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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number EP/J00930X/1
Title New Control Methodology for the Next Generation of Engine Management Systems
Status Completed
Energy Categories Energy Efficiency(Transport) 25%;
Not Energy Related 25%;
Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Oil and gas combustion) 50%;
Research Types Basic and strategic applied research 100%
Science and Technology Fields PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Computer Science and Informatics) 50%;
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering) 50%;
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator Dr HM Xu
No email address given
School of Mechanical Engineering
University of Birmingham
Award Type Standard
Funding Source EPSRC
Start Date 25 March 2013
End Date 24 September 2016
Duration 42 months
Total Grant Value £563,195
Industrial Sectors Transport Systems and Vehicles
Region West Midlands
Programme NC : Engineering
 
Investigators Principal Investigator Dr HM Xu , School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham (99.999%)
  Other Investigator Professor X Yao , School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham (0.001%)
  Industrial Collaborator Project Contact , Jaguar Land Rover Limited (0.000%)
Project Contact , TATA Motors Engineering Technical Centre (0.000%)
Project Contact , Shell Global Solutions UK (0.000%)
Project Contact , SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre Ltd (0.000%)
Project Contact , Oxsensis1 (0.000%)
Web Site
Objectives
Abstract Despite of the fact that electrical cars are under development and have the potential to provide alternatives for short distance light duty transport, the internal combustion engine will continue to be the main power unit in vehicles for several decades to come. Compared with extensive research on combustion and after-treatment systems, little work has been completed with respect to engine system control optimisation, leaving considerable room to improve fuel economy and lower emissions. Current engine calibration process relies on deriving static tabular relationships and the corresponding values between each calibrated engine operating point, with closed-loop feedback control to adjust the settings accordingly for air-fuel ratio control in real engine operation so as to meet the performance targets and emissions legislation. Such a widely adopted method, however, is not efficient in achieving the best fuel economy of the vehicle due to the constraints in the time duration and cost of engine-bed based calibration. Environmental conditions changes, the time required for the closed-loop control to respond, cycle-by-cycle variations, and cylinder-to-cylinder variations make the current engine control impossible to handle the the optimisation of the engine functionalities.The development trend for future engines is towards an on-board intelligence for control and calibration and some research activities for the development of model based control systems are reported in literature. However, feasible strategies to control the engine operation cycle-by-cycle and cylinder-by-cylinder are not yet available.Expanding the work of the applicants in the related areas for many years, the overall Goal of this project is to use a combination of joint efforts from 3 research groups with expertise of engine technology, control technology and computing algorithm in order to develop and test a new engine control and calibration methodology with on-line intelligence built in. This overall goal will be achieved through realising the following objectives:(1) To develop a full real-time multi-cylinder engine model for cylinder-resolved-control purpose(2) To develop a novel engine control strategy involving optimization of control points and control point locations, and multi-objective evaluation of test cycle performance(3) To develop dynamic multi-objective evolutionary algorithms for online engine control optimization(4) To demonstrate the implementation of the engine control models initially on Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) dSPACE system and then further rapid prototyping on a test engine.(5) To compare the engine performance using the new techniques with traditional calibration and control approaches, and demonstrate improvements in terms of engine output, fuel consumption, and emissions.The new engine control methodology will be evaluated on a new Jaguar gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine model
Publications (none)
Final Report (none)
Added to Database 10/07/12