An Optimal Control Solved by Pontryagin's Minimum Principle Approach for a Fuel Cell/Supercapacitor Vehicle

A new real time optimal control based on Pontryagin's minimum principle approach is proposed in this article. The optimal control problem is formulated as an equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS), which must be solved using the Pontryagin minimum principle (PMP). The proposed approach manages the power required and sources, depending on the unknown driving cycle. It is implemented by using the Matlab/Simulink software and its development tools in real time without any study in the off time or drive cycle and driving conditions. This approach is simplified on two major equations, the first calculates the costate variable in real time and the second deduces the optimal fuel cell power. Also, this approach has to satisfy the power requirement, reduce the hydrogen consumption, and maintain the supercapacitor state of charge (SOC) bounded for the unknown driving cycles. The simulation results obtained show that these objectives are satisfied using this approach, even though these results are suboptimal in the global drive cycle due at the unknown drive final time.