Before getting into thick of the things, I would like to thank the Almighty
who has always been so kind to me since I was born. Having thanked God, I
would like to thank the persons He created to help me out.
I express my heart-felt gratitude to “L.D. COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING” for giving me such a fine opportunity to execute my seminar
in real-time and challenging environment. Especially I would like to thank
PROF. J M PATEL (guide & batch in charge) and PRO. P.D. SOLANKI
(head of dept.) for giving me their valuable time and assistance at any stage of
the project.
I would like to convey my sincere thanks to L.D.COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING for providing me a wonderful opportunity to work with this
seminar.
Nandania dilip
SEMINAR ON
“COMPARISION OF DIFFERENT SENSOR SYSTEM USED IN CARS”
INDEX
1 Introduction to sensor.
2
Advanced Vehicle Control Systems (AVCS /
AVEC)
3
Engine control unit
4
Modern ECUs
5
Electronic throttle control
6
Simplified Wiring
7
How Car Computers Work
8
References
Introduction:
Vehicles these days can hear, see, feel and smell. As the demand for
automotive electronic systems grows, so does the need for accurate
and reliable sensor components that provide data for these systems.
Passengers today are benefiting from comprehensive safety packages
and a host of other convenient and practical features that all rely on
sensor technology.
➢ Sensors:
Electronic sensors ensure that new vehicles are the safest cars on
the road. Some examples of sensor technology include:
• Quick-reaction crash sensors activate the front, side, and curtain
airbags, and the tension on the seatbelt.
• Seat occupancy detectors send a signal to prevent passenger seat
front and side airbags from deploying in the event of an
accident, if the seat is empty or if a special child's seat is on
board.
• Acceleration sensors report if the vehicle is deviating off its
vertical axis and if it needs to apply the brakes to one, two or
three wheels.
• Outside temperature sensors send a signal when there is a risk of
black ice.
• Engine management system sensors provide information on
exhaust gas quality, and still others diagnose the condition of the
oil, so that service intervals can be determined more accurately.
• Height sensors detect the movements of an approaching vehicle
and automatically adjust the headlamps to prevent the drivers of
oncoming cars from being blinded.
• Anti-pinching sensors in the windows and sliding roof stop them
from closing at a pre-defined resistance level to prevent injuries,
especially to children traveling in the car.
• Sensors are used in conjunction with the Global Positioning
System (GPS) to tell the driver where he or she is at any given
moment.
• And more...
Most engine systems have idle speed control built into the ECU. The engine
RPM is monitored by the crankshaft position sensor which plays a primary role
in the engine timing functions for fuel injection, spark events, and valve timing.
Idle speed is controlled by a programmable throttle stop or an idle air bypass
control stepper motor. Early carburetor-based systems used a programmable
throttle stop using a bidirectional DC motor. Early TBI systems used an idle air
control stepper motor. Effective idle speed control must anticipate the engine
load at idle. Changes in this idle load may come from HVAC systems, power
steering systems, power brake systems, and electrical charging and supply
systems. Engine temperature and transmission status, and lift and duration of
camshaft also may change the engine load and/or the idle speed value desired.
A full authority throttle control system may be used to control idle speed,
provide cruise control functions and top speed limitation.
Control of variable valve timing
Some engines have Variable Valve Timing. In such an engine, the ECU controls
the time in the engine cycle at which the valves open. The valves are usually
opened sooner at higher speed than at lower speed. This can optimize the flow
of air into the cylinder, increasing power and economy.
Electronic valve control
Experimental engines have been made and tested that have no camshaft, but has
full electronic control of the intake and exhaust valve opening, valve closing
and area of the valve opening.[1] Such engines can be started and run without a
starter motor for certain multi-cylinder engines equipped with precision timed
electronic ignition and fuel injection. Such a static-start engine would provide
the efficiency and pollution-reduction improvements of a mild hybrid-electric
drive, but without the expense and complexity of an oversized starter motor.[2]
Programmable ECUs
A special category of ECUs are those which are programmable. These units do
not have a fixed behavior, but can be reprogrammed by the user.
