Engine control unit

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An engine control unit (ECU) is an electronic control unit which controls various
aspects of an internal combustion engine's operation. The simplest ECUs control only the
quantity of fuel injected into each cylinder each engine cycle. More advanced ECUs
found on most modern cars also control the ignition timing, variable valve timing (VVT),
the level of boost maintained by the turbocharger (in turbocharged cars), and other
peripherals.

ECUs determine the quantity of fuel, ignition timing and other parameters by monitoring
the engine through sensors. These can include, MAP sensor, throttle position sensor, air
temperature sensor, oxygen sensor and many others. Often this monitoring and control is
done using a control loop (such as a PID controller).

Before ECUs, most engine parameters were fixed. The quantity of fuel per cylinder per
engine cycle was determined by a carburetor or injector pump.

Contents
[hide]
 1 Working of ECU
o 1.1 Control of fuel injection
o 1.2 Control of ignition timing
o 1.3 Control of idle speed
o 1.4 Control of variable valve timing
o 1.5 Electronic valve control
 2 Programmable ECUs
 3 ECU flashing
 4 History
o 4.1 Hybrid digital designs
o 4.2 Modern ECUs
 5 Other applications
 6 ECU failures
 7 See also
o 7.1 Manufacturers of aftermarket ECUs
o 7.2 Open source engine management systems
o 7.3 Pseudo open source engine management systems
 o 7.4 DIY engine management systems
 8 References

 9 External links

[edit] Working of ECU

[edit] Control of fuel injection

For an engine with fuel injection, an ECU will determine the quantity of fuel to inject
based on a number of parameters. If the throttle pedal is pressed further down, this will
open the throttle body and allow more air to be pulled into the engine. The ECU will
inject more fuel according to how much air is passing into the engine. If the engine has
not warmed up yet, more fuel will be injected (causing the engine to run slightly 'rich'
until the engine warms up).

[edit] Control of ignition timing

A spark ignition engine requires a spark to initiate combustion in the combustion

chamber. An ECU can adjust the exact timing of the spark (called ignition timing) to
provide better power and economy. If the ECU detects knock, a condition which is
potentially destructive to engines, and "judges" it to be the result of the ignition timing
being too early in the compression stroke, it will delay (retard) the timing of the spark to
prevent this.

A second, more common source, cause, of knock/ping is operating the engine in too low
of an RPM range for the "work" requirement of the moment. In this case the knock/ping
results from the piston not being able to move downward as fast as the flame front is
expanding.

But this latter mostly applies only to manual transmission equipped vehicles. The ECU
controlling an automatic transmission would simply downshift the transmission were this
the cause of knock/ping.

[edit] Control of idle speed

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 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.

[edit] 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 later at
higher speed than at lower speed. This can optimise the flow of air into the cylinder,
increasing power and economy.

[edit] 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. Such engines can be started and run with out 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-reductiton
improvements of a mild hybrid-electric drive, but without the expense and complexity of
an oversized starter motor.[1]For more information also see the following references:

1. Freescale site: [Link]

nodeId=02Wcbf56hRCrcd

2. Utah University site:

[Link]
HomePage

3. New York Times Article 8/23/03: [Link]

res=9503E1DB1F30F932A1575BC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

4. MIT Technology Review November 2002:

[Link]

[edit] 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 gas 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 a gas 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.

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.

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 rev to. After
this fuel and/or ignition is cut.
 Water temperature correction: Allows for additional fuel to be added when the
engine is cold (choke).
 Transient fueling: Tells the ECU to add a specific amount of fuel when throttle
is applied.
 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.

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:

 Waste gate control: Sets up the behavior of a turbo waste gate, 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, CANbus]].

[edit] ECU flashing

Many recent (around 1996 or newer) cars use OBD-II ECUs that are sometimes capable
of having their programming changed through the OBD port. Automotive enthusiasts
with modern cars take advantage of this technology when tuning their engines. Rather
than use an entire new engine management system, one can use the appropriate software
to adjust the factory equipped computer. By doing so, it is possible to retain all stock
functions and wiring while using a custom tuned program. This should not be confused
with "chip tuning", where the owner has ECU ROM physically replaced with a different
one -- no hardware modification is (usually) involved with flashing ECUs, although
special equipment is required.

Factory engine management systems often have similar controls as aftermarket units
intended for racing, such as 3-dimensional timing and fuel control maps. They generally
do not have the ability to control extra ancillary devices, such as variable valve timing if
the factory vehicle was a fixed geometry camshaft or boost control if the factory car was
not turbocharged.

[edit] History
[edit] Hybrid digital designs

A hybrid digital design was popular in the mid 1980s. This used analogue techniques to
measure and process input parameters from the engine, then used a look-up table stored
in a digital ROM chip to yield precomputed output values. Later systems compute these
outputs dynamically. The ROM type of system is amenable to tuning if one knows the
system well. The disadvantage of such systems is that the precomputed values are only
optimal for an idealised, new engine. As the engine wears, the system is less able to
compensate than a CPU based system.

[edit] 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 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[2]. 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[3].

[edit] 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. Also, a carburated engine with magneto ignition and a gravity feed fuel
system does not require any electrical power to run, which is a safety bonus.

[edit] ECU failures

As usually occurs with a technology shift, computer-controlled engine management has
replaced old failure modes with new ones[citation needed]. With advanced age, a failing ECU
can cause seemingly random starting and driveability faults. For example, a vehicle may
refuse to start when cranked with the starter motor, but may respond easily to a push start.
Failing electrolytic capacitors in the ECU no longer smooth the power supply to the
microprocessor, and the varying load on the starter motor causes sufficient line voltage
fluctuation that the computer reboots repeatedly while attempting to start the engine [citation
needed]
. An industry has evolved to refurbish ECUs with this and other types of failures
related to age and use.

[edit] See also

 Air flow meter
 Air-fuel ratio meter
 Malfunction Indicator Lamp
 Motronic
 Trionic T5.5
 Trionic 8
 Fuel injection
 Automobile self starter
 Powertrain Control Module

[edit] Manufacturers of aftermarket ECUs

 Adaptronic*AEM
 Apex'i
 ATP Electronics
 Athena Technologies
 Autronic
 Bowling & Grippo (Makers of MegaSquirt open source ECU)
 Bosch
 DTA Competition Engine Management Systems
 Electromotive TEC³r and TECgt
 EMS Aftermarket Engine Management
