Meccanica 32: 423–430, 1997.

© 1997 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Engine Control using Neural Networks: A New Method in Engine

Management Systems

RAINER MÜLLER, HANS-HUBERT HEMBERGER, and KARLHEINZ BAIER

Daimler Benz AG, Research Institute 1, F1M/EA, HPC T721; 70546 Stuttgart, Germany

(Received: 15 May 1997)

Abstract. To be able to meet the demands of low emissions and fuel consumption of modern combustion
engines, new ways have to be found to control the combustion. We use new sensors to measure the pressure in
the combustion chamber and analyze this signal with a neural network in order to receive several form factors
which can be used to control the ignition timing. The neural network is trained off line with measured data and
used on line to derive the form factors. The proposed algorithm can be computed in real time on conventional
digital signal processors and adapted to new engines with very little effort.
Sommario. Allo scopo di soddisfare le richieste di riduzione delle emissioni e dei consumi specific idei moderni
motori a combustione interna, si rende necessario definire nuove metodologie per il controllo della combustione.
Nell’articolo viene descritto l’impiego di nuovi sensori per la misura della pressione in camera di combustione
e la successiva analisi del segnale tramite un sistema a rete neurale: ciò al fine di definire un opportuno fattore
di forma che può essere impiegato nell’ambito del controllo della fasatura dell’accensione. La rete neurale
viene istruita fuori linea mediante dati sperimentali e quindi utilizzata durante il funzionamento del motore per
ricavare il valore del fattore di forma. L’algoritmo proposto può essere impiegato in tempo reale su convenzionali
microprocessori digitali, mentre la sua applicazione ad un assegnato motore comporta difficoltà assai limitate.
Key words: Neural networks, Combustion control, Spark ignition, Internal combustion engines, Automotive
applications.

1. Introduction
As the growing demand for engines with low emissions and low fuel consumption cannot be
fulfilled with the present combustion engine control technologies today, new ways have to be
found to improve engine electronics. The engine control units installed by car manufacturers
use up to one hundred characteristic curves to control the engines. Much time and effort is spent
to adapt these curves to new engines and even small changes in the setup of an engine can lead
to time and money consuming changes in the control units.
Today’s engine electronics use sensors for air mass, air temperature, air pressure, engine
speed and air/fuel ratio to control throttle, injection, and ignition. But there is no sensor signal
that describes the process of interest, the combustion. The goal of all efforts has to be to minimize
the emissions and the fuel consumption of modern engines to preserve the environment and fulfill
the legal requirements. Furthermore, we are interested in the reduction of the application efforts
needed for a new engine to minimize the costs for modern engine electronics.

2. Combustion Pressure
In order to be able to analyze the combustion process, sensors that measure the pressure in the
combustion chamber were developed in recent years and soon they will be produced cheaply
enough to be built into standard engines.

G.T. ENGI
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424 R. Müller et al.

Figure 1. Structure of a Kistler pressure sensor (© Kistler Instrumente GmbH).

Figure 2. Influence of the ignition time on the cylinder pressure.

These sensors use the piezoelectric effect, that was discovered by Curie in 1880, and deliver
an electric signal that is proportional to the pressure on the sensor. Figure 1 shows the basic
structure of a conventional pressure sensor. The pressure twists the membrane that passes the
pressure on to the quartz. The piezoelectric effect leads to a voltage that can be measured at
the electrode. With an A/D-converter the pressure signal is read into the electronic control unit.
To mount these sensors in the combustion chamber, they are often combined with spark plugs,
hence, no additional hole has to be drilled into the cylinder head.
Using these sensors the combustion pressure can be analyzed very accurately. In Figure 2,
the pressure for different ignition timings is plotted. With a perfect timing (Za) the pressure
rises smoothly to a maximum of 35 bar (see plot a). If the ignition timing is too early (Zb), the
rise is steeper and the maximum is higher but the engine starts to knock and pressure spikes
can be seen in plot b that might destroy the engine. On the other hand, if the ignition timing is
chosen too late (Zc) no combustion takes place (see plot c). Using this knowledge, the measured
combustion pressure can be used to control the ignition timing in the control unit.
Besides the pressure signal can be used for several other applications. The easiest task is to
detect misfire. If the pressure integral is too low or if the maximum pressure is below a threshold,
then the combustion does not take place (see plot c in Figure 2). An additional application that
can be realized with the use of the pressure signal is knock control. If there are spikes in the
pressure curve (see plot b in Figure 2) the ignition timing has to be postponed to avoid damaging

MECC2094.tex; 15/10/1997; 15:17; no v.; p.2