A STUDY OF MODEL-BASED CONTROL STRATEGY FOR A GASOLINE TURBOCHARGED DIRECT INJECTION SPARK IGNITED ENGINE

To meet increasingly stringent fuel economy and emissions legislation, more advanced technologies have been added to spark-ignition (SI) engines, thus exponentially increase the complexity and calibration work of traditional map-based engine control. To achieve better engine performance without introducing significant calibration efforts and make the developed control system easily adapt to future engines upgrades and designs, this research proposes a model-based optimal control system for cycle-by-cycle Gasoline Turbocharged Direct Injection (GTDI) SI engine control, which aims to deliver the requested torque output and operate the engine to achieve the best achievable fuel economy and minimum emission under wide range of engine operating conditions. This research develops a model-based ignition timing prediction strategy for combustion phasing (crank angle of fifty percent of the fuel burned, CA50) control. A control-oriented combustion model is developed to predict burn duration from ignition timing to CA50. Using the predicted burn duration, the ignition timing needed for the upcoming cycle to track optimal target CA50 is calculated by a dynamic ignition timing prediction algorithm. A Recursive-Least-Square (RLS) with Variable Forgetting Factor (VFF) based adaptation algorithm is proposed to handle operating-point-dependent model errors caused by inherent errors resulting from modeling assumptions and limited calibration points, which helps to ensure the proper performance of model-based ignition timing prediction strategy throughout the entire engine lifetime. Using the adaptive combustion model, an Adaptive Extended Kalman Filter (AEKF) based CA50 observer is developed to provide filtered CA50 estimation from cyclic variations for the closed-loop combustion phasing control. An economic nonlinear model predictive controller (E-NMPC) based GTDI SI engine control system is developed to simultaneously achieve three objectives: tracking the requested net indicated mean effective pressure (IMEPn), minimizing the SFC, and reducing NOx emissions. The developed E-NMPC engine control system can achieve the above objectives by controlling throttle position, IVC timing, CA50, exhaust valve opening (EVO) timing, and wastegate position at the same time without violating engine operating constraints. A control-oriented engine model is developed and integrated into the E-NMPC to predict future engine behaviors. A high-fidelity 1-D GT-POWER engine model is developed and used as the plant model to tune and validate the developed control system. The performance of the entire model-based engine control system is examined through the software-in-the-loop (SIL) simulation using on-road vehicle test data

Efficient Automated Driving Strategies Leveraging Anticipation and Optimal Control

Automated vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems bring computation, sensing, and communication technologies that exceed human abilities in some ways. For example, automated vehicles may sense a panorama all at once, do not suffer from human impairments and distractions, and could wirelessly communicate precise data with neighboring vehicles. Prototype and commercial deployments have demonstrated the capability to relieve human operators of some driving tasks up to and including fully autonomous taxi rides in some areas. The ultimate impact of this technology’s large-scale market penetration on energy efficiency remains unclear, with potential negative factors like road use by empty vehicles competing with positive ones like automatic eco-driving. Fundamentally enabled by historic and look-ahead data, this dissertation addresses the use of automated driving and driver assistance to optimize vehicle motion for energy efficiency. Facets of this problem include car following, co-optimized acceleration and lane change planning, and collaborative multi-agent guidance. Optimal control, especially model predictive control, is used extensively to improve energy efficiency while maintaining safe and timely driving via constraints. Techniques including chance constraints and mixed integer programming help overcome uncertainty and non-convexity challenges. Extensions of these techniques to tractor trailers on sloping roads are provided by making use of linear parameter-varying models. To approach the wheel-input energy eco-driving problem over generally shaped sloping roads with the computational potential for closed-loop implementation, a linear programming formulation is constructed. Distributed and collaborative techniques that enable connected and automated vehicles to accommodate their neighbors in traffic are also explored and compared to centralized control. Using simulations and vehicle-in-the-loop car following experiments, the proposed algorithms are benchmarked against others that do not make use of look-ahead information

Automotive Powertrain Control — A Survey

This paper surveys recent and historical publications on automotive powertrain control. Control-oriented models of gasoline and diesel engines and their aftertreatment systems are reviewed, and challenging control problems for conventional engines, hybrid vehicles and fuel cell powertrains are discussed. Fundamentals are revisited and advancements are highlighted. A comprehensive list of references is provided.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72023/1/j.1934-6093.2006.tb00275.x.pd

