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Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR)—Vehicle Electronic Systems Integration
Inception: About the Center: CU-ICAR is a worldwide automotive/motor sports research and development campus where university, industry, and government organizations can engage in synergistic collaboration. It is strategically located in Greenville, SC, on the Interstate 85 corridor and in the rapidly growing Southeastern automotive and motorsports region. At CU-ICAR, Clemson University offers the nation’s first Ph.D. in automotive engineering.
In today’s complex automobiles, most systems are controlled by computer; therefore, integration of these components plays an increasingly critical role in automotive safety and performance. This Center researches vehicle electronics, a complex field where components such as software, telematics, information and communication systems, electronics, mechatronics, and sensors must be integrated in a well-balanced way to create attractive, stable products.
The Center has created two consortia: (1) the Clemson Vehicular Electronics Consortium gives companies a quick and convenient way to get involved in automotive research at CU-ICAR, and (2) the Clemson Advanced Capacitor Consortium, which held its organizational meeting in January 2009, drawing representatives from such corporations as Kemet, the University of Rome, Hitachi, and Dielectric Laboratories. An anechoic chamber (a special room used to test electronic equipment) is on site, and the facility provides the only full-vehicle EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) test capability in the Southeast. In 2010, this Center began a project with John Deere to develop a balancing network that will reduce costs of electric motor drivers in lawnmowers. This partnership will continue as researchers work to reduce the cost of high-voltage electric motor drivers used in hybrid vehicles. This Center has received more than $300,000 in research funding from federal and private sources.
State funding: SmartState Endowed Chair :
Clemson University's Michelin Endowed Chair in Vehicular Electronic Systems Integration, Todd Hubing (right), instructs a graduate student in the 7-post-shaker chamber at CU-ICAR’s Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center.
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