A method to generate drive cycles from operational data

Abstract: This thesis investigates the possibility to develop a method to generate drive cycles for heavy duty vehicles for Scania’s customers. A representative drive cycle is important to simulate realistic driving of vehicles. Trucks that are sold by Scania and other manufacturers are collecting data which are logged from the vehicle’s on-board computer during operations. This data is used for the development of new trucks, and the idea is that with operational data, a drive cycle can be generated which is representative for the operations of a specific truck. The developed methodology generates a drive cycle which is compared against this operational data. By making a first selection of already existing drive cycles and modifying the closest drive cycle to a selection of parameters, a drive cycle which corresponds to the operations of the specific truck can be designed. To compare against the operational data, simulations of the truck performing the drive cycle are conducted, and the results are compared to the truck’s operational data. The simulation tool is an internally developed model at Scania which has been verified against test measurements on trucks. A final methodology to generate drive cycles are developed and it compares the simulated fuel consumption and engine load matrix against operational data. By redesigning the drive cycle in an iterative process, results from simulation of the drive cycle becomes very similar to the operational data.