Hybrid electric- Alcohol fueled vehicle engine control unit development

This paper describes the development of an alcohol fueled hybrid vehicle electronic control unit (ECU). The ECU manages the power flow between the generator, battery and motors. By constantly monitoring various driving conditions, the ECU allows the transmission to get optimal power and fuel consumption from the power train. In order to accomplish these tasks, a high speed data acquisition system will be implemented on a test engine to obtain the raw data needed to effectively develop an ECU. The data acquisition system uses Matlab and Simulink for programming with xPC Target for real-time data acquisition. The system is able to gather signals and engine system dynamics. From these data we can determine the optimal operating point to get maximum efficiency of the vehicle. By implementing a flex fuel sensor the ECU will be able to distinguish between different types of fuels, and load the appropriate engine map for maximum fuel efficiency. Copyright