, while tuning automation utilizes optimization 112
algorithms to iterate and tune controller parameters. 113
• Development of Genetic Algorithm for Automatic Tuning: The paper introduces 114
the development of a genetic algorithm (GA) to serve as an automatic tuner for 115
calibrating the torque split and gear engagement in the MHEV. Unlike the 116
literature review, which discussed the application of GA in optimizing energy 117
management strategies, this proposal specifically focuses on using GA to fine-tune 118
controller parameters for optimal fuel consumption. Additionally, the paper 119
mentions referencing other optimization algorithms used for similar purposes, 120
indicating a broader exploration of optimization techniques beyond GA. 121
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 20

2. System Description and Modeling 122

2.1. Powertrain Architecture 123

The focus of this work is a MHEV powertrain architecture such as in Figure 1, 124
composed by an ICE and a 48V Belt Starter Generator (BSG) [22], in such system is also 125
very common the presence of a Starter motor much less powerful than the BSG with the 126
only purpose of cranking the ICE at key crank (first crank of the drive cycle) or in any 127
condition that the BSG is not capable to do so, for example if the 48V battery reaches a 128
very low State of Charge (SoC). 129

y t

l ctric
a
a
ci att ry
P

y t

lt
l ctric
a
att ry
rt r

Pac

ly l

arb

i r tial

l tc
tart r

l 130
Figure 1. MHEV powertrain (ICE + 48V BSG + Starter Motor), architecture schematic and operating 131
modes. 132

Such system can operate at the following states: 133

1) Engine OFF: Vehicle is at standby both ICE and BSG are OFF. 134
2) Engine Stop & Start (ESS): When the powertrain controller identifies enabling 135
conditions adequate for an engine stop, for example in a traffic jam or when waiting 136
for a traffic light, the engine is stalled (with -BSG help) and cranked again (with +BSG 137
help) once a driver request or vehicle request (including critically low battery levels, 138
system failure, etc.) is detected by the powertrain controllers. 139
3) e-Assist: When the torque requested by the driver is provided by both ICE and BSG 140
(+ICE, +BSG). 141
4) ICE only: When the torque requested by the driver is provided only by the ICE (+ICE). 142
5) Generator mode: When the torque requested by the driver is fully provided by the ICE, 143
and in addition to that some torque is consumed by the BSG which is working as a 144
generator to charge the vehicle batteries (+ICE, -BSG). 145
6) e-Braking: When the braking torque requested by the driver is fully provided by the 146
BSG acting as generator (-BSG). 147
7) Aggressive Braking: When the BSG is not capable of provide the total amount of 148
braking torque being requested by the driver and the mechanical brakes are also 149
engaged. 150
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 6 of 20

2.2. Vehicle Specification 151

The specifications for the MHEV vehicle were set as in Table 3 but can be changed 152
by the user: 153

Table 3. Vehicle Specifications. 154

Symbol Parameter Value [unit]
Vehicle
mv Dry Mass 1300 [Kg]
Cd Drag Coefficient 0.32 [-]
Af Vehicle Frontal Area 2.35 [m2]
Crr Rolling Resistance Coeff. 0.016
Rw Tire Radius 0.3 [m]
Transmission
Gear Ratios 3.70 2.22 1.37 1.00 0.74
Final Gear 2.7
ηtrans Mechanical Efficiency 0.97
ICE
τ max,ice Peak Torque @3600 RPM 134 [N.m]
Pmax,ice Peak Power @5000 RPM 64.7 [kW]
ꞷmin,ice Min RPM (idle) 900 [RPM]
ꞷmax,ice Max RPM (redline) 6000 [RPM]
48V BSG
τ max,bsg Peak Torque ± 75 [N.m]
Pmax,bsg Peak Power @2150 RPM
1 16.9 [kW]
ꞷmin,bsg Min RPM (idle) -5700 [RPM]
ꞷmax,bsg Max RPM (redline) +5700 [RPM]
Rp Pulley Ratio 2 1
Li-Ion Battery Pack [186503,14S4P4]
BV Pack Nominal Voltage 50.4 [V]
BC Pack Capacity 12.8 [Ah]
Bv,max Cutoff Voltage (Discharge) 38.5 [V] 2.75 [V/cell]
Bv,min Cutoff Voltage (Charge) 58.8 [V] 4.2 [V/cell]
1 BSG Peak Power is limited by field weakening feature to accommodate inverter capabilities. 155
2 Ratio between diameter of BSG pulley and Engine crankshaft pulley 156
3 18650 Battery Cell: 3.6V nominal, 3200mAh (discharge at 1C), cutoff voltages (2.75 4.2). 157
4 Pack arrangement: 14 Cells in series, 4 Cells in parallel. 158

