In the current scenario, which points to significant changes in worldwide Automotive Engineering and, also affecting Brazil, Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, presents EMBRAPII Unit Poli/USP Powertrain, which aims to deal with the most sensitive part of these changes, the Vehicle Propulsion and Drivetrain. The Unit makes available to the Brazilian automotive industry a team of researchers with extensive experience and modern laboratory infrastructure to establish joint research projects that promote the development of innovative solutions in the area, following the successful EMBRAPII’s management and financing model.
Poli USP Powertrain is based on 3 lines in which Poli USP has been developing projects of great relevance in recent years:
– Engines, mainly Internal Combustion powered by renewable fuels (ethanol, biogas, and biodiesel), without leaving aside those powered by energy sources in which the country has large reserves, for example, Natural Gas Engines, Electric Motors, and Hybrid Electric Propulsion Systems;
– Increased Efficiency of Power Trains by reducing losses that arise from the internal parts of an engine until the delivery of power to the wheels, either by reducing friction between the parts or by obtaining better performance through the design of new components or changes in the manufacturing process;
– Intelligent systems applied to the powertrain, here designating all the new systems of management of the components of the powertrain that have been developed to achieve better results, as, for example, the engine management system (ECU), the advanced driver-assistance system( ADAS), and hardware in the loop implementation, among others.
Poli USP Powertrain arrives following important projects developed or ongoing developments under the leadership of Poli, with the decisive participation of companies in the automotive sector, with its financing or with public-private financing. To highlight just a few of them, we mention the project “Development of High-Efficiency Biogas Engine for Cargo Transportation Vehicles”, together with UFSM, UnB and IPT, with partner companies AVL, CAOA and Bosch, supported by the Rota 2030 Program, within the Motors subprogram; the project “Tribological Challenges for Flex-Fuel Engines”, which had the participation of 6 companies from the automotive sector, including 3 automakers, in the Increased Efficiency subprogram and the electronic management units (ECUs) designed at Poli / USP that has already presented results compatible with the TSI engine range. Part of the efforts in this last subprogram has been developed in partnership with Bosch.
Such projects could not have been carried out without a modern infrastructure of laboratories, design, simulation, and analysis software continuously updated and renewed and, more than that, without a team of the highest competence in the subject, led by their research professors, and a wide range of consultants, undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctors and other collaborators.
With these attributes, the EMBRAPII Poli USP Powertrain Unit presents itself to the Brazilian automotive community in the certainty that excellent innovative projects will be born from new partnerships from now on.
