Eaton Taps IBM for Vehicles Driven by Fluid Power
December 31, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
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Eaton Corp. selected IBM to supply modeling software in support of Eaton's development of series hydraulic hybrid (SHH) systems.
The SHH system, targeted at fuel savings and environmental benefits, replaces the conventional drivetrain and transmission.
The system uses hydraulic pumps and hydraulic storage tanks to capture and store energy, similar to what is done with electric motors and batteries in a hybrid electric vehicle.
UPS will deploy the first two package delivery vehicles with the SHH system in Minneapolis during the first half of next year.
Eaton, the developer of the SHH system, will monitor the vehicle's fuel economy performance and emissions. An additional five vehicles will be deployed later in 2009 and early 2010.
Like many of the components that make up today's vehicles, the hydraulic hybrid systems are intelligent software intensive systems, IBM said. IBM is supplying Telelogic Rhapsody modeling software that it said is aimed at helping Eaton improve quality and save time in the development of these hybrid systems.
Eaton project teams use Telelogic Rhapsody to model the software that makes the SHH system work. This process allows the development teams to be more efficient and shorten design cycles, IBM said.
According to IBM, this system increases fuel economy in three ways:
- Vehicle braking energy that normally is wasted is recovered.
- The engine is operated more efficiently.
- The engine can be shut off when stopped or decelerating.
Initial trials of the SHH system demonstrated up to 50% improvement in fuel efficiency and one-third reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to the company.
"Using Telelogic Rhapsody software improves the quality of the application software that is integral to the series hydraulic hybrid system development process," said Steve Zielinski, chief engineer for software in the Eaton fluid power group.
"IBM's Telelogic Rhapsody increases communication through graphic modeling and provides validation through simulation and automated testing," he said.
Source: IBM.