Real-time Optimal Energy Management System for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Air pollution and rising fuel costs are becoming increasingly important concerns for the transportation industry. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are seen as a solution to these problems as they off er lower emissions and better fuel economy compared to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. A typical HEV powertrain consists of an internal combustion engine, an electric motor/generator, and a power storage device (usually a battery). Another type of HEV is the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), which is conceptually similar to the fully electric vehicle. The battery in a PHEV is designed to be fully charged using a conventional home electric plug or a charging station. As such, the vehicle can travel further in full-electric mode, which greatly improves the fuel economy of PHEVs compared to HEVs. In this study, an optimal energy management system (EMS) for a PHEV is designed to minimize fuel consumption by considering engine emissions reduction. This is achieved by using the model predictive control (MPC) approach. MPC is an optimal model-based approach that can accommodate the many constraints involved in the design of EMSs, and is suitable for real-time implementations. The design and real-time implementation of such a control approach involves control-oriented modeling, controller design (including high-level and low-level controllers), and control scheme performance evaluation. All of these issues will be addressed in this thesis. A control-relevant parameter estimation (CRPE) approach is used to make the control-oriented model more accurate. This improves the EMS performance, while maintaining its real-time implementation capability. To reduce the computational complexity, the standard MPC controller is replaced by its explicit form. The explicit model predictive controller (eMPC) achieves the same performance as the implicit MPC, but requires less computational effort, which leads to a fast and reliable implementation. The performance of the control scheme is evaluated through different stages of model-in-the-loop (MIL) simulations with an equation-based and validated high-fidelity simulation model of a PHEV powertrain. Finally, the CRPE-eMPC EMS is validated through a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test. HIL simulation shows that the proposed EMS can be implemented to a commercial control hardware in real time and results in promising fuel economy figures and emissions performance, while maintaining vehicle drivability

Model-Based Control of Gasoline Partially Premixed Combustion

Partially Premixed Combustion (PPC) is an internal combustion engine concept that aims to yield low NOx and soot emission levels together with high engine efficiency. PPC belongs to the class of low temperature combustion concepts where the ignition delay is prolonged in order to promote the air-fuel-mixture homogeneity in the combustion chamber at the start of combustion. A more homogeneous combustion process in combination with high exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) ratios gives lower combustion temperatures and thus decreased NOx and soot formation. The ignition delay is mainly controlled by temperature, gas-mixture composition, fuel type and fuel-injection timing. It has been shown that PPC run on gasoline fuel can provide sufficient ignition delays in conventional compression-ignition engines. The PPC concept differs from conventional direct-injection diesel combustion because of its increased sensitivity to intake conditions, its decreased combustion-phasing controllability and its high pressure-rise rates related to premixed combustion, this puts higher demands on the engine control system. This thesis investigates model predictive control (MPC) of PPC with the use of in-cylinder pressure sensors. Online heat-release analysis is used for the detection of the combustion phasing and the ignition delay that function as combustion-feedback signals. It is shown that the heat-release analysis could be automatically calibrated using nonlinear estimation methods, the heat-release analysis is also a central part of a presented online pressure-prediction method which can be used for combustion-timing optimization. Low-order autoignition models are studied and compared for the purpose of model-based control of the ignition-delay, the results show that simple mathematical models are sufficient when anipulating the intake-manifold conditions. The results also show that the relation between the injection timing and the ignition delay is not completely captured by these types of models when the injection timing is close to top-dead-center. Simultaneous control of the ignition delay and the combustion phasing using a dual-path EGR system, thermal management and fuel injection timings is studied and a control design is presented and evaluated experimentally. Closed-loop control of the pressure-rise rate using a pilot fuel injection is also studied and the multiple fuel-injection properties are characterized experimentally. Experiments show that the main-fuel injection controls the combustion timing and that the pilot-injection fuel could be used to decrease the main fuel injection ignition delay and thus the pressure-rise rate. The controllability of the pressure-rise rate was shown to be higher when the pilot injection was located close to the main-fuel injection. A pressure-rise-rate controller is presented and evaluated experimentally. All experiments presented in this thesis were conducted on a Scania D13 production engine with a modified gas-exchange system, the fuel used was a mixture of 80 % gasoline and 20 % N-heptane (by volume)

Stratégies de gestion d’énergie pour véhicules électriques et hybride avec systèmes hybride de stockage d’énergie

