This is a report upon the competition in designing and building a

fuel-efficient car.
My name is Phan Duc Chuong- a freshman of Vietnamese-German University.

My major is Mechanical Engineering (ME).

I make this report with a view to not only want to join in this interesting
competition but also through this I can learn some basic acknowledges about my
major- ME.

In fact, in order to be chosen as a member of VGU team, i have to do some tasks

which is given by leader of team- Nguyen Duc Thinh.

Task 1: List of some primary areas relating to our project

I will list components of a car in order from outside to inside:
 Chassis
As we know, chassis play an indispensable role in a car, because it is a
skeletal frame which connects, carries and protects various mechanical
components like engine, tires, brakes, steering system and so on.
Thus, we have to make the chassis not only far much lightweight but also
strong and flexible. To meet that command, we should choose aluminum
alloys and composite plastic to make the frame of car and then is reinforced
with layers of carbon fibers, which can provide more strength to support the
car.
In term of design, nowadays, monocoque design is a trend and lots of car
brands choose it to apply to their car. This design allow the chassis integrated
with the body.
 Shell
Besides its function is to help the outlook of the car look more attracting
and beautiful, another role of the shell is help the car saving energy by
 lowering the vehicle’s drag coefficient. Therefore, the shell is added to lower
the drag by making the air flows beside the body of the vehicle.

For making the shell, we should choose PLA plastic since it is more
friendly to the environment and economical compared to another plastics.
Moreover PLA shell is flexible, easy to create a complicated shape.

 Steering system
 The main purpose of the steering system is to transfer the torque from
the steering bar into the swiveling movement of the road-wheel in order
to turn the vehicle. Since we need to reduce the weight of the vehicle,
the steering system was designed to be as minimal as possible.
 Wheel
To let the car move on the road and load all the weight of the vehicle and
the driver, we have to assemble tires to the car. According to the previous
design, we just need three tires. One is behind the car and the other two is
mounted front of the car.
Because the budget which school give is limited, we should use bicycle’s
tire instead of using bike’s tire. Furthermore, bicycle’s tire also reduce the
weight of the car that will be more suitable for the competition and still
support enough for the whole car.
 Steering system
Regardless of the type of vehicle that we have, its steering
mechanism will always include 6 to 7 basic components that can
include the following:
 Steering bar: The steering bar has the T-shape. The main purpose of
the steering bar is to transfer the force from the driver into the
moment.
 Steering shaft: The steering shaft connects the steering bar with a
steering tie rod.

 Steering tie rod: Since the tie rod is a vital component of the
steering mechanism, it links the steering rack into the steering arm,
which is connected to the wheel.

 Steering rack: is at the center of this mechanism. This rack is

constrained so that it can only move in a straight line.

 Steering pinion: which come from the steering can make the rack
move.
 Steering arm: is attached to both of the wheels.

 Power steering:

 ECM:
 Fuel injection
The working of the Fuel Injection system is more computerized and works
on a lot of sensors.
ADVANTAGES:
* Fuel delivery is optimum and fuel atomizing allows for complete
combustion.
* Increase in fuel efficiency and power output.
* Acceleration sensitivity increases.
* Friendly to environment
DISADVANTAGES:
* Servicing of the FI unit is cumbersome.
* If there is an ECU failure, the bike will seize to work.
* It costs a lot and the service and maintenance is costly as well.
* Producing new Fuel maps needs loads of expertise.
* Procuring new fuel maps is a costly affair.
 Electronic control unit (ECU)
The ECU uses closed-loop control, a control scheme that monitors outputs
of a system to control the inputs to a system, managing the emissions and fuel
economy of engine (as well as a host of other parameters).

By gathering data from dozens of different sensors, the ECU performs

millions of calculations each second, including looking up values in tables,
calculating the results of long equations to decide on the best spark timing or
determining how long the fuel injector is open.

 Ignition system
The ignition system is one of the most important systems used in the I.C
engines. It works to turn low voltage DC (6-12V, 24V) into high voltage
pulses (12,000-40,000) enough to create spark in spark plug to ignite the gas
at the specified time in a certain order.
The main components of the ignition system:
 Transmission system
Initially, Honda give each team a normal engine of wave 110 cc, which has
a gear box. However, the original is designed to adapt to varied operation
condition like a heavy load, low-speed inner city or uphill run while in the
Honda EMC competition, driving condition was on a controlled track, light
load without the need of quick acceleration. Therefore, different gears ratio
was unnecessary. The original gearbox even reduced the vehicle performance
by wasting energy on shifting between gears.

Thus, there are many team didn’t use that gear box and remove them
from engine. To transmit force from the engine to the wheel, most of team
often use chain motion.

 Lubrication system
The lubrication system is a crucial part of an internal combustion engine. It
ensures engine’s smooth operation by lubricate piston, camshaft, valves, and
cool down the engine. Without lubrication system, an engine is only able to
 run for 4 to 5 minutes before breaking down due to overheat and permanent
damage on parts.