2.3. Simulink Model: Architecture and Software Components 159

A QuasiStatic, gray-box (equation and data driven), inverted simulation model of 160
the vehicle was developed as shown in Figure 2, following a similar approach as QSS- 161
Toolbox [23]. The intention of such approach is to get the RPM and Torque demands at 162
the flywheel from the drive cycle data and vehicle specifications only, and, with a data- 163
driven model of the Engine and BSG, is possible to make accurate estimations of the 164
instantaneous fuel and electric energy consumption of the vehicle, throughout the drive 165
cycle. 166
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 20

167

168
Figure 2. Simulink Model (cover). 169

The Model is composed by the following software components: 170

1) Drive Cycle Source: Provides the Speed profile, for this work was used the HWFET 171
(Highway Fuel Economy Test) and the first 765s of FTP-75 (Federal Test Procedure at 172
75°F), both of which are used for validation on light-duty vehicles with the purpose 173
of simulating Highway (HWFET) and City (FTP-75) conditions as in Figure 3. 174

175
Figure 3. Speed profile for both driving cycles used in this work FTP-75 and HWFET. 176

2) Vehicle Dynamics model: Calculates the force demand at wheel domain (1) to maintain 177
the speed profile from drive cycle. The calculation is based on Aerodynamic Drag 178
(2), Road Slope (3), Rolling Resistance (4), and Inertial (5) forces. 179

𝐹𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙,𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑙 = 𝐹𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑔 + 𝐹𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 + 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 + 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎 (1) 180

𝐴𝑓 ×𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟 ×𝑣 2
𝐹𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑔 (𝑣) = 𝑐𝑑 × (2) 181
2

𝐹𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 (𝛼) = 𝑚𝑣 × 𝑔 × 𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝛼) (3) 182

4×𝑣
𝐹𝑟olling (𝛼, 𝑣) = [ 𝐶𝑟𝑟0 × 𝑡anh ( )] × 𝑚𝑣 × 𝑔 × 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝛼) (4) 183
𝑣𝑡ℎ

𝑑𝑣
𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎 (𝑣̇ ) = 𝑚𝑣 × (5) 184
𝑑𝑡

3) Driveline Model: Converts the force demand at wheel domain to flywheel domain 185
based on transmission characteristics: gear ratios, transmission efficiency, and clutch 186
operation. The purpose of Figure 4a is to validate the Simulink model of the vehicle 187
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8 of 20

by comparing the operating point graph (Veh. Speed x Force) with a dynamometer 188
data acquired from a vehicle with similar architecture and characteristics, by getting 189
a close match between the two curves it is possible to say if the virtualized vehicle 190
model in fact reflects the vehicle which it is trying to represent. The dynamometer 191
data is from the Honda Accord, acquired from [24]. 192

193
a) 194

195
b) 196
Figure 4. Tractive effort curves for the transmission simulated in this work. 197

4) Arbitrator: This software component uses a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to perform the 198
three most important functions of the model, aiming to minimize fuel consumption: 199
• Torque Split Ratio Determination: Receive from the driveline model the total 200
torque demand at the flywheel and calculates using a Genetic Algorithm (GA) 201
the Torque Split Ratio (how the torque demand at the Flywheel is delivered 202
between ICE and BSG) at every timestep of the drive cycle. 203
• Gear Selection: Select the gear engaged. 204
• Brake Actuation Split: Calculates how the braking actuation should be delivered 205
between mechanical brakes and BSG (alternator mode). 206
207
208
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9 of 20

