Development of an intelligent transportation-oriented autonomous driving assistance system and energy efficiency optimization based on electric golf cart battery packs

This study proposes a strategy for developing an autonomous driving assistance system and optimizing the auxiliary power system based on an electric golf cart battery pack. First, the proposed autonomous driving assistance system integrates a compact automotive computer, various electromechanical control boards, a real-time kinematic positioning module, LiDAR sensors, and cameras. It incorporates a bee dance control strategy that integrates GPS technology, image recognition, and obstacle avoidance to ensure the stable operation of the electric golf cart. Upon detecting changes in traffic signals or the presence of dynamic pedestrians, the system promptly evaluates the surrounding traffic environment and initiates appropriate actions—such as moving forward, turning, or stopping—to ensure safe vehicle operation. The proposed approach effectively reduces hardware requirements, lowers control complexity and design costs, and maintains stable operation under adverse weather conditions (e.g., rainy days or nighttime) and in complex environments. In terms of the auxiliary power system, the vehicle is powered by a 36V, 50Ah battery pack. To meet the diverse voltage requirements of the autonomous driving assistance system, a 200 W multi-output isolated power converter was designed to supply multiple voltage levels—specifically 5 V, 12 V, 19 V, and 24 V—to the system's various components. This converter consists of two main modules: the first is a switched-capacitor DC/DC converter with a voltage-doubling function, which adjusts the output voltage through the charge and discharge of supercapacitors. This not only reduces the circuit size and achieves a lightweight design but also provides energy storage capabilities that help alleviate power supply fluctuations when the battery voltage is unstable. The second module is an isolated multi-output DC/DC converter that employs a single voltage feedback control mechanism, effectively reducing the controller load and design cost while ensuring stable multi-voltage outputs for the components of the autonomous driving assistance system. Finally, real-world testing was conducted at the roman square of National Taiwan Normal University to validate the stability and reliability of the proposed system.