A 3D Printed Power-Split Device for Testing Energy Management Strategies Applied to Hybrid Vehicles

This work presents a testbed emulating the hybrid electric vehicles powertrain with both teaching and research purposes. The core of this testbed is a 3D printed epicycloidal gearset actuating as a power split device. Its design and hardware equipment are explained as well as its working principle. From an educational point of view, this system states an interesting control problem and, at the same time, exemplifies the operation of this kind of machines with the scope of a motivating application. Consequently, a teaching methodology comprising this testbed is proposed. In addition, the challenging nature of the system encourage the development of optimization techniques aimed at reducing the overall system energy consumption. Results of a preliminary experiment are satisfactory addressed. As a consequence, the presented testbed is proposed as a remote lab for teaching and benchmarking new control strategies.