Norbert Müller

Methods for engine supervision and control based on cylinder pressure information

The increasing demands for low emissions and low fuel consumption in modern combustion engines require improved methods for online diagnosis and best possible control of the combustion process. It is demonstrated that the cylinder pressure signal can successfully be used for this task. After introduction of some theoretical background, several application examples are presented: an online supervision of fuel injection, some results on feedforward emission control, and a concept for feedback control of spark timing. Experimental results obtained from stock car diesel and spark ignition engines are included to support the automation concepts.

Design of computer controlled combustion engines

Abstract Globalization and growing new markets, as well as increasing emission and fuel consumption requirements, force the car manufacturers and their suppliers to develop new engine control strategies in shorter time periods. This can mainly be reached by development tools and an integrated hardware and software environment enabling rapid implementation and testing of advanced engine control algorithms. The structure of a rapid control prototyping (RCP) system is explained, which allows fast measurement signal evaluation, and rapid prototyping of advanced engine control algorithms. A hardware-in-the-loop simulator for diesel engine control design is illustrated, simulation results for a 40 tons truck are presented. Providing efficient engine models for the proposed development tools, a dynamic local linear neural network approach is explained and applied for modelling the NO x emission characteristics of a 1.9 l direct injection diesel engine. Furthermore the application of a RCP system is exemplified by the application of combustion pressure based closed-loop ignition timing control for a SI engine. Experimental results are shown for a 1.0 l SI engine on a dynamic engine test stand.

Closed-loop ignition control using online learning of locally-tuned radial basis function networks

Increasing demands of low emissions and low fuel consumption of modern spark ignition combustion engines require new ways for an optimal control of the ignition timing. Instead of classical open-loop strategies cylinder pressure sensors are used for an adaptive control of the ignition point. A linear feedback controller is designed as well as an online adaptive neural feedforward controller, the latter is trained during regular operation, i.e. no test cycles are required. The control algorithms were implemented and tested in a research automobile. Experimental results showed that the proposed neural network is very effective in learning the engines nonlinearities and in compensating for manufacturing tolerances and aging. The designed adaptive feedforward control improves efficiency and fuel consumption.

Nonlinear Identification and Adaptive Control of Combustion Engines

Abstract Advanced engine control systems require accurate models of the thermodynamic-mechanical process, which are substantially nonlinear and often time-variant. After briefly introducing the identification of nonlinear processes with grid-based look-up tables and a special local linear Radial Basis Function network (LOLIMOT), a comparison is made with regard to computation effort, storage requirements and convergence speed. A new training algorithm for online adaptation of look-up tables is introduced which reduces the convergence time considerably. Application examples and experimental results are shown for a multidimensional nonlinear model of NOx emissions of a Diesel engine, and for the adaptive feedforward control of the ignition angle of a SI engine.

Design of Computer Controlled Combustion Engines

Abstract Globalization and growing new markets, as well as increasing emission and fuel consumption requirements force the car manufacturers and their suppliers to develop new engine control strategies in shorter time periods. This can mainly be reached by development tools and an integrated hardware and software environment enabling rapid implementation and testing of advanced engine control algorithms. The structure of a Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP) system is explained, which allows fastmeasurement signal evaluation, and rapid prototyping of advanced engine control algorithms. A hardware-in-the-Ioop simulator for Diesel engine control design is illustrated, simulation results for a 40 tons truck are presented. Providing efficient engine models for the proposed development tools, a dynamic local linear neural network approach is explained and appliedfor modelling the NOx emission characteristics of a 1.9 liter direct injection Diesel engine. Furthermore the application of a RCP system is exemplified by the application of combustion pressure based closed-loop ignition timing control for a SI engine. Experimental results are shown for a 1.0 liter SI engine on a dynamic engine test stand.

Modellprädiktives Energiemanagement mit Steuerung der Fahrzeugführung für automatisiertes Fahren

Zusammenfassung Mit der Einführung des autonomen Fahrens steigen die Anforderungen an Funktionen, die zum Übergang in den sicheren Zustand im Fehlerfall benötigt werden. Dabei spielt das Bordnetz, das eine zuverlässige Energieversorgung sicherstellen soll, für die funktionale Sicherheit eine wichtige Rolle. Der erste Teil dieser Arbeit erklärt neue Anforderungen an Bordnetze sowie eine fehlertolerante Topologie. Zur Steuerung von solchen Bordnetzen werden neue Betriebsstrategien benötigt, die den Betrieb im Normal- und Fehlerfall sicherstellen. Mit dem Einsatz einer prädiktiven und adaptiven Energieverteilung, die in die Antriebssteuerung eingebunden ist, wird eine modellprädiktive Fahrzeugsteuerung mit automatisierter Wahl des Szenarios zum Übergang in den sicheren Zustand realisiert, deren Architektur und Funktionalität beschrieben und anhand Fehlersimulation verifiziert wird.

Adaptive Motorregelung beim Benzinmotor mit Brennraumdruck-Sensoren

Brennraumdruck-Sensoren liefern eine Fulle von Informationen uber den Ablauf der Verbrennung. Aus diesem Grund ist die Echt zeit-Auswertung des Brennraumdruck-Signals und das Nutzen dieser Information zur Motorregelung seit einigen Jahren Gegenstand intensiver Untersuchungen. Ziel ist eine Verbrauchs- und Emissionsreduzierung durch Erweiterung oder Verbesserung derzeitiger Motorsteuerfunktionen. Gleichzeitig sollten herkommliche Sensoren ersetzt und der Applikationsaufwand reduziert werden.

Zylinderdruck-basiertes Motormanagement beim Ottomotor (Cylinder Pressure Based Engine Management Systems for Spark Ignition Engines)

Abstract Zylinderdruck-Sensoren liefern eine Fülle von Informationen über den Verbrennungsablauf. Dies führte in den vergangenen Jahren zur Entwicklung und vereinzelten Einführung serientauglicher Zylinderdruck-Sensoren zur Motorregelung. Um den zusätzlichen Hardwareaufwand rechtfertigen zu können, ist es notwendig, sämtliche, im Zylinderdruck enthaltene Information zu nutzen: Verfahren zur zylinderselektiven Regelung des Zündwinkels, zur Regelung der Abgasrückführrate und zum optimierten Motorbetrieb im Kaltstart und Warmlauf werden vorgestellt. Eine Übersicht über weitere, Zylinderdruck-basierte Motorsteuerfunktionen wird gegeben. Die vorgestellten Verfahren wurden auf einem Rapid-Prototyping-System implementiert und am Motorenprüfstand an einem 1,0-Liter Drei-Zylinder-Ottomotor getestet.