Programmable ECUs are required where significant aftermarket modifications
have been made to a vehicle's engine. Examples include adding or changing of a
turbocharger, adding or changing of an intercooler, changing of the exhaust
system, and conversion to run on alternative fuel. As a consequence of these
changes, the old ECU may not provide appropriate control for the new
configuration. In these situations, a programmable ECU can be wired in. These
can be programmed/mapped with a laptop connected using a serial or USB
cable, while the engine is running.
The programmable ECU may control the amount of fuel to be injected into each
cylinder. This varies depending on the engine's RPM and the position of the
accelerator pedal (or the manifold air pressure). The engine tuner can adjust this
by bringing up a spreadsheet-like page on the laptop where each cell represents
an intersection between a specific RPM value and an accelerator pedal position
(or the throttle position, as it is called). In this cell a number corresponding to
the amount of fuel to be injected is entered. This spreadsheet is often referred to
as a fuel table or fuel map.
By modifying these values while monitoring the exhausts using a wide band
lambda probe to see if the engine runs rich or lean, the tuner can find the
optimal amount of fuel to inject to the engine at every different combination of
RPM and throttle position. This process is often carried out at a dynamometer,
giving the tuner a controlled environment to work in. An engine dynamometer
gives a more precise calibration for racing applications. Tuners often utilize a
chassis dynamometer for street and other high performance applications.
Other parameters that are often mappable are:
• Ignition: Defines when the spark plug should fire for a
cylinder.
• Rev. limit: Defines the maximum RPM that the engine is
allowed to reach. After this fuel and/or ignition is cut.
Some vehicle have a "soft" cut-off before the "hard" cut-
off.
• Water temperature correction: Allows for additional
fuel to be added when the engine is cold (choke) or
dangerously hot.
• Transient fueling: Tells the ECU to add a specific
amount of fuel when throttle is applied. The term is
"acceleration enrichment"
• Low fuel pressure modifier: Tells the ECU to increase
the injector fire time to compensate for a loss of fuel
pressure.
• Closed loop lambda: Lets the ECU monitor a
permanently installed lambda probe and modify the
fueling to achieve stoichiometric (ideal) combustion. On
traditional petrol powered vehicles this air:fuel ratio is
14.7:1.
Some of the more advanced race ECUs include functionality such as launch
control, limiting the power of the engine in first gear to avoid burnouts. Other
examples of advanced functions are:
• Wastegate control: Sets up the behavior of a turbocharger's wastegate,
controlling boost.
• Banked injection: Sets up the behavior of double injectors per cylinder,
used to get a finer fuel injection control and atomization over a wide
RPM range.
• Variable cam timing: Tells the ECU how to control variable intake and
exhaust cams.
• Gear control: Tells the ECU to cut ignition during (sequential gearbox)
upshifts or blip the throttle during downshifts.
A race ECU is often equipped with a data logger recording all sensors for later
analysis using special software in a PC. This can be useful to track down engine
stalls, misfires or other undesired behaviors during a race by downloading the
log data and looking for anomalies after the event. The data logger usually has a
capacity between 0.5 and 16 megabytes.
In order to communicate with the driver, a race ECU can often be connected to
a "data stack", which is a simple dash board presenting the driver with the
current RPM, speed and other basic engine data. These race stacks, which are
almost always digital, talk to the ECU using one of several proprietary protocols
running over RS232 or CANbus, connecting to the DLC connector (Data Link
Connector) usually located on the underside of the dash, inline with the steering
wheel
Modern ECUs
Modern ECUs use a microprocessor which can process the inputs from the
engine sensors in real time. An electronic control unit contains the hardware and
software (firmware). The hardware consists of electronic components on a
printed circuit board (PCB), ceramic substrate or a thin laminate substrate. The
main component on this circuit board is a microcontroller chip (CPU). The
software is stored in the microcontroller or other chips on the PCB, typically in
EPROMs or flash memory so the CPU can be re-programmed by uploading
updated code or replacing chips. This is also referred to as an (electronic)
Engine Management System (EMS).
