Hybrid Drivetrain of a Self-driving Go-Kart

Abstract

In the paper, we introduce the design and implementation of the drivetrain of a hybrid go-kart. The original go-kart was modified to fit the regulations of the “Go-Kart! Go-Bosch!” competition. The go-kart is equipped with numerous sensors that provide the necessary information about its close environment. The final goal of the three-year competition was to achieve autonomous driving on a go-kart based platform. One of the tasks was to modify the vehicles original drive train and implement the hybrid drive train of the team’s choice. The drivetrain had to include at least on electric motor and the original combustion engine of the go-kart. Since the original drive train only consisted of one rear axle which was connected directly to the clutch of the combustion engine of the vehicle, we had to implement a new design. We will discuss the design consideration and the difficulties, which occurred during the development process that led to the final construction.