Thermal Management System of the UNICARagil Vehicles—A Comprehensive Overview

The collaboration project UNICARagil aiming to develop new autonomous battery electric vehicle concepts has progressed and the four vehicle prototypes have been built up. All seven universities and six industrial partners have worked towards this milestone. At the time of writing the four vehicles are operational and can be driven by a safety driver using a sidestick. The automated driving functions are being applied on the test track and first demonstrations are carried out. This paper gives an overview of the results, which have been achieved within the work package of the thermal onboard network. The thermal management system including the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and its development process is explained in detail. Furthermore, climate chamber measurements with prototype hardware of a sensor data processing computer and the integration of the air conditioning control unit into the vehicle’s automotive service-oriented architecture framework are described. A coupled simulation approach to predict occupant thermal comfort in one vehicle variant is presented. Simulation results using environmental conditions typical for a European summer show a comfortable environment for all six occupants. In addition, the simulation and development process of a thermoelectric heat pump is shown. First measurement results with the heat pump on a test bench are highlighted which show an achievable coefficient of performance greater than two.