Welcome to IPRO 304 FALL - Hybrid Fuel Cell People Transporter

The objective of the battery team is to improve on the existing passive cooling system by replacing the aluminum block with a new carbon material. This material exists in a powder form, which is compressed into a solid block. This new material is a lot less expensive, and therefore reduces the overall cost of each battery. Before the new material can be implemented, a series of thermal tests must be conducted to determine the thermal conductivity. The battery team will perform these tests and compare the thermal conductivity to the thermal conductivity of the existing aluminum material. The aim is to have the thermal conductivity be the same as the aluminum material so the same amount of heat will be dissipated. Once this is complete, a prototype may be built implementing this new design if time permits.

The business team is responsible for reporting on the economics and safety aspects of hydrogen for fuel cells, analyzing the costs associated with the hybrid people transporter, and maintaining relations with sponsors.

The fuel cell team is responsible for characterizing the fuel cell donated to the project from Avista laboratories. The first objective for the team is to find a place for safe operation of the fuel cell. Once this is achieved the group will through the use of a data acquisition system obtain the polarization curve of the fuel cell. Next the fuel cell will be tested with the charger to determine how long the batteries take to charge, etc. The final objective will be to design the hydrogen delivery system for use on the vehicle.

Group 1 - Design and implement charging system for vehicle. This involves configuring the charging unit from MicroSun, a series of relays, and switches. The vehicle will run off battery power, and the fuel cell will charge the batteries not in use.

Group 2 - Design a theoretical hybrid system using components available in industry. This means that the vehicle would use the fuel cell as its primary source of power, and the batteries as a backup. Many of the parts can be found in the IIT hybrid lab, but those not available will still be included as if they can be purchased.

The Design Team is responsible for the construction/modification of the vehicle (Invacare electric wheelchair) and auxiliary trailer (Burley d'Lite child bicycle trailer). The vehicle has already been modified by the removal of the original lead-acid batteries and with the addition of a trailer hitch. The trailer has been modified by the installation of a platform to allow the attachment of the fuel cell, hydrogen cylinders and battery packs. The vehicle and trailer are usable in the current iteration but functionality improvements are both planned and desirable.

The first design objective to be met will be to improve the current seat mounting system. Several design items are pending finalization by other teams and include: the positioning of the batteries on either the trailer or vehicle (mounting brackets are currently located on the trailer) and fabrication of necessary mounts, mounting of additional hydrogen cylinders on the trailer if desired (one currently installed) and installing weather protection for sensitive components as needed. Other modifications are the possible installation of a ball-hitch for quick trailer removal (current design utilizes a bolt-on mounting) and redesign of the cylinder attach bracket(s) to improve ease of cylinder replacement. The ultimate design goal is to discard the auxiliary trailer altogether and streamline the design by integrating the fuel cell, batteries and hydrogen storage system into the vehicle itself.

In addition to improving the functionality of the vehicle/trailer combination it is also under the purview of the Vehicle Design Team to address the overall safety of the vehicle, trailer and installed components. This would include the physical safety of the operator and others in close proximity during vehicle operation as well as the protection of installed components against physical damage. Initial consideration will be given to impact protection of the hydrogen cylinders and fire detection/suppression in the unlikely event of uncontrolled thermal runaway of the batteries. Safety is of prime importance to everyone involved in this IPRO and all concerns will be addressed as soon as they are identified.