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The design and development of robotic equipment for automatically scanning the complex surface contours of an internal combustion engine is described in this paper. The derivation of the main system parameters, such as programming techniques, required geometry and operating environment, was followed by a market survey to determine the availability of suitable proprietary equipment. Once the absence of any suitable equipment had been established the decision was taken to proceed with design and manufacture of a custom robot. The development of this robot to an acceptable operational standard and its interfacing with the acoustic analysis equipment forms a significant part of the work described; interfacing is still in progress.

This paper describes the capabilities and use of in-vehicle data acquisition and analysis tools that are being developed to help calibration engineers develop and refine vehicle calibrations for good driveability performance. The paper describes the functionality of the tools and gives examples of their use.

The XUD9 IDI 6-hour steady-state test was developed to evaluate the nozzle coking propensity of diesel fuels. After the CEC 1997 Round-Robin, it was concluded that this test could not discriminate between fuels with the statistical confidence required for CEC tests. Furthermore, it was noted that the test would have to be considerably improved if it was to have any chance of meeting the CEC statistical standards. In 1998, Texaco proposed a 10 hour cyclic test as a replacement for the 6 hour steady-state test. A Task-Force was formed to investigate whether this test was a suitable alternative. After a mini Round-Robin, using the 10 hour cyclic test method, the high potential of the test was confirmed. Dynamic fuel injection timing was identified as the single most important parameter affecting nozzle coking. Cost-effective equipment was selected for measuring dynamic fuel injection timing accurately.

Vehicle driveability is now one of the keystones of product quality, and is refined aggressively to achieve product differentiation and market position. The work reported here gives the status of activities aimed at the development of metrics for driveability, and the use of automated analysis tools to help correlate subjective ratings with characteristics derived from measurement.