Les véhicules électriques et hybrides font partie des éléments clés pour résoudre les problèmes de réchauffement de la planète et d'épuisement des ressources en combustibles fossiles dans le domaine du transporte. En raison des limites des différents systèmes de stockage et de conversion d’énergie en termes de puissance et d'énergie, les hybridations sont intéressantes pour les véhicules électriques (VE). Dans cette thèse, deux hybridations typiques sont étudiées • un sous-système de stockage d'énergie hybride combinant des batteries et des supercondensateurs (SC) ; • et un sous-système de traction hybride parallèle combinant moteur à combustion interne et entraînement électrique. Ces sources d'énergie et ces conversions combinées doivent être gérées dans le cadre de stratégies de gestion de l'énergie (SGE). Parmi celles-ci, les méthodes basées sur l'optimisation présentent un intérêt en raison de leur approche systématique et de leurs performances élevées. Néanmoins, ces méthodes sont souvent compliquées et demandent beaucoup de temps de calcul, ce qui peut être difficile à réaliser dans des applications réelles. L'objectif de cette thèse est de développer des SGE simples mais efficaces basées sur l'optimisation en temps réel pour un VE et un camion à traction hybride parallèle alimentés par des batteries et des SC (système de stockage hybride). Les complexités du système étudié sont réduites en utilisant la représentation macroscopique énergétique (REM). La REM permet de réaliser des modèles réduits pour la gestion de l'énergie au niveau de la supervision. La théorie du contrôle optimal est ensuite appliquée à ces modèles réduits pour réaliser des SGE en temps réel. Ces stratégies sont basées sur des réductions de modèle appropriées, mais elles sont systématiques et performantes. Les performances des SGE proposées sont vérifiées en simulation par comparaison avec l’optimum théorique (programmation dynamique). De plus, les capacités en temps réel des SGE développées sont validées via des expériences en « hardware-in-the-loop » à puissances réduites. Les résultats confirment les avantages des stratégies proposées développées par l'approche unifiée de la thèse.Abstract: Electric and hybrid vehicles are among the keys to solve the problems of global warming and exhausted fossil fuel resources in transportation sector. Due to the limits of energy sources and energy converters in terms of power and energy, hybridizations are of interest for future electrified vehicles. Two typical hybridizations are studied in this thesis: • hybrid energy storage subsystem combining batteries and supercapacitors (SCs); and • hybrid traction subsystem combining internal combustion engine and electric drive. Such combined energy sources and converters must be handled by energy management strategies (EMSs). In which, optimization-based methods are of interest due to their high performance. Nonetheless, these methods are often complicated and computation consuming which can be difficult to be realized in real-world applications. The objective of this thesis is to develop simple but effective real-time optimization-based EMSs for an electric car and a parallel hybrid truck supplied by batteries and SCs. The complexities of the studied system are tackled by using Energetic Macroscopic Representation (EMR) which helps to conduct reduced models for energy management at the supervisory level. Optimal control theory is then applied to these reduced models to accomplish real-time EMSs. These strategies are simple due to the suitable model reductions but systematic and high-performance due to the optimization-based methods. The performances of the proposed strategies are verified via simulations by comparing with off-line optimal benchmark deduced by dynamic programming. Moreover, real-time capabilities of these novel EMSs are validated via experiments by using reduced-scale power hardware-in-the-loop simulation. The results confirm the advantages of the proposed strategies developed by the unified approach in the thesis