And now, because the engine has been removed gear box, the amount of oil
required for engine was reduced significantly and no longer need lubrications.
That will decline the pressure on the system.

 Braking system
A basic braking system consists of the caliper, disc, and brake pads. The
disc is mounted to the hub of the wheel.

The primary purpose of the braking system is to decelerate the speed of the
vehicle. The vehicle was equipped with two brakes, one on the front right
wheel and the other on the rear wheel. The front brake controlled by a lever
placed on the right side of the steering bar. The rear brake was equipped on
the rear wheel and controlled by a lever placed on the left side of the driver.

 Engine
Each team take part in this competition was given a Honda wave 110 cc
engine with standard fuel consumption of 56 km/l. For the purpose of keeping
the engine in the best condition for further testing in the future, the pistol did
not interfere as well as the engine housing.

On top of that, to get used to the condition of the competition, every team
has some considerably change that can bring efficiency of the engine. For
instance, many team has removed the gear box or the generator to reduce the
weight of the vehicle.

 Arduino
Arduino is an open source platform used to build electronic applications
that interact with each other or the environment more smoothly.

Arduino is like a small computer so that users can program and execute
electronic projects without having to have specialized tools to load code.

By using Arduino in the electronic system, we can control most of the

activities of the vehicle such as it can control the engine, FI, sensors, etc,…
 Wheel alignment
Similar to conventional cars, creating the angle of the steering system will
make driving easier, run straightly with stability and have the ability to restore
the car's straight direction after turning.
There are two main types of angles:

Camber: the angle when you look at the front of the car is called the
“Camber” angle. The inclination of the steering shaft relative to the wheel is
called the "king-pin" tilt angle.

Caster: viewed from the side at an angle to the battery, this angle is called
the caster angle. Like the bike fork design at an angle.

Toe: looking to the car from the top (or bottom)

Imagine lines through the middle of the wheels in riding direction.
TOE-IN occurs when these lines are in "A-shape", lines cross in front of
the vehicle (red lines)
TOE-OUT occurs when these lines are in "V-shape"; lines cross behind
wheels. (green lines)
 We can adjust the toe angle by using the below method:

Task 2: Solutions of improving our designs and strategies

As far as we know, in competition, in order to have high top rank, our vehicle must
have a good design coupled with rational strategies. But the more important thing is
solidarity of our team.

The previous designs is far good, but the next generation must be better than the the
previous one. Therefore, I just want to come up with some solution about designs
and strategies to better our vehicle.

 Design
- Firstly, in term of aerodynamics of the vehicle, I suggest that we should
change somethings on its shell: I realized that the chassis of our vehicle
is too high compared with the road, so we should lower the chassis a
little may be lower than 3 cm. I think that the closer to the road the
faster it will surf.
 - Secondly, According to my observations , it’s often rain once the
competition occur, so we should install a transparent cover in the
control compartment. But we must note that it can be disassemble
without support tools.
- Thirdly, when in competition, it needs quick correction. Therefore,
when we design, we need to consider the possibilities. We should make
door to a slightly bigger fuel tank to easy to confirm the fuel system
and the movement of two hand can put in easily.

- Fourthly, install the cylinder lock in a position higher than the

carburetor.

- Besides, to prevent the suction of sand and water,… which the tires trail
when it run, we should install the air filter box. This will not only solve
some trouble about the transmission but also stabilize the air drawn by
the carburetor.

 Strategies
 To save fuel as much as possible, besides a good vehicle, we must have a
sensible strategies. Nevertheless, our team must unite and agree in order for
everything to work out smoothly. And now, I have some following strategies:
- In the bends we should go close to the bend to go shorter distances that
will save fuel significantly.
- Flexible adjustment of the driver and rhythmic coordination support
from members outside the track to notify the number of laps, time, and
running speed as most reasonable.
- In the competition, sometimes we have to turn off the engine to let the
vehicle driving itself by force of inertia. The reason why we do that is
help the vehicle save fuel, but when we do that we accidentally waste
time so we have to calculate when and where we should stop
meticulously.