5) Engine & BSG Model: Figure 5 displays the efficiency maps for both ICE and BSG, 209
they are data-based models of the actuators (virtualization concept) and represents 210
what kind of response in terms of energy consumption (Fuel or Electrical) the 211
actuator would deliver for a given (Torque & Speed) request. 212
a. Figure (5a) display the engine map, which is a contour plot (2D visualization 213
of a surface) for the fuel consumption, with some other valuable additions 214
such as the Torque Max (red dashed line) which shows the engine torque 215
constrain at each Speed. The Optimum Cons Curve (green solid line with 216
dots) which display the place of lowest consumption in the contour map. 217
b. Similarly Figure 5b display the equivalent information for the BSG, the 218
efficiency (in % since is an electric machine), and the Torque Max curve to 219
display the torque constrains for BSG. 220

a) 221

b) 222

Figure 5. (a)Engine Fuel Consumption Map; and (b) BSG Efficiency Map. 223

3. The Genetic Algorithm 224

A genetic algorithm (GA) is a search heuristic evolutionary algorithm [25], inspired 225
by the process of natural selection and genetics. It is commonly used in optimization and 226
machine learning to find approximate solutions to optimization and search problems. The 227
basic idea is to model the process of natural selection, where the fittest individuals (in 228
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 10 of 20

other words, the solution which produces the best outcome) in a population are more 229
likely to survive and reproduce, passing their genetic information to the next generation 230
[26][27][28]. 231

3.1. Role of GA as optimization algorithm 232

The point of using a GA is that it is a very robust method: The GA is almost never 233
the best optimization method for any particular problem, but it works consistently well 234
across a range of problems or situations, which is a crucial feature for calibration of an 235
unknown powertrain. There are some characteristics that makes the GA a unique solution 236
for search and optimization problems [29][30][31]: 237
• It does not require smoothness of the objective function, being capable of handling 238
continuous or discrete functions, and even a mix of both. In fact, it does not 239
necessarily need to know the objective function, if the application can provide the 240
outputs only for the inputs being iterated at a given moment, the algorithm would 241
still work, e.g. an instrumented car in a dynamometer. 242
• It can handle unsteadiness and noise. 243
• It is particularly good in escaping from local minima, the ergodicity of the 244
evolutionary operators makes it very effective at performing global search, 245
whenever applied to a multi-peak objective function. 246
• It can be applied even when the search space is unknown. 247
• It has a remarkable balance between exploration and exploitation of the search 248
space. 249
• It has great flexibility to be hybridized with domain-dependent heuristics to make a 250
more effective implementation for a specific problem. 251

3.2. GA implementation: Working principles and parameters. 252

The optimization method described in this paper utilizes a GA with the objective of 253
optimizing fuel consumption by adjusting the Torque Split Ratio and Gear Selection. The 254
process is described below (cf. Figure 6): 255

1) Population Initialization: The algorithm generates a certain amount of random 256

binary vectors called chromosomes. Each chromosome contains all the information 257
regarding the physical values to be optimized, in this paper two parameters are 258
contained within a single chromosome: the torque split and gear. The first 6 bits from 259
the chromosome carry the information related to the torque split and the last 2 bits 260
carry the information related to the gear. 261
2) Evaluation: The chromosomes are converted into the physical values using a built-in 262
MATLAB function which converts binary to decimal. The physical value is then sent 263
as input to the objective function, which in this case is the vehicle model, however, it 264
could be an instrumented vehicle running in a dynamometer. The objective function 265
is responsible for providing the solutions: The instantaneous fuel & electrical 266
consumption and the battery pack SoC. With this information the GA can calculate 267
the fitness (represents the how good the chromosome is related to the optimization 268
goals) which is a normalized weight average of fuel consumption, instantaneous 269
efficiency and battery SoC. 270
3) Selection: There are mainly three selections, which are fixed percentages of the 271
population, and are made based on fitness: 272
a. The worst chromosomes on the population are deleted. 273
b. The best chromosomes are allocated on the elite population array. 274
c. Only at the last iteration of the loop, the very best chromosome is selected 275
and sent as the output for that timestep of the main simulation. 276
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 20

4) Crossover: Randomly selects from the elite population two chromosomes, they are 277
cut at one point and the halves are spliced creating two offspring, the process repeats 278
for a calibratable number of chromosome pairs. 279
5) Mutation: Takes a certain number of chromosomes from elite population and reverse 280
the bit (0 to 1 or vice versa) as on Figure 6, both for Torque Split and gear bits. 281
6) Population Sum: Replace the deleted chromosomes from the population for the new 282
ones from Crossover and Mutation operations. 283

284
Figure 6. Schematic diagram of the software architecture for the Genetic Algorithm 285
implemented in this paper. 286

