On 21-22 May 2016. At the fair MOTO SHOW in Krakow premiere of the electric car with a hydrogen energy storage. HYDROCAR PREMIER is a project carried out jointly by the Riot Technologies - spin-off from the University of Science and Technology and the Military Technical Academy.

In the middle of 2015. Team from the Military University of Technology leader for many years, fundamental research on materials for hydrogen storage invited to the objective of their project group graduates make up the core of the team AGH Racing Team and company RIOT Technologies. The objective was to create a demonstrator - driving a laboratory where under "road" could be proposed and developed test WAT solutions for the storage of hydrogen in the solid phase. The six-month time limit for completion meant that only the most experienced professionals in the industry could take up this challenge. From the beginning, there was no question of another vehicle on "renewable energies" straszacym appearance passers-by. The project created a spectacular vehicle with an innovative design of the power and unique design - HYDROCAR PREMIER.

The car is a unique design developed by a team of engineers and scientists, in collaboration with a number of external companies. It is a prototype double-type roadster sports car equipped with an electric drive. As a running base has been used specially designed and constructed frame construction, along with the body formed entirely of carbon fiber. With this technology, the supporting frame of the vehicle gives flexibility in placing the mobile components and the body in turn may have a unique design developed only limited by design assumptions. The design of the shape of the body and execution of composite structures are responsible brothers Wladyslaw Hamiga (graduate AGH) and Stefan Hamiga (graduate ASP).

The prototype car was designed as a road car and it features in such systems as power steering, xenon headlamps, the lights in LED technology, leather steering wheel, upholstery, low-profile tires, suspension threaded adjustable and two comfortable seats for the driver and passenger. From a technical point of view the most important, however, are sub-components of the car, which are a kind of test laboratory for testing of advanced propulsion systems and energy conversion systems.

As there are four drive BLDC motors, each responsible for one wheel drive. The total capacity of the power unit is 270 hp. Motors are controlled by dedicated power stages developed by RIOT, and the whole drive system 4 × 4 operates under the control of the processor built as SoPC and implemented in FPGA, realizing the function of electronic differential and speed control for different configurations of traffic. This solution received extensive configuration system includes features such as: the possibility of independent control active torque at each wheel, cruise control, anti-skid or assisted driving uphill. Engines and power stages are cooled with liquid, which is then forced through the circulation transfers heat exchanger placed at the front of the car.

The energy to move the vehicle is stored in two types of batteries and a specially designed store hydrogen. In front of the car they are placed lightweight LiFePO4 battery packs with a total voltage of 96 V, while in the rear of the car used traction batteries with high capacity during long discharges. Battery Packs are responsible for the supply of engines and electrical subsystems of the car, such as the control electronics, light or driving assistance systems. Electrical energy stored in the batteries is responsible for the dynamic driving the vehicle and for moving the car for short distances.

As the second energy storage, allowing for an increase in driving distance, was used processing system of hydrogen into electricity. The heart of the system is the hydrogen tank based on a metal hydride, which is able to store more gas per unit volume than the current best high pressure hydrogen tanks made of composite materials and operating under giant reaching pressures up to 700 bar. Thanks to the patented at the Military University of Technology Solutions, the tank is running low pressure of several bar and has a very strong ability to exchange heat. This construction, compared with the other vessels of this type, allows for a quick loading, and on the other hand, low temperature produced during operation can be used for cooling systems, e.g., driving a car. Motors and electronics. The simplicity and versatility of this solution also allows use of the various test materials for hydrogen storage in a solid state while maintaining superior performance. Stored hydrogen is then converted with high efficiency into electricity in a PEM fuel cell, giving the possibility of charging the battery of the car while driving. The entire installation was placed in the back of the car.

The driver of the car can follow the parameters driving the car on the electronic display that continuously shows the speed, mileage, battery status and the energy balance of the hydrogen tank. All subsystems of the car are managed by the original central on-board computer built on FPGAs. This computer also allows you to remotely control the car by mobile application (driving the front, rear and twisting left-right). In addition, the central computer of the car is constructed so that it has extensive configuration options, including an interface to connect it with autonomous control systems (supporting driving a car without a driver), commonly used in mobile robots. These systems allow you to drive a car, avoiding obstacles on the way, and used control algorithms are constantly tested.

Currently, the car moves smoothly to the next phase of the project, which are advanced experimental tests. This phase of the project should give a number of answers to questions from the technology of energy storage and propulsion systems, electronics and drivetrains, and should provide information on which direction to develop the technologies developed. All the time the car are carried out research, modifications and improvements, and examined the behavior of the car while driving. The results of these studies are published in scientific journals and presented at industry conferences. The authors of the project hope that the prototype car will be the beginning of a new era of daring interdisciplinary engineering projects, which are aimed at testing the integrated mechatronic systems. The future will show to what extent the solutions used in the built test car will be reflected in the market, especially in the automotive industry.

The construction of hydrogen-powered cars have been realized as a technology demonstrator project OPIE 01.03.01-14-016 / 08 conducted by the Department of New Technologies and Chemistry Military University of Technology under the guidance of prof. dr. hab. Eng. Leszek Jaroszewicz.

For his work on the pilot project, a prototype of the car is responsible engineering team: MSc. Michael Belzowski (powertrain subsystems), mgr Stefan Hamiga (design), MSc. Wladyslaw Hamiga (design and technology of carbon fiber), MSc. Paul Jablonski (systems and power systems), MSc. Kacper Herb (electronics subsystems of the car), Eng. Jan Zarów (car design) and MSc. Gregory Mountain (electronics drive system), Dr. Eng. Grzegorz Karpiel (control and FPGA), Dr. Eng. Daniel Prusak (integrated mechatronic car).

For his work on the study of materials for hydrogen storage tanks and prototypes of hydrogen was responsible team : Cpt. Dr. Eng . Marek Polanski (coordinator ) , Prof . dr . Eng. Andrzej Panas , PhD . Eng. Thomas Czujko , Major Dr. Eng . Paul Petal , PhD . Dariusz Siemiaszko , MSc. Tomasz Pogorzelski , cf . , MSc . Bartosz Fikus , MSc. Slawomir Dyjak , MSc. Izabela Kunce , MSc. Katarzyna Witek , Eng . Paulina Kuzior .

The project was realized thanks to the support of the following companies and institutions : MALPOL Fiberglass , UHP Pateccy , NOVOL , HIRO - MET GP Composites, APW - TECH, VALOR - CNC , MH -ART , BASTER , Trade Fair in Krakow and AGH Racing Team.

The band RIOT Technologies, WAT , AGH


The original text can be found here: http://www.agh.edu.pl/blog-naukowy/info/article/hydrocar-premier-samochod-na-wodor-rodem-z-agh/