UNIVERSAL POWERTRAIN
Team - Ali Kazmi, Jason Gaydos, Alex Moore, Ju Young Park, David Na, Nicholas Osmond
I served as the Project Manager and Electric Motor Lead for the Universal Powertrain team. Each team member was assigned a powertrain configuration and an individual powertrain component to research. I tracked the team's progress using a Gantt chart and held weekly meetings to follow up on deliverables and facilitate discussions leading to unanimous decision-making. As Electric Motor Lead, I was responsible for the market research, technical analysis, decision matrices, and component selection associated with selecting the best electric motor for our powertrain configuration.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Universal Powertrain team had been tasked with developing a powertrain to meet the customer needs of Penn State’s AVT team in order to succeed at any future competitions. Since the team did not know what the next competition vehicle is going to be, the specifications of the powertrain must be compatible with a wide range of vehicles. Through initial market research, the team decided that a crossover SUV would be the most appropriate vehicle to design the powertrain around.
The Universal Powertrain Team started with conducting initial market research to determine the target specifications of the powertrain design. With the specifications and customer needs determined, the team was able to select the hybrid configuration that would be used in the powertrain which is a P2 Parallel configuration. Once the powertrain configuration was selected, the team used various AHP and Pugh concept scoring matrices to select the components that would be used in the powertrain. These components include the internal combustion engine, fuel type, electric motor, motor controller, and battery storage system. After the components were selected, each component was modeled in CAD and placed in a full vehicle model to determine the packaging configuration. An adapter plate and belt linkage were modeled to connect the electric motor to the drivetrain in addition to a battery box to house the battery storage components. The team also used Solidworks FEA to simulate the loading and fatigue life of the spline shaft of the powertrain. A manufacturing plan and material selection of the components were completed to ensure that future teams could produce the necessary components. In addition, a Simulink model was made in which the specifications of the powertrain were input and various drive cycles were tested to determine the performance of the vehicle. These performance results were then compared to the customer needs and technical specifications that were determined at the beginning of the project.
In addition to the design and technical details, the Universal Powertrain team was able to keep track of the team’s progress throughout the semester with a detailed Gantt chart to ensure the completion of the team’s deliverables. A risk plan was also used to analyze any potential conflicts or safety concerns that the team could face throughout the semester. Finally, a cost analysis and bill of materials were completed to make sure the team stayed within the project’s $50,000 budget.