Design and Validation of a Model‐Based Starting Speed Control Scheme for Spark Ignition Engines

The main objective of this paper is to present the design and experimental validations of a model-based control scheme, which aims at smooth and fast response for spark ignition (SI) engines during the starting phase. The control scheme consists of the fuel injection control loop and the speed regulation loop. As far as the fuel control is concerned, an observer-based estimation scheme is designed which includes the air charge estimation for each cylinder: this estimation is needed to generate the individual injection command by inverting the dynamical model of fuel path. The speed regulation is achieved by an event-based coordinated feedback control of spark advance (SA) and throttle opening: the convergence analysis is shown by using the Lyapunov–Krasovskiii stability theorem for time-delay systems. The control scheme proposed formerly by the authors, which was only tested by simulations, is redesigned and recalibrated to meet the robustness specifications which were violated in experiments. The redesigned controller is found to be satisfactory in extensive experimental tests.