Optimal comfortability control of hybrid electric powertrains in acceleration mode

This paper presents a control design approach for optimizing the comfortability of hybrid electric powertrains in acceleration mode. A parallel hybrid electric vehicle powertrain system with two motors and a single turbo-charged engine is considered. In acceleration mode, it is assumed that the desired acceleration rate cannot be satisfied by using the electrical motor individually. The first challenge is managing the combustion engine to assist power generation and power split such that the system satisfies comfortability, and the second challenge is modeling the comfortability (e.g., analytically describing the human feeling). This paper exploits a black-box module typically used in the automotive industry to quantitatively evaluate comfortability. A genetic algorithm is applied to find the optimum power split and gear schedule that can improve the comfortability evaluated by the module in acceleration mode. The simulation results conducted on a simulator with a practical background demonstrate the significance of the proposed design approach.