An Add-on Model Predictive Control Strategy for the Energy Management of Hybrid Electric Tractors

TL;DR

This paper proposes an add-on Model Predictive Control-based Energy Management Strategy for hybrid electric tractors that optimizes fuel consumption without altering the existing engine speed control loop, validated through experimental simulation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel MPC-based EMS for hybrid tractors that respects the original engine control, enhancing fuel efficiency while maintaining operational speed.

Findings

Reduced fuel consumption in simulations

Maintained engine speed tracking accuracy

Validated effectiveness in orchard vineyard tractor model

Abstract

The hybridization process has recently touched also the world of agricultural vehicles. Within this context, we develop an Energy Management Strategy (EMS) aiming at optimizing fuel consumption, while maintaining the battery state of charge. A typical feature of agricultural machines is that their internal combustion engine is speed controlled, tracking the reference requested by the driver. In view of avoiding any modification on this original control loop, an add-on EMS strategy is proposed. In particular, we employ a multi-objective Model Predictive Control (MPC), taking into account the fuel consumption minimization and the speed tracking requirement, including the engine speed controller in the predictive model. The proposed MPC is tested in an experimentally-validated simulation environment, representative of an orchard vineyard tractor.