Piston data telemetry in internal combustion engines

Abstract

NoMeasuring piston crown temperature and pressure during engine development cycle is paramount. This paper presents a new development in short distance telemetry system which includes an on board power generation device. A mechatronic data acquisition system is developed whereby signal conditioning is performed by a module inside the piston and the signal passed to a Bluetooth transmitter module for wireless telemetry to a Bluetooth receiver located in very close proximity, connected to an external host PC. The Data Acquisition Bluetooth module integrates a microcontroller that reads the conditioned sensor signal and performs any other required functionality. The microcontroller firmware includes a server that collates the data and transmits them via Bluetooth to the host PC to display via a client interface. An independent power supply consisting of a rotor incorporating NdFeB magnets and a wire wound stator. As the crankshaft rotates the rotor induces an AC voltage into the stator. A rectifying circuit converts the AC voltage into a regulated DC output voltage that drives the signal conditioning and embedded Bluetooth circuits