Project Information

Scope:
Fuel economy is a key aspect to reduce operating costs and improve efficiency of freight traffic, thus increasing truck competitiveness. The main objective of the IMPERIUM project is to achieve fuel consumption reduction of up to 20% (diesel and urea) whilst keeping the vehicle within the legal limits for pollutant emissions. The IMPERIUM consortium consist of major European actors and is able to provide a 100% European value chain for the development of future powertrain control strategies for trucks.

Objectives:
IMPERIUM's main innovations and targeted key results are:

Objective 1: Development of a methodology and simulation environment for assessing the performance of HD trucks in real-driving conditions
Objective 2: Development of Dynamic eHorizon system for Heavy Duty trucks
Objective 3: Three advanced fuel efficient Heavy Duty Demonstrators, each integrating eHorizon and providing different approaches of Vehicle Control Units and powertrain configurations
- Long haulage heavy duty application – DAF with focus on predictive powertrain supervisor, predictive engine control and predictive waste heat recovery
- Long haulage heavy duty application – IVECO with focus on energy management supervisor, engine control, micro-hybrid and smart auxiliaries
- Long haulage heavy duty application – VOLVO with focus on integrated powertrain control and model-based engine control with mission adaptation
Objective 4: Analysis and validation of the project outcomes by means of in-vehicle fuel consumption and emissions measurements integrated into the proposed simulation environment

Technical Approach

The approach relies on the three following stages:

Direct optimisation of the control of the main powertrain components (e.g., engine, transmission) to maximize their performances.
Global powertrain energy manager to coordinate the different energy sources and optimize their use depending on the current driving situation.
Provide a more comprehensive understanding of the mission (e.g., eHorizon, mission-based learning) to enable long- term optimization strategies.

Project Structure

The IMPERIUM consortium represents a unique mix of industry leading expertise and knowledge centres that enable the consortium to respond completely to the project challenges and objectives. The consortium is composed of three major manufacturers of heavy duty trucks DAF Trucks N.V, IVECO S.p.A.and Volvo Technology AB (OEM), eight major high end and large component and engineering service suppliers (FPT Motorenforschung AG, AVL List GmbH, Ricardo UK Ltd, Continental Automotive GmbH, FEV GmbH, Robert Bosch GmbH, and Honeywell SPOL. S.R.O).

This composition is complemented by six research and service centres in specialised simulations (Chalmers University, Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano, CTU Prague, RWTH Aachen University, Technical University Eindhoven), and a powerful group of global leaders in physical, chemical and thermodynamic sciences with vast experience in engine and vehicle research. With this partner setting the IMPERIUM consortium provides the necessary critical mass, skills and commitment to ensure not only the achievement of future alternative powertrains and components for heavy duty vehicles but also the results’ market uptake towards higher Technology Readiness Levels.