Sophisticated engine management systems receive inputs from other sources,
and control other parts of the engine; for instance, some variable valve timing
systems are electronically controlled, and turbocharger wastegates can also be
managed. They also may communicate with transmission control units or
directly interface electronically-controlled automatic transmissions, traction
control systems, and the like. The Controller Area Network or CAN bus
automotive network is often used to achieve communication between these
devices.
Modern ECUs sometimes include features such as cruise control, transmission
control, anti-skid brake control, and anti-theft control, etc.
General Motors' first ECUs had a small application of hybrid digital ECUs as a
pilot program in 1979, but by 1980, all active programs were using
microprocessor based systems. Due to the large ramp up of volume of ECUs
that were produced to meet the US Clean Air Act requirements for 1981, only
one ECU model could be built for the 1981 model year.[3] The high volume
ECU that was installed in GM vehicles from the first high volume year, 1981,
onward was a modern microprocessor based system. GM moved rapidly to
replace carburetor based systems to fuel injection type systems starting in
1980/1981 Cadillac engines, following in 1982 with the Pontiac 2.5L "GM Iron
Duke engine" and the Corvette Chevrolet L83 "Cross-Fire" engine. In just a few
years all GM carburetor based engines had been replaced by throttle body
injection (TBI) or intake manifold injection systems of various types. In 1988
Delco Electronics, Subsidiary of GM Hughes Electronics, produced more than
28,000 ECUs per day, the world's largest producer of on-board digital control
computers at the time.
Other applications
Such systems are used for many internal combustion engines in other
applications. In aeronautical applications, the systems are known as "FADECs"
(Full Authority Digital Engine Controls). This kind of electronic control is less
common in piston-engined aeroplanes than in automobiles, because of the large
costs of certifying parts for aviation use, relatively small demand, and the
consequent stagnation of technological innovation in this market.[citation needed]
Also, a carbureted engine with magneto ignition and a gravity feed fuel system
does not require electrical power generated by an alternator to run, which is
considered a safety advantage.
Electronic throttle control
Electronic throttle control (ETC) is an automobile technology which severs
the mechanical link between the accelerator pedal and the throttle. Most
automobiles already use a throttle position sensor (TPS) to provide input to
traction control, antilock brakes, fuel injection, and other systems, but use a
bowden cable to directly connect the pedal with the throttle. An ETC-equipped
vehicle has no such cable. Instead, the electronic control unit (ECU) determines
the required throttle position by calculations from data measured by other
sensors such as an accelerator pedal position sensor, engine speed sensor,
vehicle speed sensor etc. The electric motor within the ETC is then driven to the
required position via a closed-loop control algorithm within the ECU.
The benefits of ETC are largely unnoticed by most drivers because the aim is to
make the vehicle power-train characteristics seamlessly consistent irrespective
of prevailing conditions, such as engine temperature, altitude, accessory loads
etc. However, acceleration response may occasionally be slower than with
cable-driven throttle. The ETC is also working 'behind the scenes' to
dramatically improve the ease with which the driver can execute gear changes
and deal with the dramatic torque changes associated with rapid accelerations
and decelerations.
ETC facilitates the integration of features such as cruise control, traction
control, stability control, and precrash systems and others that require torque
management, since the throttle can be moved irrespective of the position of the
driver's accelerator pedal. ETC provides only a very limited benefit in areas
such as air-fuel ratio control, exhaust emissions and fuel consumption reduction,
working in concert with other technologies such as gasoline direct injection.
A criticism of the very early ETC implementations was that they were
"overruling" driver decisions. Nowadays, the vast majority of drivers have no
idea how much intervention is happening. Much of the engineering involved
with drive-by-wire technologies including ETC deals with failure and fault
management. Most ETC systems have sensor and controller redundancy, even
as complex as independent microprocessors with independently written
software within a control module whose calculations are compared to check for
possible errors and faults.
