The fuel consumption of a modern vehicle does not only depend on its mechanical characteristics, but also on the electronic controls for its engine, gear box, and other consumers. The better these can adapt to variable usage conditions, the higher the efficiency of the vehicle. Potential applications are managing a hybrid drive by taking the topography into account, or allocating power within an agricultural or construction machine.

Tractor fieldwork

In cooperation with John Deere, ITWM is currently assessing the potential of using operating data and geographical information for efficiency improvement. The goal is to obtain better information about the operating point without resorting to expensive sensors, and to make such information available for electronic control units and driver assistance systems. The approach couples a (simplified) system model of the tractor with a statistical description of the environment (soil, weather, etc.), as the latter is usually not known with sufficient accuracy.