Group: Hybrid Wildcat (Group A)
www.hybridwildcat.com
Team Members:
Christopher Jenkins
Vishal Patel
Vashista de Silva
Taylor Begley
Contact Information:
Chris.jenkins@uky.edu
859 492-8978
Senior Design Advisor: Arthur Radun
February 10, 2005
Introduction
Our project deals with trying to improve on the already existing hybrid car engine,
which would decrease the amount of pollution caused by automobiles. The group plans
on doing this by introducing a universal hybrid unit, which can be easily installed in any
kind of automobile. The universal hybrid system will adapt to different setups and will
include the addition and removal of power sources such as the one seen in (Figure1). The
project will be split into two teams; team A will be dealing with modeling the simulating
the system, while team B will be dealing with programming the micro-controller.
Figure 1: Pickup truck that normally has a single power source, but with the addition of a trailer
the user attaches another generation unit to pull the additional load.
Team B’s task is to control how the various electric generators will interact with
each other. The system will control which motors should be on or off at a particular time,
which will depend on various parameters such as current speed and acceleration rate of
the automobile. As the diagram below illustrates, these inputs will be fed into the
microcontroller, which will send out signals to an actuator to turn on or off any particular
motor at that instant. The system will be modeled and simulated using the Matlab
software application.
Figure 2: Diagram of interfaces between various units. The Control Unit is the center of
all activity.
This part of the project is significant as it acts as the brain of the hybrid unit,
making the major decisions as to which motors should be on or off at a particular instant,
based on the power requirements. If this system malfunctions, the entire motive behind
the project, which is reducing environmental pollution, will not be solved.
Project Timeline
Project Budget
The following is a list of required parts for our project, along with the anticipated cost:
Item
Cadillac Escalade RC Car
Controller
Gas Engine (2)
Misc. Radio Shack
Misc. Hobby Shop
30W DC-DC Converter(2)
Anticipated Cost
$70
$150
$25
$40
$60
$150
Biographical Sketches
Taylor Begley
Taylor Begley is an engineering student at the University of Kentucky and will receive
his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering in May 2005. He is also currently
pursuing a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Kentucky and
should complete that in May or December 2006. The focus of his studies has been power
as well as communication systems. Taylor is a member of IEEE and was recognized by
State Farm Insurance as the December 2004 Student-Athlete of the month and a member
of the Frank G. Ham Society of Character.
Vashista de Silva
Vashista de Silva is currently pursuing a bachelor's of science in electrical engineering at
the University of Kentucky and planning to graduate in July 2005. He is currently doing
research in "Surface-Plasmon Waveguides for Optical Communications" with Dr. Todd
Hastings at the University of Kentucky. Vashista is a member of the IEEE. His studies in
Nanoscale sciences will lead him to pursue a higher degree in technology of
nanostructures.
Christopher D. Jenkins
Christopher Jenkins is currently pursuing a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Electrical
Engineering at the University of Kentucky, while also receiving a Minor in Math. He
will be graduating in May 2005. Chris has completed two summer internships with
Cummins Inc. The focus of these internships was in Automotive Customer Engineering.
Chris is currently working part-time for Belcan Corporation. The focus of his work here
is in electrical design, centering on military helicopters.
Vishal Patel
Vishal Patel will receive his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in May 2005,
having already completed a minor in Computer Science. He was named to the College of
Engineering Dean’s list for the fall 2004, fall 2003 and spring 2003 semesters. In fall
2001 he was employed as a co-op student at Lexmark, in the product assurance
department with a job title of Assistant Programmer. Upon completion of his bachelor’s
he will further his studies and pursue a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, with a
specialization in Electronics.