MATT Integrates, Tests, and Validates Advanced Vehicle Components

May 30th, 2006

From the Fall/Winter 2005-2006 Vehicle Systems Newsletter of the Argonne National Laboratory

The versatile Mobile Automotive Technology Testbed (MATT) serves as a unique hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) platform for advanced powertrain technology evaluation in an emulated vehicle environment.  Developed by Argonne’s CTR, the flexible chassis testbed allows researchers to easily replace advanced components or change the architecture of the powertrain in various hybrid configurations. 

MATT has been designed to assist the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in validating advanced technology. As the FreedomCAR program matures, the need to evaluate newly developed technology in a vehicle system context becomes critical. Used by the Vehicle System Analysis Technical Team, MATT provides a common platform and facilitates interactions between each technical team. Each specific set of technical targets and its impact on the vehicle system can easily be studied by using the MATT platform.

Integrated software controls each component of the powertrain and provides rapid evaluation of control options associated with each hybrid configuration and level of hybridization.  The software - the Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) and its companion, PSAT-PRO - also were developed by CTR researchers.  Hybrid control strategies developed with PSAT can be implemented with PSAT-PRO and tested on the MATT platform.  This process provides the flexibility to test multiple hybrid control strategies and the possibility to validate the simulated environment.

MATT can emulate any size motor and battery.  Therefore, the powertrain being tested can be evaluated with different levels of hybridization.  A unique scalable inertia motor enables the testbed to vary the hybridization degree. The combination of an integrated control software and the extensive use of emulation principles provides flexibility to vary the environment in which a specific technology is being tested.

To validate the emulated environment and MATT operating principle, CTR researchers use a conventional vehicle configuration with a 2.3-L, four-cylinder Duratec spark-ignited gasoline-fueled engine and a five-speed manual transmission.  This configuration is used on a comparative basis for the technology being tested.  Current projects include impact of hybridization on the performance, fuel economy, and emissions of a hydrogen internal-combustion engine; assessment of dual-clutch transmission potential for hybrid applications; and validation of battery performances for plug-in hybrid technology.

Sponsor
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program

Contact
Max Pasquier

Entry Filed under: Powertrain Test, Test Labs