9531830 PI: Saeks This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will develop an integrated hierarchical neurocontrol system for a 4 motor / 4 wheel drive Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV). To achieve this goal a hierarchical neurocontroller will be developed for, the HEV's energy subsystem, and a vehicle management system will be designed to generate commands for the energy and vehicle control systems from driver input. The systems will be integrated with the vehicle control system developed under Phase I into a graphical vehicle simulator which will be used to evaluate the performance of the proposed neurocontrol system. Finally, these designs will be incorporated into a preliminary design for a Phase II road test vehicle. This will result in the design of a three level hierarchical neurocontrol system for a 4 motor / 4 wheel drive Hybrid Electric Vehicle, and will set the stage for a Phase III road test program and the commercialization of the proposed neurocontrol system. By virtue of its elimination of "all" drive train components, the 4 motor / 4 wheel drive HEV is ideally positioned to realize a three fold efficiency goal for a NGV. To realize the potential of this class of vehicle, a high performance control system is required. The successful completion of the proposed program will therefore lay the foundation for the development of the coming generation of HEV's by the U.S. automotive industry.