Table 4. Genetic Algorithm Parameters 287

Parameter Value

Gen - Number of generations per iteration cycle. 20

Ptot - Population size. [number of chromosomes] 18
Nmut - Number of mutations per generation. 4
Ncr - Number of crossovers per generation. 4
Pelit - Elite population size. [% of total population] 20
Ntot - Number of chromosomes generated per
170 1
iteration cycle until find an optimal solution.
Nbit - Number of bits of each chromosome. 10 2
1 Ntot = (Gen-1)*(Nmut + Ncr) + Ptot 288
2 The first 8 bits carry the Power Split information and 2 last bits carry gear info. 289
290
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 12 of 20

3.3. GA Visualization 291

Figure 7, displays in a simplified manner the GA operation and general 292

characteristics. 293
The GA developed in this paper is multi-objective, meaning that it has more than 294
one objective function, in this case it has 2: 295
1) The fuel consumption map of the engine Figure 7a, which provides the instantaneous 296
fuel consumption for any given ordered pair in the search space (Torque , Speed) within 297
the constrain limits of the hardware (speed and torque limitations). 298
2) The efficiency map of the BSG Figure 7b, which provides the instantaneous efficiency 299
for any given ordered pair in the search space (Torque , Speed) within the constrain 300
limits of the hardware (speed and torque limitations). 301
Figure 7c shows how the GA iterates until it finds the lowest fuel consumption for 302
the particular speed being requested by the driver. For each step of the main simulation, 303
the GA complete one full cycle, composed by a population of 18 chromosomes in an loop 304
of 20 generations; At the end of each cycle the GA outputs the winner ordered pair (Torque 305
, Speed) as well as its respective instantaneous fuel consumption. This same process is done 306
simultaneously on the BSG efficiency map outputting the winner ordered pair (Torque , 307
Speed) as well as its respective efficiency. In Figure 7d is shown how the Mean Average 308
Fuel Consumption of the chromosome population converges towards the global 309
minimum as generations advances, the figure only presents the results for two iteration 310
cycles, nevertheless, in the 765 seconds of simulation 1530 iteration cycles occurs, resulting 311
in 30,600 generations and a total of 260,100 chromosomes tested. 312

a) b) 313

c) 314

d) 315
Figure 7. GA algorithm: (a),(b) Objective functions; (c) Iteration process and (d) Convergence curve. 316
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 13 of 20

4. Results and Discussion 317

This section intends to evaluate the quality of the control performed by the GA. 318
Following subsections will present the main simulation results with a brief comment for 319
each one of them. 320

4.1. Efficiency maps with operating points 321

Figure 8 presents the efficiency maps for ICE and BSG with the operation points 322
(ordered pair (Speed, Torque)) requested throughout the driving cycle, note that each 323
operation point is colored to indicate also the gear engaged. 324
The expectation is that the point cloud on ICE maps (Figure 8a,8b) should be as close 325
as possible to the “Optimum Cons Curve”. This behavior indicates that in fact the control 326
strategy is actuating the engine to output a torque value that will result in the optimal fuel 327
consumption for that given RPM. Is important to mention that the GA doesn’t receive as 328
input the “Optimum Cons Curve” it is plotted here for comparison purposes only. 329
In contrast, a much bigger dispersion on the point cloud is expected on the BSG maps 330
(Figure 8c,8d) since the main purpose of the BSG for a non-performance passenger vehicle 331
is to optimize fuel consumption, and the way to achieve this is to avoid ICE operation in 332
inefficient zones and disable the engine when no torque is requested (aka. Start&Stop, 333
refer to section 2.1). Thus, the controller should always actuate the BSG to complement for 334
the delta between Driver Torque Request and ICE Torque Output. 335

a) b) 336

c) d) 337
Figure 8. (a) Engine fuel consumption map with operation points for FTP75; and (b) HWFET; (c) BSG efficiency map with 338
operating points for FTP75; and (d)HWFET. 339

