Design for six sigma-based energy management for a plug-in fuel cell electric bus considering the noise disturbance

This paper proposes an energy management strategy for plug-in fuel cell electric buses (PFCEBs) using a discontinuous control method based on Pontryagin's minimum principle (D-PMP) algorithm. The strategy takes into account the noise of the driving cycles and stochastic vehicle mass, and enables adaptive control in the real world through the design of energy management. Three design for six sigma (DFSS) frameworks considering the noise disturbance are established. The first two frameworks focus on the noise of the driving cycles and stochastic vehicle mass, respectively, to verify the impact of noise disturbance on energy management. The third framework considers both the driving cycles and the stochastic vehicle mass. Its primary objective is to find a robust co-state sequence that is resistant to the aforementioned noise while minimizing hydrogen consumption. The results of the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) verification indicate that the DFSS method is a viable approach for implementing energy management design in PFCEBs; meanwhile, the noise of the driving cycles has a greater impact on energy management than the stochastic vehicle mass. The final simulation results demonstrate that the proposed energy management method is highly efficient in terms of computation and capable of enhancing fuel economy by a minimum of 18.51% when compared to the rule-based control strategy.