ADVISOR (ADvanced VehIcle SimulatOR) was created by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Center for Transportation Technologies and Systems. It's a flexible modeling tool that rapidly assesses the performance and fuel economy of conventional, electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles. The user changes component and vehicle specifications—such as electric motors, batteries, engines, and fuel cells—and ADVISOR simulates the vehicle's response under different driving conditions. This cutting-edge tool runs in the MATLAB/Simulink software environment.
ADVISOR 2002 was improved with links to other software applications and data from industry partnerships. Detailed electrical analysis is made possible by co-simulation links to Avant!'s Saber and Ansoft's SIMPLORERâ. Transient air conditioning system analysis is possible by co-simulation with C&R Technologies' SINDA/FLUINT. Representative of component supplier collaboration, Michelin provided data for a new tire rolling resistance model, and Maxwell provided data for a new ultracapacitor energy storage model.
"NREL is excited about the involvement of the automotive industry and complementary software applications," said Keith Wipke, senior engineer in NREL's Advanced Vehicle and Systems Group. "ADVISOR 2002 highlights our linkage with these partners."
Other important improvements include new heavy vehicle components and menus that can be customized for multiple users and projects. A detailed list of improvements is available on the ADVISOR Web site http://www.ctts.nrel.gov/analysis/advisor_doc/whats_new.html. ADVISOR was developed in 1994. Since then, more than 5,000 individuals have downloaded it, including users at DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Delphi Automotive Systems, Visteon, and hundreds of other companies and universities. About 2,000 users are expected to download ADVISOR 2002 over the next year. The software is continually improved using feedback from users and periodic user conferences. More information about ADVISOR and free access to download ADVISOR 2002 and view documentation are available on the ADVISOR Web site http://www.ctts.nrel.gov/analysis/. Plans call for new versions of ADVISOR to be released annually.
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's premiere laboratory for renewable energy research and development and a lead lab for energy efficiency R&D. The Lab is managed by Midwest Research Institute, Battelle and Bechtel. In addition to work in advanced transportation technologies, NREL is a research leader in energy security, hydrogen and fuel cells, distributed energy resources, bioenergy and bio-based products, zero energy buildings, wind energy, geothermal energy and solar energy.