DEEP REINFORCEMENT LEARNING BASED FRAMEWORK FOR MOBILE ENERGY DISSEMINATOR DISPATCHING TO CHARGE ON-ROAD ELECTRIC VEHICLES
The growth of electric vehicles (EVs) offers several benefits for air quality improvement and emissions reduction. Nonetheless, EVs also pose several challenges in the area of highway transportation. These barriers are related to the limitations of EV technology, particularly the charge duration and speed of battery recharging, which translate to vehicle range anxiety for EV users. A promising solution to these concerns is V2V DWC technology (Vehicle to Vehicle Dynamic Wireless Charging), particularly mobile energy disseminators (MEDs). The MED is mounted on a large vehicle or truck that charges all participating EVs within a specified locus from the MED. However, current research on MEDs offers solutions that are widely considered impractical for deployment, particularly in urban environments where range anxiety is common. Acknowledging such gap in the literature, this thesis proposes a comprehensive methodological framework for optimal MED deployment decisions. In the first component of the framework, a practical system, termed “ChargingEnv” is developed using reinforcement learning (RL). ChargingEnv simulates the highway environment, which consists of streams of EVs and an MED. The simulation accounts for a possible misalignment of the charging panel and incorporates a realistic EV battery model. The second component of the framework uses multiple deep RL benchmark models that are trained in “ChargingEnv” to maximize EV service quality within limited charging resource constraints. In this study, numerical experiments were conducted to demonstrate the MED deployment decision framework’s efficacy. The findings indicate that the framework’s trained model can substantially improve EV travel range and alleviate battery depletion concerns. This could serve as a vital tool that allows public-sector road agencies or private-sector commercial entities to efficiently orchestrate MED deployments to maximize service cost-effectiveness.
History
Degree Type
- Master of Science
Department
- Electrical and Computer Engineering
Campus location
- West Lafayette