Two-step design method of engine control system based on generalized predictive control

Conservation of the environment has become critical to the automotive industry. Recently, requirements for on-board diagnostic and engine control systems have been strictly enforced. In the present paper, in order to meet the requirements for a low-emissions vehicle, a novel construction method of the air-fuel ratio (A/F) control system is proposed. The construction method of the system is divided into two steps. The first step is to design the A/F control system for the engine based on an open loop design. The second step is to design the A/F control system for the catalyst system. The design method is based on the generalized predictive control in order to satisfy the robustness to open loop control as well as model uncertainty. The effectiveness of the proposed A/F control system is verified through experiments using full-scale products.