340
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20

Figures 8e,8f presents a better overview on the point cloud deviation, which is an 341
important metric to evaluate the quality of the control made by the GA. The expected ideal 342
scenario would be a perfect match between the point cloud mean (orange line) and the 343
optimum consumption curve (green line), with as little deviation as possible (orange 344
shade). 345
The point cloud displayed in Figure 8e related to FTP75, undershoots the optimum 346
curve in the low-medium speed range (1000 to 3500 RPM), this is atributed to the time 347
window between 450 and 700 seconds of simulation. When the SoC reaches full capacity 348
(take a look at Figure 10a about 430 s), the powertrain ability to enter in generator mode is 349
disabled, subsequently when the driver makes low torque requests they are honoured by 350
the ICE alone, rather than by ICE and BSG in generator mode as it would normally, to 351
avoid engine operation in lower efficiency zone; Alternatively the torque request could 352
also be honoured by the BSG alone, however they were slightly higher than BSGs torque 353
limit. This is a very good takeaway on why charge sustaining is so important on HEVs 354
especially P1 architectures (ICE + BSG) where the electric motor usally don’t have the 355
capability to enter in fully electric and discharge the extra SoC preventing Generator mode 356
engagement. 357
Conversely, Figure 8f depicts a significantly better power split control with the 358
average fuel consumption from the point cloud fitting almost perfectly the optimum 359
consumption curve and an overall smaller deviation. 360

e) f) 361

Figure 9. (e) Engine fuel consumption map with operating point cloud mean and deviation for FTP75; and (f) HWFET. 362
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 15 of 20

4.2. Power/Torque Split 363

Figure 9 presents the Power Split, which is the power contribution of each individual 364
torque actuator (ICE, BSG, Brakes) for the total power request, that being said there are 365
the following use cases: 366
• Positive torque/power request: 367
o e-Assist mode: A combination of ICE and BSG (as motor) supplies the 368
torque/power demand. 369
o Generator mode: The ICE supply all the power required for moving the 370
vehicle and more to actuate BSG (as generator), recharging the batteries. 371
• Negative torque/power request: A combination of BSG (as generator) and 372
Brakes supplies the torque/power demand. 373
Some observations: The bar plot (representing the Power Split) is stacked, which 374
means that the sum of all bars in any given time is equal to 1 which is the total Power 375
request, for example, the very first bar can be read as roughly 50-50 split between ICE and 376
BSG (as generator). 377

378
a) 379

380
b) 381
Figure 10. (a) Power Split for FTP75; and (b) HWFET. 382

383
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4.3. Drive cycle & Operating modes 384

Figure 10 presents the operating modes throughout the driving cycle, recall from 385
section 2.1 the seven different operating modes in a mild Hybrid (ICE+BSG) powertrain 386
architecture. The expectation here is that the control can balance between the fuel 387
consumption optimization and SoC control, managing properlly the e-Assist and 388
Generator mode, so that the engine can operate efficiently with BSG help and the SoC can 389
be maintained relatively close to its target throughout the driving cycle. That being said, it 390
is safe to say that results bellow is really satisfactory, at least for a static simulation such as 391
in this work. 392

393
a) 394

395
b) 396
Figure 11. (a) Drive cycle with operating modes FTP75; and (b) HWFET. 397
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 17 of 20

4.4. Drive cycle & Shift schedule 398

Figure 11 presents the gear engaged throughout the driving cycle. It may not seem 399
an ideal shift schedule for a real application, and this would be in fact an accurate 400
observation, currently the fitness calculation for gear selection programmed into the GA 401
only takes in to account the fuel consumption, and some important phenomena are not 402
implemented, such as: 403
• Gear shift cost (transient fuel consumption during gear shift event). 404
• Hardware durability. 405
• Gear shift delay. 406
• Other transient behaviors intrinsic to the Gear Shift process, more on that in [32]. 407
Besides all the considerations, is safe to say that in a qualitive way the GA makes a 408
good job at selecting gears, and more important, has the potential (if programmed to take 409
in account the behaviors above) to actualy be a viable control strategy for gear selection 410
of any computer controlled transmission: Automatic Transmission (AT), Automated 411
Manual Transmission (AMT) and Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). 412

413
a) 414

415
b) 416
Figure 12. (a) Gear shift schedule for FTP75; and (b) HWFET. 417
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 18 of 20

