The ContraSWEC at the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa

Green Engeers Team in front of the Interactive Human Hamster Wheel at the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa

Green Engineers Team at the Brunsfield Centre, University of Ottawa

The Interactive Human Hamster Wheel at the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa

uOttawa Public Science Lecture on Green Technologies for Green Communities, Dec 28, 2011 (SITE 0123: 11:00)

Human Hamster Wheel Interactive and Tesla Coil: Second Image

Human Hamster Wheel and Tesla Coil Interactive

The Interactive Human Hamster Wheel: September 27, 2011; Museum of Science and Technology, Ottawa

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Kylowave Universal Energy Conversion System (K-ECS)

One Kit, Multiple Labs!

Identification of a DC Motor (Video)

The development and implementation of innovative and distinctive equipment for teaching laboratory courses in the disciplinary areas of renewable energy and mechatronics is a challenge . The situation is even more challenging in the context of concrete projects encountered in laboratory experiments.

A great deal of equipment is required if students are to perform a wide range of experiments. Typical existing equipment includes mostly single type of topology for dedicated functionality. Therefore, a high investment is necessary to acquire all the equipment necessary for thorough learning!

A “generic K-ECS equipment” is capable of addressing the above-mentioned limitations. Its reconfigurable nature allows various experiments to be performed on a single piece of equipment, thereby reducing the cost and space for establishing a laboratory.

Kylowave and Green Engineers collaborated to develop, test, and implement a multipurpose lab kit that can serve several labs including control systems, power electronics, mechatronics, and renewable energy.
This kit includes reconfigurable hardware modules, which can be interconnected to achieve various circuit topologies. Moreover, the software (controller) is accessible to users, thereby facilitating quick verification and testing of new ideas. K-ECS is currently available for the educational and industrial market .

Several Circuit Topologies of the K-ECS

Speed Control of a DC Motor

Position Control of a DC Motor

State Feedback Control of a DC Motor

Digital Control Interface

Single Phase Rectifier

Three Phase Rectifier

DC to DC Converter

Analog Sensors

Single Phase Inverters

Three Phase Inverters

Grid Feeding Inverter for Solar Photovoltaic and Wind Turbine

Maximum Power Point tracking (MPPT) for Solar PV

Battery Charger

Interface for Extracting Maximum Power from a Wind Turbine

Signal Processing with Arduino Controller

Data Acquisition

Pulse Width Modulation

Active Filters

The Faculty of Engineering, University of Ottawa has a great vision of designing and realizing a cutting-edge features and functionality “ Smartware on a Demonstrator Wheel” car that meet customer expectations in performance, creature comforts, and aesthetics .

The team and collaborators are inclined to select a hybrid vehicle architecture with eyes set on advanced controls, mechatronics, and software to develop future vehicles for critical design in terms of mass, mileage, safety, and cost based on a Faculty’s previous vehicle experience.

Brunsfield Engineering Student Projects and Entrepreneurship Centre

The experience is based on the uOttawa Supermileage team (founded in 2008) that travels every year to participate in the SAE Supermileage Competition, an international challenge where teams attempt to drive a track in a gasoline-powered race vehicle using as little fuel as possible. In 2010, the team had placed second, with an impressive fuel-efficiency rate of 1,496 miles per gallon.

uOttawa Supermileage team

u Ottawa EcoCAR is a theme project with several tasks. Before proceeding into the research task, a real-time modular modeling and development simulation in Matlab/Simulink for powertrain components will be implemented in order to optimize vehicle fuel economy, performance, and emissions in both virtual and hardware-in-the-loop environments using data from real car. This will be followed by the development of a “controller-motor” optimization model based on an innovative induction machine and an optimization algorithm developed at the university.

The team will also develop a testbed for interconnected vehicles and vehicle to smart grid focused on road safety, efficiency and environment based on the Faculty’s research strength in smart sensing, wireless communications, battery charging/discharging, sustainable and renewable energy.

EcoCAR Task Structure

Topics of Innovation

A snapshot from a a previous student competition

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