Seminar

on

HY-WIRE CAR
Presented By

ADITHYA BHARADWAJ (1CK11ME002)

Under the Guidance of
Mr. SANTHOSH.A.N
Asst. Professor.
Department of Mechanical engineering
CBIT, Kolar.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
HY-WIRE BASICS
POWER
CONTROL
HY-WIRE SPECIFICATIONS
ADVANTAGES
DIS-ADVANTAGES
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES

Introduction
Cars are immensely
complicated machines, but
when you get down to it,
they do an incredibly simple
job. Most of the complex
stuff in a car is dedicated to
turning wheels, which grip
the road to pull the car body
and passengers along.
In this ,we'll look at one interesting vision of
the future, General Motor's remarkable concept car, the Hywire.

HY-WIRE BASICS

The defining characteristic of the Hy-wire (and its conceptual

predecessor, the Autonomy) is that it doesn't have either of these

two things.
Instead of an engine, it has a fuel cell stack, which powers an
electric motor connected to the wheels.
Instead of mechanical and hydraulic linkages, it has a drive by wire
system -- a computer actually operates the components that move
the wheels, activate the brakes and so on, based on input from an
electronic controller. This is the same control system employed in

 There is no steering wheel,

there are no pedals and there

is no engine compartment.
In fact, every piece of
equipment
that
actually
moves the car along the road
is housed in an 11-inch-thick
(28 cm) aluminum chassis -also
known
as
the
skateboard -- at the base of
the car.
Everything above the chassis
is dedicated solely to driver
control
and
passenger
comfort.
The floor of the fiberglassand-steel
passenger
compartment can be totally
flat, and its easy to give
every seat lots of leg room.

Power
The "Hy" in Hy-wire stands for hydrogen, the
standard fuel for a fuel cell system.
Like batteries, fuel cells have a negatively
charged terminal and a positively charged
terminal that propel electrical charge through
a circuit connected to each end. They are
also similar to batteries in that they generate
electricity from a chemical reaction.
But unlike a battery, we can continuous
recharge a fuel cell by adding chemical fuel -in this case, hydrogen from an onboard
storage
tank
and
oxygen
from
the
atmosphere.

Hydrogen tanks and fuelcell stack in the Hy-wire

Contd

The basic idea is to use a catalyst to split a hydrogen

molecule (H2) into two H protons (H+,) and two electrons

(e-). Oxygen on the cathode side of the fuel cell draws H+
ions from the anode side through a proton exchange
membrane, but blocks the flow of electrons.

The electrons are attracted to the protons on the other side

of the membrane, but they have to move through the

electrical circuit to get there.

The fuel-cell stack in the Hy-wire is made up of 200

individual cells connected in series, which collectively
provide 94 kilowatts of continuous power and 129 kilowatts
at peak power.

This system delivers DC voltage ranging from 125 to 200

volts, depending on the load in the circuit.

The motor controller boosts this up to 250 to 380 volts and

converts it to AC current to drive the three-phase electric

motor that rotates the wheels.

Control
The Hy-wire's "brain" is a central computer

housed in the middle of the chassis. It

sends electronic signals to the motor
control unit to vary the speed, the steering
mechanism to maneuver the car, and the
braking system to slow the car down.
The computer connects to the body's
electronics through a single universal
docking port.
The driver's control unit, dubbed the Xdrive, is a lot closer to a video game
controller than a conventional steering
wheel and pedal arrangement. The
controller has two grips, positioned to the
left and right of a small LCD monitor .

Contd

Components of the HY-WIRE car

Contd

The 5.8-inch (14.7-cm) color monitor in

the center of the controller displays all

the stuff you'd normally find on the
dashboard (speed, mileage, fuel level).
One of the coolest things about the
drive-by-wire system is that you can
fine-tune vehicle handling without
changing anything in the car's
mechanical components -- all it takes
to adjust the steering, accelerator or
brake
sensitivity
is
some
new
computer software.

X-drive of Hy-WIRE car

The X-drive can slide to either side of

the vehicle.

Hy-wire Specifications

Top speed: 100 miles per hour (161 kph)

Weight: 4,185 pounds (1,898 kg)
Chassis length: 14 feet, 3 inches (4.3 meters)
Chassis width: 5 feet, 5.7 inches (1.67 meters)
Chassis thickness: 11 inches (28 cm)
Wheels: eight-spoke, light alloy wheels.
Tires: 20-inch (51-cm) in front and 22-inch (56cm) in back
Fuel-cell power: 94 kilowatts continuous, 129
kilowatts peak
Fuel-cell-stack voltage: 125 to 200 volts
Motor: 250- to 380-volt three-phase asynchronous
electric motor
Crash protection: front and rear "crush zones" (or
"crash boxes") to absorb impact energy

The Hy-wire has wheels, seats and windows

like a conventional car, but the similarity pretty
much ends there. There is no engine under the
hood and no steering wheel or pedals inside.

Advantages
In Hy- wire car the central
computer will be able to monitor
driver input which will make it
much safer.
This car can resolve the major
fuel problems and safety issues.
This is eco-friendly car.

Disadvantages
This car does not have any physical
connection between the driver and the cars
mechanical component, so the electrical
failure would mean total loss of control.
The production of the hydrogen which is
used as fuel in the Hy-wire car can generate
about as much pollution as using gasoline
engines and
storage and distribution
systems still have a long way to go.

Conclusion
It fully intends to release a
production version of the car in 2010,
assuming it can resolve the major fuel
and safety issues. But even if the Hywire team doesn't meet this goal.
Automakers are definitely planning to
move beyond the conventional car
sometime soon, toward a computerized,
environmentally friendly alternative. In
all likelihood, life on the highway will see
some major changes within the next few
decades.

REFERENCES
How Does a Fuel Cell Work.

http://www.utcfuelcells.com/fuelcell/how_fl.s
html
Rifkin, Jeremy. The Hydrogen Economy.
Tarcher/Putnam. New York. 2002.
http://www.howstuffworks.com
http://www.generalmoters.com
http://seminarprojects.com/Thread-the-hy-wirecar-full-report#ixzz3RpSeUJ1w
http://www.pediain.com/

THANK YOU