Optimal Design of Energy Sources for a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Extended-Range Agricultural Mobile Robot

Powertrain electrification in the agricultural vehicles is still in the initial stages. This article analyzes the energy behavior of a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Agricultural Mobile Robot (PV/FCAMR) as the preliminary step before development. This concept incorporates three energy storage sources for th...

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Main Authors: Amin Ghobadpour, Alben Cardenas, German Monsalve, Hossein Mousazadeh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:Robotics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/12/1/13
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author Amin Ghobadpour
Alben Cardenas
German Monsalve
Hossein Mousazadeh
author_facet Amin Ghobadpour
Alben Cardenas
German Monsalve
Hossein Mousazadeh
author_sort Amin Ghobadpour
collection DOAJ
description Powertrain electrification in the agricultural vehicles is still in the initial stages. This article analyzes the energy behavior of a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Agricultural Mobile Robot (PV/FCAMR) as the preliminary step before development. This concept incorporates three energy storage sources for the powertrain: a battery pack, a Fuel Cell (FC) system, and a Photovoltaic (PV) system. This paper proposes an approach based on the Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms to determine the sizes of the FC and battery of an FCAMR. A differential drive mobile robot was used as a case study to extract the typical working cycles of farming applications. The FCAMR vehicle model was developed in MATLAB/Simulink to evaluate vehicle energy consumption and performance. For the energy analysis and evaluation, the FCAMR was tested based on two realistic working cycles comprising circular and rectangular moving patterns. The results showed that the proposed arrangement could extend the FCAMR autonomy by 350% as opposed to the pure electric system. This allows for at least 8 h of work with a tank filled with 150 g hydrogen and a PV system with a 0.5 m<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula> monocrystalline solar panel. The simulation results have demonstrated the relevance and robustness of this approach in relation to various working cycles. The cost comparison between the theoretical and optimization sizing methods showed at least an 8% decrease for the FCAMR. Furthermore, adding the PV system extended the vehicle’s range by up to 5%. This study provides an optimal solution for energy sources sizing of mobile robots as futuristic agricultural vehicles.
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spelling doaj.art-4a836f8c76be41feb81faeaa70a44d9c2023-11-16T23:05:20ZengMDPI AGRobotics2218-65812023-01-011211310.3390/robotics12010013Optimal Design of Energy Sources for a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Extended-Range Agricultural Mobile RobotAmin Ghobadpour0Alben Cardenas1German Monsalve2Hossein Mousazadeh3Research Group on Industrial Electronics (GREI), Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Hydrogen Research Institute, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres, 3351, Boulevard des Forges, Trois-Rivieres, QC G8Z 4M3, CanadaResearch Group on Industrial Electronics (GREI), Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Hydrogen Research Institute, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres, 3351, Boulevard des Forges, Trois-Rivieres, QC G8Z 4M3, CanadaResearch Group on Industrial Electronics (GREI), Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Hydrogen Research Institute, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres, 3351, Boulevard des Forges, Trois-Rivieres, QC G8Z 4M3, CanadaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering of Biosystems, University of Tehran, Karaj 77871-31587, IranPowertrain electrification in the agricultural vehicles is still in the initial stages. This article analyzes the energy behavior of a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Agricultural Mobile Robot (PV/FCAMR) as the preliminary step before development. This concept incorporates three energy storage sources for the powertrain: a battery pack, a Fuel Cell (FC) system, and a Photovoltaic (PV) system. This paper proposes an approach based on the Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms to determine the sizes of the FC and battery of an FCAMR. A differential drive mobile robot was used as a case study to extract the typical working cycles of farming applications. The FCAMR vehicle model was developed in MATLAB/Simulink to evaluate vehicle energy consumption and performance. For the energy analysis and evaluation, the FCAMR was tested based on two realistic working cycles comprising circular and rectangular moving patterns. The results showed that the proposed arrangement could extend the FCAMR autonomy by 350% as opposed to the pure electric system. This allows for at least 8 h of work with a tank filled with 150 g hydrogen and a PV system with a 0.5 m<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula> monocrystalline solar panel. The simulation results have demonstrated the relevance and robustness of this approach in relation to various working cycles. The cost comparison between the theoretical and optimization sizing methods showed at least an 8% decrease for the FCAMR. Furthermore, adding the PV system extended the vehicle’s range by up to 5%. This study provides an optimal solution for energy sources sizing of mobile robots as futuristic agricultural vehicles.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/12/1/13agricultural mobile robotnon-road hybrid electric vehiclesparticle swarm optimizationgrey wolf optimizerphotovoltaicfuel cell
spellingShingle Amin Ghobadpour
Alben Cardenas
German Monsalve
Hossein Mousazadeh
Optimal Design of Energy Sources for a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Extended-Range Agricultural Mobile Robot
Robotics
agricultural mobile robot
non-road hybrid electric vehicles
particle swarm optimization
grey wolf optimizer
photovoltaic
fuel cell
title Optimal Design of Energy Sources for a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Extended-Range Agricultural Mobile Robot
title_full Optimal Design of Energy Sources for a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Extended-Range Agricultural Mobile Robot
title_fullStr Optimal Design of Energy Sources for a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Extended-Range Agricultural Mobile Robot
title_full_unstemmed Optimal Design of Energy Sources for a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Extended-Range Agricultural Mobile Robot
title_short Optimal Design of Energy Sources for a Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell Extended-Range Agricultural Mobile Robot
title_sort optimal design of energy sources for a photovoltaic fuel cell extended range agricultural mobile robot
topic agricultural mobile robot
non-road hybrid electric vehicles
particle swarm optimization
grey wolf optimizer
photovoltaic
fuel cell
url https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/12/1/13
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AT germanmonsalve optimaldesignofenergysourcesforaphotovoltaicfuelcellextendedrangeagriculturalmobilerobot
AT hosseinmousazadeh optimaldesignofenergysourcesforaphotovoltaicfuelcellextendedrangeagriculturalmobilerobot