I have just done two task which you gave me. In the process of doing the report, I
may have some mistakes about specialized knowledge. I hope that you will
appreciate that and tell me about that in order to better next time. I really thank you
so much for reading it.
 Research papers and patents relative to our topic
 Research papers
Abstract:
The problem of energy saving is, at present, more and more important. One
of the field where the scientific world is investigating deeper is the mobility
field. Indeed, the reduction of the consumption of the vehicles is a target that
a lot of countries and car manufacturers are searching for. In this scenario
HONDA organizes a competition called EMC Honda Viet Nam; the winner
of this race is the team that realize the vehicle capable of covering a fixed
distance with the lowest fuel consumption.
1. Electronic control unit for an adaptive cruise control system &
engine management system in a vehicle using electronic fuel
injection.
This paper is about simulation design of an Electronic Control Unit
(ECU) for an Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and for an engine
management system (EMS). The simulation model allows processing of
various sensors data like engine speed, engine temperature, and distance
from the front vehicle. By collecting data from various sensors, ECU
controls the vehicle speed by using electronic fuel injector actuator. ECU
model simulates the failures to design a fault-tolerant system and controls
the engine speed with the aid of an open loop control technique using
EMS. ECU provides safety to the user by avoiding the collision by using
IR Sensor and deployment of the air bags using MEMS accelerometer in
the case of emergency using ACC. ECU mainly concentrates on
functionality of fuel metering. This Simulation model could be used as a
tool for swift development and test models of ECU in order to control the
engine in laboratory for fuel economy and engine performance and safety
improvement purposes for vehicles.
2. Dynamic modeling and simulation of a three-wheeled hub motor
vehicle.
A seven degrees of freedom (DOF) mathematical model of a three
wheeled vehicle (TWV) with one front wheel and two rear wheels is
developed using MATLAB software. The model consists of different
subsystems i.e. Wheels system, longitudinal and lateral dynamics and
 suspension system. The dynamic model is simulated and validated for
circular and impulse input test. A permanent magnet synchronous in-
wheel motor called hub motor model is developed and integrated with
TWV to develop three wheeled hub motor vehicle (TWHV) for
simulating the effect of hub motor on vehicle stability. PID controller
developed to control the vehicle speed with Hub motor. The TWHV
model with PID controller is helpful for developing controller algorithms
to enhance handling characteristics and to develop three wheeled electric
vehicles with hub-motors vehicle.

3. Arduino based logic for ECM remote testing by generating engine

and vehicle speed signals.

In diesel engine, a lot of work is going on to enhance the capability of

Engine Control Module (ECM) by adding different improved features.
Most of the new features directly or indirectly have engine and vehicle
speed as their contributing parameters. We need to provide actual engine
and vehicle speed signals while testing these features and other ECM
parameters which are affected by engine and vehicle speed. The
instruments involved in generating these signals are not cost-effective.
Digital circuits used to generate engine and vehicle speed signals have low
cost but are inaccurate. So, this paper provides a low-cost Arduino Timer
and Interrupt based solution for generating these speed signals with high
accuracy and precision. A graphical user interface (GUI) is also developed
to get accurate (numeric) input from user. To mimic all possible engine
speed conditions, crank cam displaced speed signals were also generated
and given to ECM. The hardware developed using Arduino can be used
for testing of ECM remotely irrespective of actual vehicle or engine
availability as it is self-sufficient of providing crank, cam and vehicle
speed signals.
Patents
4. Ignition device for internal combustion engine.

The invention provides an ignition device of a cylindrical shape for an

internal combustion engine, in which device it is possible to improves a
 productivity of a side core and a center core and to improve the efficiency
of converting a magnetic flux together with the decreasing of the number
of the steps of assembling process.

5. Pre-chamber spark plug.

The invention provides an ignition device of a cylindrical shape for an

internal combustion engine, in which device it is possible to improves a
productivity of a side core and a center core and to improve the efficiency
of converting a magnetic flux together with the decreasing of the number
of the steps of assembling process. A method and apparatus to maximize
spark plug life in pre-chamber spark plugs operating with ultra-lean
mixtures and/or elevated engine BMEP is presented. Electrode erosion is
reduced by spreading discharge energy over a wider surface area,
maintaining fuel concentration in the spark gap, controlling gas static
pressure during discharge, and maintaining safe electrode temperature.
Energy is spread via a swirling effect created by periphery holes in an
end cap, resulting in a lower specific energy discharge at the electrodes.
Divergently configured electrodes reduce the spark voltage at high
operating pressures and the energy required for ignition. The flow field
generated at the electrodes prevents electrical shorts due to water
condensation and avoids misfire. The center electrode insulation provides
an effective heat transfer path to prevent electrode overheating and
preignition. The volume behind the electrodes provides a volume for
burnt products from previous combustion cycles and leads to more
reliable ignition.

6. Selective control of vehicle aerodynamics

A system is configured to control aerodynamics of a vehicle.

The vehicle includes a vehicle body arranged along a longitudinal axis
with a first vehicle body end configured to face incident ambient airflow.
The system includes an aerodynamic-aid element mounted to
the vehicle body and configured to generate a downforce thereon via
controlling the incident ambient airflow. The system also includes an
adjustable flap arranged at the aerodynamic-aid element. The adjustable
flap is configured to shift relative to the aerodynamic-aid element and
thereby control movement of the incident ambient airflow relative to the
aerodynamic-aid element. The system additionally includes a mechanism
configured to vary position of the adjustable flap relative to the
aerodynamic-aid element and thereby vary a magnitude of downforce
generated by the aerodynamic-aid element.