Team Ojas - The Electric Car Project
I was a part of the 40 member FS (Formula Student) team of my college, Team Ojas, which built a single seat electric car for the international student competition, Formula Student (FS), held at the Silverstone circuit, UK. I was responsible for high voltage electrical systems of the vehicle. I along with two others were responsible for the high voltage electrical systems of the vehicle. Among other things, our role mostly included the following:-
- Deciding upon the appropriate motor ratings, type of motors, their quantity and configuration required according to the target performance parameters of the car.
- Analysis of high power electric motor manufacturers and choosing the most appropriate one based on cost, reliability and performance.
- Appropriate calculation of battery power required in the event and configuration of cells to supply power to the motors.
- Analysis of high voltage battery pack and BMS (Battery Management System) manufacturers and choosing the most appropriate one based on cost and reliability.
Link: https://www.ojasracing.in
Research Projects:
During my junior and senior years, I worked on two research projects involving electric machine systems (which was my interest at the time):
(1). Novel Rotor Position Estimation For Switched Reluctance Motor Using Vibration Signature Analysis:
In this project, simulations were performed to demonstrate a novel rotor position estimation technique for switched reluctance motors where the vibration pulses being sensed on the stator frame was used as a signature to determine the rotor position. This removes the need for the conventionally used shaft position sensor inside the stator which involves additional costs and mechanical alignment problems.
(2). Dynamic braking of induction motor - Analysis of conventional methods and an efficient multistage braking model:
A detailed analysis was made on capacitor self excitation and DC injection methods of dynamic braking of induction motor through MATLAB/SIMULINK simulations. These conventional dynamic braking methods were carefully analysed while changing various parameters.Using the data obtained from the analysis, the parameters of a fast and reliable multi-stage dynamic braking model were concluded for the best possible braking performance.