PTC India Financial Services Limited has signed an MoU with IISc to establish a unique mobility laboratory at the Institute for the development of small hybrid powertrains. PTC’s CSR funding will help procure essential equipment such as high-speed dynamometer, automation and control systems, vehicle simulation software, and mounting hardware for motors and engines.
The market for drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in India is growing rapidly. Small, efficient, high power-to-weight, two-stroke engines and hybrid engine power packs can significantly improve the range of drones.
India also has a large, growing Electric Vehicle (EV) market. But a major roadblock to the growth of this sector is limited range. This can be improved by building Range Extenders – small, high power-to-weight IC engines that run on clean fuels such as CNG, hydrogen and biofuels. The resulting vehicles are Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) which can increase range of EVs by 70-90%.
There is a further advantage if these engines are flex-fuel (hydrogen, CNG – HCNG). Further, there is a need for such engines running on biofuels such as ethanol, and also having flex-fuel capability (gasoline-ethanol-methanol). Overall, there is a great need for study and research on small engines and hybrid powertrains for powering drones/UAVs, two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
A significant feature of this laboratory will be the Hardware-in-Loop (HIL) Test facility for research and development of electric and hybrid powertrains. HIL simulation combines real-world measurements with simulations, allowing for reproducible, fast, and cost-effective testing.
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