Optimization of Driving and Energy Management Strategies for Rail Vehicles using SEnSOR
Rail vehicle operation is still largely based on manual driving and conventional, rule-based approaches. By optimizing driving behavior and implementing a train-specific energy management system, both energy consumption and component wear can be significantly reduced.
Motivation
For alternative propulsion systems utilized on non-electrified track sections, energy demand directly affects operational reliability and range flexibility. A holistic optimization of operation—coordinating driving strategy and energy management—leads to increased range (improving competitiveness and robustness), less wear, and lower operating costs due to reduced consumption and longer component lifetimes.
Research Portfolio
SEnSOR (Smart Energy Speed Optimizer Rail) is an algorithm for computing optimized rail vehicle trajectories. It enables combined numerical optimization of vehicle dynamics and energy management with respect to energy consumption and component aging. The method supports modeling of all types of powertrains, including (hybrid) systems such as overhead-electric, battery-electric, fuel cell-battery hybrids, diesel-electric, and bimodal drives. Optimization is performed using detailed, vehicle-specific parameters, including component efficiency maps, as well as precise track and timetable data.
Projects
Publications
- electronic library - Optimization algorithm for minimizing railway energy consumption in hybrid powertrain architectures: A direct method approach using a novel two-dimensional efficiency map approximation
- electronic library - Applicability and development of a direct method algorithm for simultaneous optimization of trajectories and energy minimizing control for hybrid fuel cell railway vehicles
- electronic library - Optimization Model for Operation of Battery Multiple Units on Partly Electrified Railway Lines
- electronic library - Application and improvement of a direct method optimization approach for battery electric railway vehicle operation