Design of a low cost parallel pneumatic regenerative braking and acceleration assist for light motor vehicles

Abstract

Land based vehicles, i.e. cars, make up the main mode of transport on Earth, emitting harmful greenhouse gases due to combustion of fossil fuels. By installing regenerative systems in vehicles, the fuel consumption of the internal combustion engine (ICE) is reduced by capturing the energy usually lost during braking and reusing it to help propel the vehicle. The work described in this paper explores the practicality of a pneumatic regenerative braking system (PRBS). A functional prototype was successfully designed and tested to obtain efficiency data from a prototype.