Atharva Jitendra Deokule

About Atharva Jitendra Deokule

I am a self-motivated and highly passionate Mechanical Engineering graduate from Michigan Technological University with a specialization in HEV/EV domain, and 3 years of FSAE experience, currently working as a Powertrain Controls Engineer at Toyota North America via Altair.My technical specialties include working on areas like HiL Testing, CAN communication, SAE J1939 protocol, Model-Based Controls, HEV/EV Powertrain Design, Simulation, Calibration, Testing, and Validation. Key Highlights:Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV):Feasibility Study of a Power-split Architecture based tractor-trailer• Designed a compound (2 PG) planetary gearset and performed selection and sizing of 2 electric machines to couple with a diesel engine to closely follow WHVC (World Harmonized Vehicle Cycle) drive cycle contour.• Modelled the power-split architecture system in Simulink to validate the system specifications with the WHVC drive cycle requirements.• Designed a simple line battery model in Simulink and validated the system energy requirement with the drive cycle energy requirement• Performed sizing of electric motors; 2 Permanent Magnet AC (PMAC) motors of machine 1 having rated power of 195 KW and rated torque of 2060 Nm, and machine 2 having rated power of 120 KW and rated torque of 520 Nm• Both the machines coupled with a Li-ion battery of 450 KWh capacity and an engine of peak power 223 KW and peak torque of 1830 Nm• Analysed from the study that electrifying only the tractor (and not the trailer) significantly increased the weight (2362 kg) with very little improvement in the fuel efficiency• Explored that if the trailer axle (of highway haul type tractor-trailer) was also electrified, the fuel efficiency would improve by 16-20%• Conventional ICE: Plotting engine-efficiency contour, torque envelope, gear ratio selection, minimize fuel consumption, shift pattern design, Engine BSFC mapsElectric Vehicle (EV):• Regenerative braking calibration and energy consumption analysis• Performance Assessment of detailed electric drivetrainAdvanced Quality Engineering:• Determining root cause, study of control charts, fish-bone diagram/root cause analysis, performing process capability study of the process

Experience

1. Powertrain Controls Engineer

   Toyota North America

   Mar 2022 — Present · Ann Arbor, MI, US

   Developing a control logic for a Class 8 fuel cell (FC) heavy-duty truck powertrain controller to report maximum system (FC + battery) power and torque available instead of instantaneous power and torque to the OEM controller• Proposing the logic changes to the logic owner, and the controls team, followed by SiLs (software-in-the-Loop) and HiL (Hardware-in-the-Loop) bench testing, followed by vehicle commissioning• Worked on the gateway ECU software applying model-based embedded controls approach and established a reliable and secured CAN communication between three powertrain controllers using Raptor software tools and Simulink• Planned and executed the gateway ECU software commissioning on Toyota’s HiL bench setup followed by static and dynamic testing on the truck• Tracked open issues and changes in JIRA and Github, post-processed and analyzed the test data using CANalyzer and Toyota proprietary software, implemented countermeasures, and validated the software• Worked collaboratively with the gateway ECU supplier to understand the data processing inside the ECU, and adapted the Simulink model accordingly to overcome the ECU processing power limitations• Developed a masking strategy for the gateway software to receive a CAN message from multiple source/node addresses• Adapted the gateway ECU software to different CAN communication protocols like SAE J1939, Toyota, suppliers’, and 11-bit and 29-bit format interchangeability per the requirement of the controller• Generated CAN addresses for the messages referring to SAE J1939, and Toyota documents and taking into consideration their CAN interface formats – extended CAN ID (29-bit), and Standard CAN ID (11-bit)• Assigned correct bit positions to the signals in the message in the DBC files to convert the Endianness of the data from Big Endian to Little Endian, 11-bit to 29-bit, and vice versa• Generated DBC files for the CAN buses using Toyota proprietary tools and MATLAB programming

Education

• Savitribai Phule Pune University

  Bachelor of Engineering - BE, Mechanical Engineering

  2015 — 2019

• Michigan Technological University

  Master of Science - MS, Mechanical Engineering

  2019 — 2021