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Modern engine management systems increasingly rely on on-line identification schemes. These are used either for self-tuning regulators or the rapid parametrization of controllers. In this paper the on-line parameter identification of the wall-wetting dynamics is studied in detail. The identification is performed by exciting the fuel path dynamics of the engine at a constant operating point. The amount of fuel injected serves as input and the air-to-fuel ratio, which is measured with a linear oxygen sensor, as output. In order to gain precise information about the amount of fuel in the cylinder, a new measurement concept is used. For one, the placement of the lambda sensor close to the exhaust valve minimizes the effects of gas mixing on the measurements. Additionally, by an appropriate collection of the data, the sensor dynamics are bypassed. This is also illustrated by a measurement with a very fast NOx sensor.

For a new concept of a hybrid drive line developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), a torque pedal interpretation for the accelerator pedal is investigated. For this purpose, based on a simple nonlinear model of the drive line, a robust nonlinear controller is developed. The controller consists of a nonlinear feedforward controller supported by a nonlinear estimator and a simple linear feedback controller. The robust performance of the control system developed is confirmed by simulations.

The dynamics of the fuel-path subsystem of an SI engine, between fuel injection command signal and measured air-to-fuel ratio, is modeled approximately by a series connection of a first-order low-pass filter and a time delay element. The three parameters involved in this approximation, i.e., the time constant and the gain factor of the low-pass filter as well as the time delay, depend on the operating point of the engine. In order to design a gain-scheduled controller for the entire operating range of the engine, the parameters are identified for a number of operating points. For the automation of the parameter identification of all operating points desired, an on-line identification based on the recursive least-squares method is used. The algorithm for the decision of whether to increase or decrease the integer part of the current estimated time delay, which is a multiple of the sampling period, is based on an estimation of the fractional part of the time delay at each point.

This paper presents the implementation of a torque pedal interpretation scheme in the CVT-equipped hybrid car which is currently being developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) as project Hybrid III. At partial load, a duty cycle operation mode is used in order to increase fuel efficiency. A flywheel is used to store excess power of the combustion engine as well as when the speed of the vehicle is decreased, recuperating the energy for reacceleration. A third mode, called highway operation, is used whenever the demanded power at the wheel exceeds a certain limit. A hierarchical controller scheme is implemented to maintain a comparable behavior of the vehicle in all operation modes. Beyond simulations, this controller operates successfully under real time conditions on the dynamic test bench. Test cycles with a human driver have successfully proven the effectiveness of the chosen set of controllers.