SAE Update - April 2023 - 36

ENGINEERING EVENTS
APRIL 18-20, 2023
DETROIT
TM
New and more practical algorithms could
increase vehicle fuel efficiency by 5%
By Dr. THOMAS
BrADlEY AND AArON
rABiNOWiTZ. Read
more about the authors
at the end of this article.
We all know not to accelerate too fast at
the green light if we want to save on gas.
Slow acceleration can save us nine percent
on fuel efficiency. The vehicles of the future
can be even more efficient.
Researchers from Colorado State
University's Department of Systems
Engineering have created a new algorithm
to improve the optimization of eco-driving
controls in vehicles in urban settings. This
near-optimal solution is one industry
engineers could use on future autonomous
and adaptive control vehicles. It could offer
up to an additional five percent energy
efficiency over usual slow-start acceleration
approaches.
The new algorithm, called Indirect Net
Power Minimization, or INPM, is better
suited to practical implementation as it's
both computationally light and
deterministic.
Although the greatest start-stop
efficiency could be achieved with optimal
computer methods such as Dynamic
Programming or Non-Linear Programming,
the difficulty with these approaches is that
they're computationally expensive. This
means they could require more on-vehicle
36 April 2023
hardware, processing time, and financial
cost.
Other algorithmic tools described as
" meta-heuristic " are also often proposed,
but these are most often stochastic (i.e. not
predictable), and they may produce
different results for different runs with the
same inputs. Even under identical road
conditions at different times, an automated
vehicle could do different things.
Vehicular controls engineers are reluctant
to include algorithms that incorporate any
kind of randomness into control systems.
The INPM algorithm, being deterministic,
does not.
The main limits of this algorithm are
twofold. First, it will only work on vehicles
with SAE level 2 autonomy capabilities. The
vehicle has to be intelligent enough to
already use eco optimization technology on
its cruise controls.
The second limitation is that it requires
information connectivity with relevant
infostructure (see standard SAE J2735).
When a vehicle has information about
traffic signals, it can plan and optimize its
speed profile. Thus, this algorithm is
intended for connected and autonomous
vehicles.
The INMP algorithm is described in a
new academic paper to be presented
during SAE International's WCX 2023
conference. The paper is titled An UltraUPDATE

https://wcx.sae.org/program/smart-city/session?EVT_NAME=AE103&GROUP_CD=TSESS&SCHED_NUM=339138&tab=sessionDetails&REQUEST_TYPE=SESSION_DETAILS https://wcx.sae.org/program/smart-city/session?EVT_NAME=AE103&GROUP_CD=TSESS&SCHED_NUM=339138&tab=sessionDetails&REQUEST_TYPE=SESSION_DETAILS https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2023-01-0679/

SAE Update - April 2023

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