4.5. Other considerations. 418

Table 5 presents important results from the simulations, among which the "number 419
of chromosomes tested over the entire simulation" stands out as particularly significant. 420
There are mainly two paths to conduct automated calibration: the "in-vehicle" approach, 421
where calibration maps are generated in real-time while the instrumented vehicle on a 422
dynamometer act as the objective function, providing results for any input in the search 423
space; and the virtualization approach, where data-based hardware models are created 424
from experimental acquisitions, essentially defining the objective function. 425
The in-vehicle approach incurs significant computational costs; hence, computation- 426
heavy optimization algorithms like the Genetic Algorithm (GA) are not the most suitable, 427
instead, methods like the Pattern Search Algorithm or Surrogate Optimization would be 428
more appropriate. Conversely, the virtualization approach has a near-zero calculation cost, 429
allowing it to leverage computation-heavy methods like the GA to a great extent. 430

Table 5. Comparative results for FTP75 and HWFET. 431

Parameter FTP-75 1 HWFET 1

Avg. ICE fuel economy. [Km/L] 19.1 16.8

Generator running [% cycle time] 59.2 53.6
SoC target deviation [%] 28.6 8.52
GA avg. convergence time [in generations] 16 12
Main simulation timestep. [s] 0.5
GA iteration cycle. [in generations] 2 20
Total simulation time. [s] 765
Number of iteration cycles performed over the
1530
entire simulation.
Number of generations over the entire
30600
simulation.
Number of chromosomes tested over the entire
260100
simulation.
1 Only first 765 seconds of the driving cycle. 432
2 Number of generations calculated per timestep of main simulation. 433

5. Conclusions 434

5.1. Conclusion 435

In this article a Genetic Algorithm was developed to act as automatic control 436
strategy, actuating torque split and gear selection in a virtualized model of a mild Hybrid 437
vehicle, aiming to optimize fuel economy. 438
The virtualization of the vehicle was conducted, through data-based modeling of 439
the Engine and BSG which were integrated in a model-based system of the vehicle 440
running a quasi-static inverted simulation developed in Simulink and validated using real 441
data from a dynamometer test acquisition of a similar vehicle. 442
The Genetic Algorithm (GA) was developed and integrated as automatic control 443
method and tested for FTP75 and HWFET driving cycles. The control decisions from the 444
proposed GA were plotted, and the analysis indicates that the software has shown to be a 445
useful tool when applied as a Hybrid Vehicle Simulator. Additionally, the control 446
decisions made by the GA are coherent for all operation conditions. However, at the 447
Computation 2023, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 19 of 20

current stage of development it is not feasible to use it as automatic calibration tool for a 448
real application due to lack of experimental data and comparison studies with currently 449
used methods. Nevertheless, it has potential to be used as an automatic calibration tool. 450

5.2. Future Development 451

Future work include a complete virtualization of the hardware (data-based 452

powertrain, and vehicle dynamics model), and comparison study between proposed 453

solution and the current approach adopted by the industry. Additionaly, the development 454

of a Graphical User Interface (GUI), for a better software user experience. 455

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, R.H.Q.F., R.P.M.R. and R.B.F.; methodology R.H.Q.F., 456
R.P.M.R. and E.M.F.; software, R.H.Q.F.; validation, R.H.Q.F.; formal analysis, R.H.Q.F.; 457
investigation, R.H.Q.F.; resources, R.P.M.R., E.M.F. and R.B.F.; data curation, R.H.Q.F.; writing— 458
original draft preparation, R.H.Q.F.; writing—review and editing, R.H.Q.F., R.P.M.R., E.M.F., E.S.L., 459
A.G.B.L. and J.M.P.Q.D.; visualization, R.H.Q.F., A.G.B.L., E.S.L. and J.M.P.Q.D.; supervision, 460
R.P.M.R., E.M.F. and R.B.F.; project administration, R.H.Q.F. and E.M.F.; funding acquisition, E.S.L., 461
A.G.B.L. and J.M.P.Q.D. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the 462
manuscript. 463

Funding: This work was a result of the project “BlueHouseSim”, with reference 2022.06841.PTDC, 464
funded by national funds (PIDDAC) through FCT/MCTES. Furthermore, this work was financially 465
supported by Base Funding-UIDB/04708/2020 and Programmatic Funding-UIDP/04708/2020 of the 466
CONSTRUCT-Instituto de I&D em Estruturas e Construções-funded by national funds through the 467
FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) and by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the 468
individual Scientific Employment Stimulus 2020.00828.CEECIND. 469

Acknowledgments: This project is supported by Robert Bosch Ltda and Laboratório de 470
Eletrotécnica e Máquinas Elétricas of the Federal University of Campina Grande. 471

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. 472

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