Synthesis for Idle Speed Control of an Automotive Engine

The problem of maintaining the crankshaft speed of an automotive engine within a given set interval (idle speed control), is formalized as a constrained control problem using a hybrid model of the engine. The control problem is difficult because the system has delays and a large number of constraints. The approach for the synthesis of a controller for this system is based on the theory developed for affine systems on polytopes. A structured control synthesis procedure is applied in which constraints for state and input variables are backward propagated from the controlled output (the crankshaft speed) across successive subsystems.