Model-based control for automotive applications

The number of distributed control systems in modern vehicles has increased exponentially over the past decades. Today’s performance improvements and innovations in the automotive industry are often resolved using embedded control systems. As a result, a modern vehicle can be regarded as a complex mechatronic system. However, control design for such systems, in practice, often comes down to time-consuming online tuning and calibration techniques, rather than a more systematic, model-based control design approach. The main goal of this thesis is to contribute to a corresponding paradigm shift, targeting the use of systematic, model-based control design approaches in practice. This implies the use of control-oriented modeling and the specification of corresponding performance requirements as a basis for the actual controller synthesis. Adopting a systematic, model-based control design approach, as opposed to pragmatic, online tuning and calibration techniques, is a prerequisite for the application of state-of-the-art controller synthesis methods. These methods enable to achieve guarantees regarding robustness, performance, stability, and optimality of the synthesized controller. Furthermore, from a practical point-of-view, it forms a basis for the reduction of tuning and calibration effort via automated controller synthesis, and fulfilling increasingly stringent performance demands. To demonstrate these opportunities, case studies are defined and executed. In all cases, actual implementation is pursued using test vehicles and a hardware-in-the-loop setup. • Case I: Judder-induced oscillations in the driveline are resolved using a robustly stable drive-off controller. The controller prevents the need for re-tuning if the dynamics of the system change due to wear. A hardware-in-the-loop setup, including actual sensor and actuator dynamics, is used for experimental validation. • Case II: A solution for variations in the closed-loop behavior of cruise control functionality is proposed, explicitly taking into account large variations in both the gear ratio and the vehicle loading of heavy duty vehicles. Experimental validation is done on a heavy duty vehicle, a DAF XF105 with and without a fully loaded trailer. • Case III: A systematic approach for the design of an adaptive cruise control is proposed. The resulting parameterized design enables intuitive tuning directly related to comfort and safety of the driving behavior and significantly reduces tuning effort. The design is validated on an Audi S8, performing on-the-road experiments. • Case IV: The design of a cooperative adaptive cruise control is presented, focusing on the feasibility of implementation. Correspondingly, a necessary and sufficient condition for string stability is derived. The design is experimentally tested using two Citroën C4’s, improving traffic throughput with respect to standard adaptive cruise control functionality, while guaranteeing string stability of the traffic flow. The case studies consider representative automotive control problems, in the sense that typical challenges are addressed, being variable operating conditions and global performance qualifiers. Based on the case studies, a generic classification of automotive control problems is derived, distinguishing problems at i) a full-vehicle level, ii) an in-vehicle level, and iii) a component level. The classification facilitates a characterization of automotive control problems on the basis of the required modeling and the specification of corresponding performance requirements. Full-vehicle level functionality focuses on the specification of desired vehicle behavior for the vehicle as a whole. Typically, the required modeling is limited, whereas the translation of global performance qualifiers into control-oriented performance requirements can be difficult. In-vehicle level functionality focuses on actual control of the (complex) vehicle dynamics. The modeling and the specification of performance requirements are typically influenced by a wide variety of operating conditions. Furthermore, the case studies represent practical application examples that are specifically suitable to apply a specific set of state-of-the-art controller synthesis methods, being robust control, model predictive control, and gain scheduling or linear parameter varying control. The case studies show the applicability of these methods in practice. Nevertheless, the theoretical complexity of the methods typically translates into a high computational burden, while insight in the resulting controller decreases, complicating, for example, (online) fine-tuning of the controller. Accordingly, more efficient algorithms and dedicated tools are required to improve practical implementation of controller synthesis methods

A Study Model Predictive Control for Spark Ignition Engine Management and Testing

Pressure to improve spark-ignition (SI) engine fuel economy has driven thedevelopment and integration of many control actuators, creating complex controlsystems. Integration of a high number of control actuators into traditional map basedcontrollers creates tremendous challenges since each actuator exponentially increasescalibration time and investment. Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategies have thepotential to better manage this high complexity since they provide near-optimal controlactions based on system models. This research work focuses on investigating somepractical issues of applying MPC with SI engine control and testing.Starting from one dimensional combustion phasing control using spark timing(SPKT), this dissertation discusses challenges of computing the optimal control actionswith complex engine models. A nonlinear optimization is formulated to compute thedesired spark timing in real time, while considering knock and combustion variationconstraints. Three numerical approaches are proposed to directly utilize complex high-fidelity combustion models to find the optimal SPKT. A model based combustionphasing estimator that considers the influence of cycle-by-cycle combustion variations isalso integrated into the control system, making feedback and adaption functions possible.An MPC based engine management system with a higher number of controldimensions is also investigated. The control objective is manipulating throttle, externalEGR valve and SPKT to provide demanded torque (IMEP) output with minimum fuelconsumption. A cascaded control structure is introduced to simplify the formulation and solution of the MPC problem that solves for desired control actions. Sequential quadratic programming (SQP) MPC is applied to solve the nonlinear optimization problem in real time. A real-time linearization technique is used to formulate the sub-QP problems with the complex high dimensional engine system. Techniques to simplify the formulation of SQP and improve its convergence performance are also discussed in the context of tracking MPC. Strategies to accelerate online quadratic programming (QP) are explored. It is proposed to use pattern recognition techniques to “warm-start” active set QP algorithms for general linear MPC applications. The proposed linear time varying (LTV) MPC is used in Engine-in-Loop (EIL) testing to mimic the pedal actuations of human drivers who foresee the incoming traffic conditions. For SQP applications, the MPC is initialized with optimal control actions predicted by an ANN. Both proposed MPC methods significantly reduce execution time with minimal additional memory requirement