Carsare vastly complicated machines , but when you get down to it , they do an incredibly dewy-eyed occupation . Most of the complex stuff in a auto is dedicated to turn wheels , which grip the route topullthe car body and passengers along . Thesteering systemtilts the wheels side to side to turn the automobile , andbrakeand acceleration organisation insure the speed of the wheels .
Given that the overall function of a car is so basic ( it just need to leave circular movement to wheels ) , it seems a little strange that almost all cars have the same collection of complex devices grind away under the hood and the same worldwide mass of mechanical andhydrauliclinkages running throughout . Why do cars needs need a direction column , brake and acceleration foot lever , acombustion engine , acatalytic convertorand the rest of it ?
harmonise to many leading self-propelled locomotive engineer , they do n’t ; and more to the power point , in the nigh future , theywon’t . Most likely , a lot of us will be push back radically different cars within 20 geezerhood . And the difference wo n’t just be under the hoodlum – owning and driving auto will modify importantly , too .
In this clause , we ’ll search at one interesting vision of the future tense , General Motor ’s remarkable conception automobile , theHy - wire . GM may never really sell the Hy - telegram to the world , but it is certainly a good instance of various ways cars might evolve in the near hereafter .
Hy-wire Basics
Two introductory component largely order cable car design today : theinternal combustion engineandmechanical and hydraulic linkage .
If you ’ve ever look under the strong-armer of a railway car , you know an internal burning locomotive engine require a flock of additional equipment to go aright . No matter what else they do with a car , designers always have to make elbow room for this equipment .
The same proceed for mechanical and hydraulic linkages . The basic estimate of this system of rules is that the number one wood maneuvers the various actuator in the car ( the wheels , brake system , etc . ) more or less directly , by manipulating driving controls link to those actuator by shafts , gearsand hydraulics . In arack - and - pinion direction system of rules , for example , turning the steering wheel spread out a shaft connected to a pinion geartrain , which moves a rack gear connected to the elevator car ’s front wheel . In summation to throttle how the car is build up , the linkage concept also dictates how we labor : The steering wheel , pedal and paraphernalia - fracture system were all design around the linkage idea .
The defining characteristic of the Hy - wire ( and its conceptual precursor , the AUTOnomy ) is that it does n’t have either of these two things . Instead of an engine , it has afuel cellstack , which powers anelectric motorconnected to the bike . Instead of mechanical and hydraulic gene linkage , it has adrive by wiresystem – acomputeractually operates the element that move the wheels , activate the brakes and so on , based on stimulation from an electronic controller . This is the same control system of rules employed inmodern fighter jetsas well as many commercialplanes .
photograph courtesyGeneral Motors
Illustration of the AUTOnomy ’s consistence affixation concept
The result of these two substitutions is a very different type of car – and a very different drive experience . There is no steering wheel , there are no treadle and there is no engine compartment . In fact , every part of equipment that really moves the car along the route is domiciliate in an 11 - inch - thick ( 28 centimeter ) aluminum chassis – also known as theskateboard– at the base of the elevator car . Everything above the chassis is dedicate only to driver control and rider comfort .
This means the gadget driver and passengers do n’t have to sit behind a stack of machinery . rather , the Hy - wire has a Brobdingnagian front windshield , which gives everybody a clear position of the route . The floor of the fiberglass - and - steel passenger compartment can be totally flavourless , and it ’s easy to give every seat lot of leg room . Concentrating the bulk of the vehicle in the bottom section of the car also improves safety because it makes the car much less likely to tip over .
But the coolest matter about this design is that it lets you remove the full passenger compartment and replace it with a different one . If you want to switch from a van to a sports car , you do n’t need an entirely novel car ; you just need a new body ( which is a lot cheaper ) .
you may always switch back when you need the new wave again . The logistics of switching is still unclear – if the idea catches on , there might be special switching station where you could keep your different car bodies , or there might be a room for drivers to flip the car bodies themselves in their own service department .
