Automotive+Technology

=Automotive Technology=

Love it or love to hate it, technology is at the heart of the modern car, and it’s constantly evolving. These new technologies are being introduced every year into the automotive industry. These technologies can range from features such as [|GPS navigation], to Emergency Steer Assist to [|Start-Stop System] used in some engines. There will always be innovation in the automotive industry and with gas prices at $3.00 or more a gallon, we have seen some current trends involving the reshaping of the automotive engine to make the engine more fuel efficient.


 * Current Trends (Parallel) **

There are current trends to improve gas mileage and fuel consumption. One example is a parallel hybrid system, which are most commonly produced at present. They both have an [|internal combustion engine] and electric motor. If they are joined at some axis truly in parallel, the speeds at this axis must be identical and the supplied torques add together. With cars it is more usual to join the two sources through a [|differential gear]. Thus the torques supplied must be the same and the speeds add up, the exact ratio depending on the differential characteristics.

In some cases, the combustion engine is the dominant portion (the electric motor turns on only when a boost is needed) and vice versa. Others can run with just the electric system operating. But because current parallel hybrids are unable to provide all-electric propulsion, they are often categorized as **[|mild hybrids].**


 * Current Trends (Full) **

Another example is a Power-split hybrid or series-parallel hybrids which are also parallel hybrids. They have power-split devices allowing for power paths from the engine to the wheels that can be either mechanical or electrical.

A full hybrid, sometimes also called a strong hybrid, is a vehicle that can run on just the engine, just the batteries, or a combination of both.


 * Current Trends (Start-Stop) **

In automobiles, a [|start-stop system] automatically shuts down and restarts the internal combustion engine to reduce the amount of time the engine spends idling, therefore improving fuel economy and reducing emissions. This is most advantageous for vehicles which spend significant amounts of time waiting at traffic lights or frequently come to a stop in traffic jams. This feature is present in hybrid electric vehicles, but has also appeared in vehicles which lack a hybrid electric powertrain. For non-electric vehicles (called micro-hybrids,fuel economy gains from this technology are typically in the range of 5 to 10 percent.

Late in 2010, Ford announced that its start-stop system, already used in its hybrids as well as several mainstream models in Europe, would be introduced in North America with the 2012 models, initially with 4-cylinder engines and later into V6s and V8s. Eventually the system will be available in all Ford vehicles.

When the battery needs to be charged or when decelerating or braking, the alternator is activated to recharge the battery, this is called (regenerative braking). So basically the electric motor helps the car brake during stop-and-go driving and while this happens it creates energy that is saved in a storage battery and used later to power the motor whenever the car is in electric mode. Due to the use of regenerative braking, some have started calling this type of system a micro hybrid.


 * Future Trends(Direct Fuel Injection) **

Future trends are not only an improvement of electric and hybrid vehicles but also an improvement of the internal combustion engine.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan and Renault, has an optimistic view that internal-combustion engines will power 90 percent of 2020 vehicles. Koei Saga, Toyota’s boss of advanced technology (including electric cars), goes further: he quotes “In my personal view, I think we will never abandon the internal-combustion engine.”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">But they won’t be the same Internal Combustion engines that power vehicles today. With federal fuel-economy standards getting tougher by 35 percent over the next five years, Internal Combustion efficiency must improve dramatically—if not, we’ll all be forced to drive econoboxes.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|Direct fuel injection] is when fuel is prayed directly into a gasoline engine’s combustion chambers instead of its intake ports.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Direct Injection has a key benefit: By injecting fuel directly into the cylinder during the compression stroke, the cooling effect of the vaporizing fuel doesn’t dissipate before the spark plug fires. This improves fuel economy by two to three percent.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Several European carmakers are already using this lean-burn strategy. Meanwhile, expect direct injection to become universal by 2020.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Future Trends (Wiseman **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|Wiseman Technologies, Inc]. was formed in 2001 with the purpose of developing practical, usable, and affordable devices that can be used in our modern day economy. The first patented product is the Wiseman Engine. To date both two and four stroke prototypes have been built and tested, and a diesel version is under development. This internal combustion engine delivers more power more efficiently than any existing engine available today.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the prime mover has been some form of a piston being pushed by some expanding medium, which in turn rotated a crankshaft. Enormous strides have been made in improving the efficiency of converting the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotary motion of the crankshaft. The Wiseman Engine converts this reciprocating motion at the crankshaft very efficiently. Wiseman has developed [|computer models] that show this conversion to be 100% better than what is experienced with the conventional crankshaft engine.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This new breakthrough in engine technology will cause the Wiseman Engine to have a major global impact.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Wiseman Advantages **

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Advantage #1 __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The first advantage over a conventional crankshaft engine is that the Wiseman Engine's internal mechanism results in a connecting rod that operates in a purely linear motion, on both the piston end and the crankshaft end of the rod. This results in the elimination of the wrist pin and bearing, thus reducing the weight of the piston, and allows the piston to be very thin. The first production model is expected to have the rod and piston formed as a single piece. This advantage allows the piston to operate without piston skirts, because there is no side load on the piston. The connecting rod never pushes sideways on the cylinder. Management conservatively estimates this allows an engine to be built that can have an unlimited stroke length. The only limiting factor would be the ultimate piston speed.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This advantage results in an engine with low speed and high torque plus the additional savings of power loss by eliminating the need for multiple geared transmissions.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Advantage #2 __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The second advantage over a conventional internal combustion engine is that the WISEMAN ENGINE'S internal mechanism converts the pressure exerted on top of the piston by the exploding fuel air mixture into 16% more torque at the output shaft during the entire 180° power stroke.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Advantage #3 __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The third advantage is closely related to the second advantage. The WISEMAN ENGINE'S internal mechanism starts to multiply the torque to the output shaft much earlier in the power stroke than the conventional crank engine.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Advantage #4 __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">A four cycle (gasoline or diesel) engine moves the piston approximately 60% of the stroke in the first 90° of crankshaft rotation of the 180° power stroke. The WISEMAN ENGINE only moves the piston 50% of the stroke in the first 90° of the power stroke. This 10% difference in displacement in the first 90° has an enormous effect on performance; The WISEMAN ENGINE allows the exploding fuel/air mixture to expend it's energy on the top of the piston for a longer time per degree of power stroke rotation. Since the WISEMAN ENGINE does not have to stop the piston during 40% of the stroke in the second half of the bottom 90° of the power stroke, and the rod is not forced out of column, the exhaust valve can remain closed longer, resulting in an effective longer power stroke.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Course List for those who would like to take focus courses in Automotive Technology. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">MET 340 Thermo-Fluids (PHY 112 and MAT 271 Prerequisite)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">MET 321: Introduction to Automotive Engineering (MET 340 Prerequisite)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">MET 421: Vehicle Powertrains (MET 340 Prerequisite)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">MET 424: Vehicle Electrical Systems (MET 321 Prerequisite)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">MET 426: Vehicle Thermal Design (MET 421 Prerequisite)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">MET 427: Vehicle Integration and Testing (MET 424 Prerequisite)