ARGONNE, Ill., Dec. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. government scientists have developed improved software that helps resolve time and cost constraints in designing advanced vehicles.
The latest version of Argonne National Laboratory's Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit, or PSAT, is intended to assist designers of hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.
"PSAT is rapidly becoming the powertrain simulation tool of choice for both the (original equipment manufacturers) and their suppliers to select appropriate advanced technologies and bring them to market faster," said Larry Johnson, director of Argonne's Transportation Technology R&D Center. "The next generation of engineers will rely on PSAT as more and more universities incorporate PSAT into their curricula."
The updated PSAT version includes the ability to implement any proprietary component models, data sets, control strategies or drive cycles through the interactive graphical user interface.
Argonne PSAT Team Leader Aymeric Rousseau said, "PSAT can simulate an unrivaled number of pre-defined vehicle configurations including: conventional, electric, fuel cell, series hybrid, parallel hybrid, and power split hybrid and offers a wide range of analysis tools to facilitate the understanding of complex power trains."
Argonne, the nation's first national laboratory, is operated by the University of Chicago for the U.S. Department of Energy.