Hy-Wire’s Hydrogen Power
In a hydrogen fuel cell , a catalyst break atomic number 1 molecules in the anode into proton and electrons . The proton move through the central tissue layer , toward the oxygen on the cathode side , and the electrons make their way through a telegram between the anode and cathode . On the cathode side , the hydrogen and O cartel to forge water . Many cell are connected in serial to move solid charge through a circuit .
The " Hy " in Hy - telegram stands forhydrogen , the stock fuel for afuel cellsystem . Likebatteries , fuel cells have a negatively charged terminal and a positively appoint terminal that propel electric bearing through a circuit touch base to each end . They are also similar to battery in that they generate electrical energy from achemical chemical reaction . But unlike a battery , you’re able to continually reload a fuel cell by append chemic fuel – in this font , H from an onboard storage tank and oxygen from the ambiance .
The basic idea is to use a catalyst to split a hydrogen molecule ( H2 ) into two H protons ( H+ , positively charged undivided hydrogenatoms ) and two electrons ( e- ) . Oxygen on thecathode(positively charged ) side of the fuel cell draw H+ ion from the anode side through aproton exchange membrane , but deflect the flow of electron . The electrons ( which have a negative charge ) are attract to the protons ( which have a incontrovertible charge ) on the other side of the tissue layer , but they have to move through theelectrical circuitto get there . The moving negatron make up the electrical stream that power the various load in the circuit , such asmotorsand the computer system . On the cathode side of the cell , the H , oxygen and free electrons combine to form water ( H2O ) , the system ’s only emission merchandise . ( SeeHow Fuel Cells Workfor more information . )
One fuel cellphone only puts out a small bit of power , so you involve to combine many cellphone into a stack to get much use of goods and services out of the process . The fuel - cell push-down stack in the Hy - wire is made up of 200 individual jail cell connected inseries , which collectively provide94 kilowattsof uninterrupted major power and 129 kilowatts at peak power . The compact electric cell stack ( it ’s about the size of a microcomputer tower ) is kept cool by a conventionalradiatorsystem that ’s powered by the fuel cadre themselves .
This scheme deliversDC voltageranging from 125 to 200 volt , count on the burden in the circuit . Themotor controllerboosts this up to 250 to 380 volts and converts it to AC current to drive thethree - phase electric automobile motorthat rotates the wheel ( this is similar to the system used in conventionalelectric motorcar ) .
The electric motor ’s job is to applytorqueto the front wheel axle to spin the two front wheels . The control social unit alter the swiftness of the railcar by increase or decreasing the power utilise to the motor . When the controller applies maximal king from the fuel - cell push-down storage , the motor ’s rotor birl at 12,000 revolution per moment , delivering a torque of 159 pound - foot . A single - stageplanetary paraphernalia , with aratioof 8.67:1 , steps up the torque to practice a maximum of 1,375 pound - feet to each wheel . That ’s enough torsion to move the 4,200 - pound ( 1,905 - kg ) car 100 miles per hour ( 161 kph ) on a level road . Smaller electric motors head the wheels to steer the railcar , and electrically controlledbrake calipersbring the cable car to a stop .
The gaseoushydrogen fuelneeded to power this system is store in three cylindric tanks , press about 165 pounds ( 75 kilograms ) total . The tanks are made of a specialcarbon composite materialwith the gamy structural strength needed to turn back high - insistence atomic number 1 gas . The tanks in the current model carry about 4.5 pounds ( 2 kg ) of hydrogen at about 5,000 pounds per square in ( 350 bars ) . In next models , the Hy - wire engineers hope to increase the pressure threshold to 10,000 pounds per square inch ( 700 bars ) , which would advance the motorcar ’s fuel capacity to extend the drive range .
in the end , GM hopes to get the fuel - cell push-down list , motors and atomic number 1 - storage tanks pocket-size enough that they can reduce the chassis thickness from 11 inches to 6 inches ( 15 cm ) . This more heavyset " skateboard " would appropriate for even more flexibility in the soundbox design .
Hy-Wire Computer Control
The Hy - wire ’s " brain " is a central computer house in the middle of the chassis . It sends electronic signals to themotorcontrol unit to vary the speed , thesteeringmechanism to maneuver the car , and the braking system to slow down the automobile down .
