Argonne releases new version of award-winning vehicle simulation
modeling software
ARGONNE, Ill. (Dec. 19, 2006) — Argonne National Laboratory's Powertrain
System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) enables designers to overcome time and cost
constraints for advanced vehicle design, such as hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.
Because it would be impossible to build and test every different powertrain
option manually, PSAT provides the modeling and simulation capabilities for
automotive designers to quickly examine the multitudes of possible configurations
and understand the impacts of performance and fuel economy.
"PSAT is rapidly becoming the powertrain simulation tool of choice for
both the OEMs and their suppliers to select appropriate advanced technologies
and bring them to market faster" stated Larry Johnson, Director of Argonne's
Transportation Technology R&D
Center. "The next generation of engineers
will rely on PSAT as more and more universities incorporate PSAT into their
curricula."
"OEM's have limited resources and research funds for new technologies.
We have to pick and choose very carefully where we put our money and in what
technology. In PSAT, DOE and Argonne have developed a tool that helps speed
up the process and allows us to look at many different technologies much sooner
than we would otherwise. We need a model that's intuitive, easy to use, and
provides accurate results. PSAT gives us that." Randy Yost, Engineering
Specialist, General Motors.
The latest Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT V6.1) includes many
new features and improvements. These changes were driven by user feedback in
industry and universities. Some of the enhancements include: the ability to
implement any proprietary component models, data sets, control strategies or
drive cycles through the interactive graphical user interface; simple differentiation
between light duty and heavy duty vehicle simulation; enhanced component models
and data components; html report of simulations and tests.
"PSAT is a unique forward looking model which realistically simulates
fuel economy and performance of advanced vehicles" said Don Hillebrand,
Director of Argonne's Center for Transportation Research. "This comprehensive
model accounts for transient behavior and control system characteristics from
the driver to the wheels."
Aymeric Rousseau, PSAT team lead at Argonne stated, "PSAT can simulate
an unrivaled number of pre-defined vehicle configurations including: conventional,
electric, fuel cell, series hybrid, parallel hybrid, and power split hybrid
and offers a wide range of analysis tools to facilitate the understanding of
complex power trains."
Sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE), development of PSAT began in
1995 as a collaborative effort with USCAR partners, Ford,
General Motors and
DaimlerChrysler in
response to the need for a common advanced powertrain modeling software that
could realistically simulate fuel economy and performance. The software was
initially released in 2003 and was recognized as an R&D 100
award winner in 2004. PSAT is currently used by more than 300 researchers worldwide
in more than 60 companies and universities. It has been selected by DOE as
its' primary vehicle simulation tool to support its FreedomCAR
and Fuel Partnership Program and to provide guidance future research orientation.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology.
The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic
and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne
researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities,
and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific
problems, advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for
a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed
by UChicago
Argonne, LLC for
the U.S.
Department of Energy's Office
of Science.
For more information, please contact Eleanor Taylor (630/252-5510 or media@anl.gov) at Argonne.
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