Ricardo To Present Results Of Sentience Project Demonstrating Key Benefits Of Vehicle Electronic Horizon Enhancement

SHOREHAM-BY-SEA – November 13, 2008: Interactive session (ref. 20383) to be presented by Tom Robinson, senior manager, control & electronics, Ricardo UK Ltd, will take place on Thursday November 20, 9.30am-1.00pm, in the Exhibit Hall of the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York City

Now nearing completion, the Sentience research project is an intelligent transport systems collaboration between Ricardo, Orange Business Services, Jaguar Land Rover, British mapping agency Ordnance Survey and TRL, and is part-funded by innovITS. Its aim is to demonstrate how highly affordable systems – in many cases already existing on-board – can be deployed to utilize the electronic horizon of the vehicle in order to improve efficiency and hence fuel economy. Control strategies have been developed in three distinct areas to improve powertrain and vehicle management, based on an awareness of impending changes in road topology and both fixed and probabilistic speed limitations. Strategies have been focused on Enhanced Acceleration/Deceleration (EAD) in which the vehicle speed is controlled to meet actual and virtual speed limits; Optimized Engine Load (OEL) in which the hybrid powertrain systems are managed using advanced route knowledge in such a way as to make optimal use of recharging opportunities; and Optimized Air-Conditioning (EAC) control in which temperature set-points are adjusted prior to and following temporary stops.

Key research findings to be presented at the above presentation include:

Significant fuel economy improvements – EAD strategies in particular have shown fuel savings of between 5 and 30 percent in initial track testing, depending upon traffic conditions and route topology.

For many current and future vehicles – equipped with GSM and GPS (e.g. for cell phone and navigation connectivity) – no additional hardware will be required for a production implementation.

Additional control software and processing requirements can potentially be met through incorporation into existing on-board electronics modules.

Sentience is now approaching completion and the consortium expects to make its demonstrator vehicle available for evaluation at a media event to be announced in early 2009.