Adviser

The air-fuel ratio control problem has been the focus of research in academia ever since the advent of microprocessor based control of automotive systems. With rising fuel costs, increased environmental consciousness, and the need to be competitive in the global market, automotive manufacturers, who have traditionally relied on extensive experimental calibration to fine tune performance, are moving towards model based calibration of control gains to minimize costs and incorporate advances in power-train technology in a systematic manner. While solutions presented in the open literature to date illustrate the application of the plethora of modern control theory to this problem, calibration effort and emissions performance have not been given adequate priority. The work presented in this document bridges a gap between academia and industry by using modern advances in control theory to design a solution that significantly minimizes the calibration effort required to meet performance requirements. Through proper design of experiments, data collected from the plant is used to design mathematical models that represent the dominant dynamics observed in the intake system, the fueling, combustio