Anti-lock braking (ABS) is a similar safety critical technology, whilst not
completely 'by-wire', it has the ability to electronically intervene contrary to the
driver's demand. Such technology has recently been extended to other vehicle
systems to include features like brake assist and electronic steering control, but
these systems are much less common, also requiring careful design to ensure
appropriate back-up and fail-safe modes.
Failure modes
Before drive by wire technology was introduced, if a throttle stuck open a driver
could generally put a toe under the accelerator and lift up. Occasionally after
servicing or repair, the wire or cable between the accelerator and throttle would
not be correctly reinstalled causing sudden acceleration. However, with the
ETC, the movement is all done by electronic controls moving an electric motor.
But just moving the throttle by sending a signal to the motor is an open loop
condition and leads to poor control. Most if not all current ETC systems have a
closed loop system whereby the ECU tells the throttle to open a certain amount
according to an algorithm based on the geometry of the throttle. Then, if due to
dirt build up in the throttle bore or a damaged TPS a signal is sent from the TPS
to the ECU, the ECU can make appropriate adjustments to compensate, though
it might result in surging, hesitation or uneven idle.
There are two primary types of throttle position sensors: a potentiometer or a
Hall Effect sensor (magnetic device). The potentiometer is a satisfactory way
for non-critical applications such as volume control on a radio, but as it has a
wiper contact rubbing against a resistance element, and dirt and wear between
the wiper and the resistor can cause erratic readings. The more reliable solution
is the magnetic coupling that makes no physical contact, so will never be
subject to failing by wear.
This is an insidious failure as it may not provide any symptoms until there is
total failure. All cars having a TPS have what is known as a 'limp-home-mode'.
When the car goes into the limp-home-mode it is because the accelerator and
engine control computer and the throttle are not talking to each other in a way
that they can understand. The engine control computer shuts down the signal to
the throttle position motor and a set of springs in the throttle set it to a fast idle,
fast enough to get the transmission in gear but not so fast that driving may be
dangerous.
Recently, ETC has been suspected by some to be responsible for some incidents
of unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles. This is fiercely
disputed by Toyota, which blames unintended acceleration on owners, weather
mats, and most recently defective gas pedals (outsource production).
Smart Sensors
Clusters are now being used on a smaller scale for sensors. For
instance, a traditional pressure sensor contains a device that
outputs a varying voltage depending on the pressure applied to
the device. Usually, the voltage output is not linear, depends on
the temperature and is a low-level voltage that requires
amplification.
Some sensor manufacturers are providing a smart sensor that
is integrated with all the electronics, along with a
microprocessor that enables it to read the voltage, calibrates it
using temperature-compensation curves and digitally outputs
the pressure onto the communications bus.
This saves the carmaker from having to know all the dirty
details of the sensor, and saves processing power in the
module, which otherwise would have to do these calculations. It
makes the supplier, who is most up on the details of the sensor
anyway, responsible for providing an accurate reading.
Simplified Wiring
Multiplexing is a technique that can simplify the wiring in a car. In older cars,
the wires from each switch run to the device they power. With more and more
devices at the driver's command each year, multiplexing is necessary to keep
the wiring from getting out of control. In a multiplexed system, a module
containing at least one microprocessor consolidates inputs and outputs for an
area of the car. For instance, cars that have lots of controls on the door may
have a driver's-door module. Some cars have power-window, power-mirror,
power-lock and even power-seat controls on the door. It would be impractical to
run the thick bundle of wires that would come from a system like this out of the
door. Instead, the driver's-door module monitors all of the switches.
Here's how it works: If the driver presses his window switch, the door module
closes a relay that provides power to the window motor. If the driver presses the
switch to adjust the passenger-side mirror, the driver's door module sends a
packet of data onto the communication bus of the car. This packet tells a
different module to energize one of the power-mirror motors. In this way, most
of the signals that leave the driver's door are consolidated onto the two wires
that form the communication bus.
Reference
➢ Wikipedia.com
➢ Scribd.com
➢ www.hybridcars.com
➢ www.allhybridcars.com
➢ www.toyota.com
➢ www.mercedes.com