Techniques are described for determining an amount of fuel that is consumed by the body components of a vehicle, based at least partly on sensor data describing the operations of the body components and/or the location of the vehicle. A vehicle is equipped with a body that has any suitable number of body components that perform operations not directly associated with the translational movement of the vehicle from one location to another. Fuel is consumed to provide power (e.g., through power take off) to operate the body components. The vehicle includes sensor device(s) configured to sense the operations of the body components and generate sensor data that describes the operations of the body components. The sensor data is analyzed to determine an amount of fuel that is consumed to power the operations of the body components.

The present invention provides a more accurate method for measuring the automobile horsepower, specifically the internal combustion engine, ICE horsepower at the crankshaft, or the electric motor(s') horsepower, or the combined ICE and electric motor(s') horsepower. It applies to automobiles that do not incorporate, or can disengage, regenerative braking, RGB. In contrast to the in-house, chassis dynamometers that measure the performance of the automobile under conditions that simulate to a certain extent road conditions, the proposed invention measures horsepower in real road test conditions, through the utilization of an accelerometer that performs measurements of the automobile velocity, acceleration and deceleration.

Techniques are described for determining an amount of fuel that is consumed by the body components of a vehicle, based at least partly on sensor data describing the operations of the body components and/or the location of the vehicle. A vehicle is equipped with a body that has any suitable number of body components that perform operations not directly associated with the translational movement of the vehicle from one location to another. Fuel is consumed to provide power (e.g., through power take off) to operate the body components. The vehicle includes sensor device(s) configured to sense the operations of the body components and generate sensor data that describes the operations of the body components. The sensor data is analyzed to determine an amount of fuel that is consumed to power the operations of the body components.

A heat insulation plate (25) is interposed between a coupling (21) and an adapter flange (22) in a main shaft (6) of a dynamometer (3). A torque meter (24) is disposed between a coupling flange (23) that serves as a test-piece connection surface (56) and the adapter flange (22). To surround a periphery of these, a cover (7) is provided. An air conditioner utilizing a refrigeration cycle supplies a cold wind to an inside space of the cover (7). The heat insulation plate (25) suppresses heat transmission from an electric motor of the dynamometer (3) to the torque meter (24). Therefore, the torque meter (24) is effectively cooled by the cold wind.

A method for diagnosing an engine in a vehicle, the method comprising: initiating a diagnostic test of the engine, disabling a cylinder of the engine, measuring a parameter indicative of performance of the engine, re-enabling the cylinder, comparing the parameter to reference data, assessing a status of the cylinder based on the comparison, and generating a diagnostic result based on the status of the disabled cylinder.

A control unit controls a combustion state of an internal combustion engine in accordance with a drive torque requested by a driver. The control unit performs a switching control to switch at least a combustion state between lean-burn combustion and stoichiometric combustion. A monitor unit performs torque monitoring to determine abnormality of a request torque, which is requested to the internal combustion engine, and a generated torque of the internal combustion engine based on the request torque and an estimation torque, which is an estimation value of an actual torque of the internal combustion engine. A combustion state determining unit determines whether the combustion state in the control unit is the lean-burn combustion or the stoichiometric combustion. A computing unit computes the estimation torque in accordance with the combustion state determined by the combustion state determining unit.

Systems and methods for detecting at least one non-functional combustion chamber of an engine comprising a plurality of combustion chambers are described herein. In response to detecting a partial output power loss of the engine, one of the plurality of combustion chambers is assessed by monitoring an engine parameter indicative of an output power of the engine, determining whether a change in the engine parameter has occurred, when the change has occurred, determining that the combustion chamber is functional, and when no change has occurred, determining that the combustion chamber is non-functional and discontinuing fuel injection to the non-functional combustion chamber.

A method for testing power of an electric drive system includes setting the electric motor of the electric drive system to a desired speed and applying a brake load to the system. The method also includes increasing the brake load until an engine of the electric drive system is fully loaded. After the engine is fully loaded, the method includes maintaining the brake load until the acceleration remains between the upper predetermined threshold and the lower predetermined threshold for the predetermined period of time, which indicates that the engine has stabilized at full power. Once the engine is at full power, the commanded power of the electric drive system required for stabilizing the engine at full power is averaged, and the average power is compared to a predetermined pass/fail threshold to determine if the electric drive system has sufficient power.

A test method for a vehicle powertrain includes, during a first test of a first vehicle or a portion of a first vehicle on a dynamometer, coordinatingly controlling (i) an accelerator pedal, an accelerator pedal signal, a fuel injector, a manifold pressure, a motor controller, or a throttle valve according to a load schedule and (ii) the dynamometer according to a speed schedule such that the dynamometer applies dynamic torque that causes a powertrain of the first vehicle or portion of the first vehicle to produce dynamic powertrain torque. The test method also includes recording values defining a history of the dynamic torque, and during a second test of the first vehicle or portion of the first vehicle on the dynamometer or another dynamometer, or during a second test of a second vehicle or a portion of a second vehicle on the dynamometer or another dynamometer, coordinatingly controlling (iii) an accelerator pedal, an accelerator pedal signal, a fuel injector, a manifold pressure, a motor controller, or a throttle valve according to the values defining the history of the dynamic torque and (iv) the dynamometer or the another dynamometer according to the speed schedule such that the dynamometer or the another dynamometer applies dynamic torque that causes a powertrain of the first vehicle or portion of the first vehicle or a powertrain of the second vehicle or portion of the second vehicle to reproduce the dynamic powertrain torque.

A vehicle dynamometer system for dynamometer testing of a vehicle, comprises at least one dynamometer test unit having a power source, the power source comprising an output shaft arranged for, in use, rotation with a vehicle wheel shaft, the system further comprising an adapter plate, said adapter plate comprising fasteners for allowing fixed connection to a wheel hub of a wheel shaft being tested, said adapter plate further comprising fasteners for allowing fixed connection of the adapter plate to the output shaft of said dynamometer test unit to thereby connect the output shaft of the dynamometer test unit to said wheel shaft. The adapter plate is designed such that, when fixedly connected to said wheel hub but disconnected from said dynamometer test unit, said adapter plate is arranged to support the vehicle to allow relocation of said vehicle while supported by said adapter plate.