Design and Statistical Validation of Spark Ignition Engine Electronic Control Unit for Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing

This paper presents the design and statistical validation of a Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engine Electronic Control Unit (ECU), implementing ignition and fuel injection algorithms in an automotive grade Freescale Power PC microcontroller. Crankshaft position, intake manifold temperature and pressure, coolant temperature and throttle position were instrumented. In addition a communication interface using CAN protocol was developed for the real time acquisition of the parameters, through which engine performance in a linear range at constant load was validated comparing the design with the manufacturers ECU. Statistical analysis shows that for future hardware-in-the-loop testing, variation introduced by the hardware is negligible and will be solely due to the improvement proposals or model selection.