At the chassis level , the computer controls all aspects of drive and might manipulation . But it takes its orders from a high power – namely , the driver in the railway car body . The information processing system tie in to the torso ’s electronics through a singleuniversal docking larboard . This central port works the same canonical way as a USB port on a personal computer : It transmits a invariant flow of electronic command signal from the railroad car controller to the central estimator , as well as feedback signal from the data processor to the controller . to boot , it provides the electric power necessitate to operate all of the eubstance ’s onboard electronics . Tenphysical linkageslock the dead body to the chassis structure .
The driver ’s ascendancy social unit , dubbed theX - drive , is a lot close to avideo gamecontrollerthan a established steering wheel and pedal arrangement . The comptroller has two ergonomic grips , positioned to the left and right of a smallLCDmonitor . To steer the auto , you glide the grips up and down lightly – you do n’t have to keep rotating a steering wheel to turn , you just have to give the grip in the turning post . To quicken , you flex either grip , in the same way you would turn over the throttle on amotorcycle ; and tobrake , you squeeze either grip .
Electronic movement sensors , standardised to the one in high - endcomputer stick , translate this motion into a digital signal the cardinal computer can recognize . Buttons on the controller let you switch easily from neutral to repulse to overturn , and a starter button turns the car on . Since perfectly everything is hand - control , you’re able to do whatever you need with your feet ( imagine sticking them in a massager during the drive to and from employment every Clarence Day ) .
The 5.8 - inch ( 14.7 - cm ) color monitor in the center of the accountant display all the stuff and nonsense you ’d normally find on the splashboard ( speeding , milage , fuel level ) . It also gives you rear - prospect image fromvideo camerason the side and back of the car , in place of established mirrors . A second monitor , on a cabinet beside the driver , shows you stereophonic , climate ascendency and navigation information .
Since it does n’t directly drive any part of the motorcar , the X - drive could really go anywhere in the passenger compartment . In the current Hy - conducting wire sedan model , the hug drug - drive swings around to either of the front two seats , so you could switch driver without even get up . It ’s also easy to adjust the ten - take up or down to meliorate driver quilt , or to move it out of the manner whole when you ’re not drive .
One of the coolest thing about the drive - by - conducting wire arrangement is that you’re able to fine - tune fomite handling without changing anything in the machine ’s mechanically skillful element – all it takes to adjust the steering , accelerator or brake predisposition is some new computer software . In future ride - by - wire vehicles , you will most likely be able to configure the control exactly to your liking by press a few button , just like you might adjust the seat position in a car today . It would also be potential in this sorting of organization to stash away distinct control penchant for each driver in the family .
The big business organisation with drive - by - wire vehicle issafety . Since there is no physical connecter between the driver and the car ’s mechanical element , an electric loser would think of full loss of command . for make this sort of system viable in the real humankind , motor - by - wire cars will want back - up powerfulness supplies and redundant electronic linkages . With fair to middling safety measures like this , there ’s no reason why labour - by - wire car would be any more dangerous than established cars . In fact , a deal of designers guess they ’ll be much dependable , because the primal information processing system will be able-bodied to monitor driver input . Another problem is bestow adequatecrash protectionto the car .
The other major hurdle for this type of car is figuring outenergy - effective methodsfor producing , enchant and storing atomic number 1 for the onboardfuel - cellstacks . With the current state of engineering , really produce the hydrogen fuel can give about as much pollution as usinggasolineengines , and warehousing and distribution systems still have a farsighted way of life to go ( seeHow the Hydrogen Economy Worksfor more information ) .
So will we ever get the luck to grease one’s palms a Hy - wire ? General Motors say it fully intends to release a production version of the car in 2010 , assuming it can dissolve the major fuel and safety topic . But even if the Hy - wire team does n’t meet this goal , GM and other automakers are definitely planning to move beyond the conventional railcar sometime soon , toward a computerized , environmentally friendly choice . In all likelihood , life on the highway will see some major change within the next few decennary .
For more entropy about the Hy - wire and other emerge self-propelling technologies , suss out out the links on the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
