A method of controlling a vehicle engine comprising estimating a value for the actual engine torque, comparing this with a further calculated (expected) torque value, and controlling the engine consequent to said comparing, the value for the actual engine torque being determined from the following steps: • a) from a crankshaft signal, providing a plot or signal indicative of instantaneous crankshaft speed; • b) differentiating said plot or signal indicative of instantaneous crankshaft speed with respect to time to determine acceleration values; • c) within a crankshaft/time interval, determining a maximum and a minimum acceleration value from step b); • d) determining the difference between said maximum and minimum acceleration values; • e) determining a torque value dependent on said difference from step d).

Various aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a test bench and methods for carrying out a test run on a test bench. In one example embodiment, a test run method includes: connecting a test object to a load machine, specifying a target torque for a torque controller by a test bench automation unit according to the test run, adjusting an actual torque of the load machine by the torque controller, specifying a test object control variable for the test object by a test object controller, determining an actual rotational speed of the load machine, determining at least one deviation of at least one attribute of the actual rotational speed from at least one threshold value, and based on the at least one deviation, and determining at least one additive torque correction value and superimposing the at least one additive torque correction value on the target torque.

A vehicle control device for a vehicle, the vehicle including a rotation lock mechanism preventing rotation of a coupling portion on the engine side of the rotating member in at least one direction, and an engine rotation speed sensor detecting a rotation speed of the engine, includes: a characteristic detecting portion detecting at least a torsional rigidity as the rotational characteristic by applying a torque to the rotating member from the electric motor to measure a twist angle of the rotating member while the rotation of the coupling portion is prevented by the rotation lock mechanism; and an engine rotation filtering portion calculating an actual resonance frequency based on the torsional rigidity detected by the characteristic detecting portion and filtering an engine rotation speed signal supplied from the engine rotation speed sensor to attenuate a vibration component of the actual resonance frequency in the engine rotation speed signal.

The disclosure relates to a method for identifying a change in the operating behavior of a crankshaft drive of a motor vehicle. In particular, the disclosure relates to a method for identifying error states of a torsional-vibration damper in the crankshaft drive, such as a jamming or slipping of a secondary mass of the torsional-vibration damper. The crankshaft drive comprises a crankshaft, a pulse generator that rotates when the crankshaft is in operation and a fixed sensor device, which generates a rotational speed signal N as a function of the rotational speed of the pulse generator. The method comprises the following steps: detecting a current rotational speed signal N.sub.akt of the sensor device during operation of the crankshaft drive; filtering the current rotational speed signal N.sub.akt using a bandpass filter that has at least one first passband range D1 comprising a first center frequency f1; comparing the filtered current rotational speed signal N.sub.akt with a reference signal N.sub.ref stored in a memory; and identifying a change in the operating behavior of the crankshaft drive on the basis of the comparison of the filtered current rotational speed signal N.sub.akt with the reference signal N.sub.ref. The disclosure further relates to a vehicle, such as a commercial vehicle, having a control device which is configured to perform a method of this kind.

Provided is a state determination device for an internal combustion engine. The state determination device includes a storage device, and an execution device. The storage device stores mapping data that is data defining a mapping that outputs a determination result of a state of the internal combustion engine, by using an internal combustion engine state variable as an input. The execution device executes an acquisition process of acquiring the internal combustion engine state variable each time a crankshaft rotates by a specified angle, and a determination process of determining the state of the internal combustion engine based on an output of the mapping using the internal combustion engine state variable as an input. The execution device omits a part of the determination process performed each time the crankshaft rotates by the specified angle when a rotation speed of the crankshaft becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold.

Methods and systems for calibrating an engine having a rotating shaft are provided. Readings from a plurality of speed sensors provided in one of a plurality of configurations about the shaft are obtained over a plurality of rotations of the shaft, the readings indicative of the passage of position markers and associated with a first precision level. A parameter indicative of relative spacing between the plurality of speed sensors is determined by applying a statistical algorithm to the readings, the parameter being associated with a second precision level higher than the first precision level. The parameter is compared to reference parameters associated with the plurality of configurations to identify an actual speed sensor configuration from amongst the plurality of configurations. The engine is calibrated based on the actual speed sensor configuration.

An unbalanced crankshaft mounted accessory is configured to externally balance the rotating assembly of a particular engine model. In one embodiment, the unbalanced crankshaft mounted accessory is attached to the crankshaft at the output of the crankshaft (i.e., the connection to a load driven by the engine). The accessory is unbalanced at an angle and weight configured to reduce deflection of the crankshaft at the output of the crankshaft (when the unbalanced crankshaft mounted accessory is attached). The weight and angle are determined by measuring crankshaft deflection at various speeds (rpm) throughout the recommended operating range of the engine. The angle and deflection distance are then averaged and multiplied against a rotating mass of the engine and a constant to determine an angle and weight for the unbalanced crankshaft mounted accessory.

A method of monitoring the usage of an internal combustion engine is provided. The method comprises performing an engine monitoring routine using a local monitoring device directly attached to an internal combustion engine. The engine monitoring routine includes generating a plurality of data points representative of the crankcase pressure of the internal combustion engine using a pressure sensor of the local monitoring device, processing the generated data points to determine a first value representative of a firing frequency of the internal combustion engine, generating an aggregated summary of the internal combustion engine usage based on the first value, and transmitting identification data for the local monitoring device and the aggregated summary from the local monitoring device to a remote application. The remote application processes the transmitted aggregated summary based on the transmitted identification data to determine engine speed usage data for the internal combustion engine.

A method of monitoring the usage of an internal combustion engine comprises performing an engine monitoring routine using a local monitoring device attached to an internal combustion engine. The engine monitoring routine includes generating data representative of a plurality of vibrations of an internal combustion engine using a vibration sensor of the local monitoring device, processing the generated data to determine a first value representative of a firing frequency of the internal combustion engine, generating an aggregated summary based on the first value and transmitting the aggregated summary and identification data for the local monitoring device to a remote application. The remote application processes the transmitted aggregated summary based on the identification data to determine engine speed usage data.

An unbalanced crankshaft mounted accessory is configured to externally balance the rotating assembly of a particular engine model. In one embodiment, the unbalanced crankshaft mounted accessory is attached to the crankshaft at the output of the crankshaft (i.e., the connection to a load driven by the engine). The accessory is unbalanced at an angle and weight configured to reduce deflection of the crankshaft at the output of the crankshaft (when the unbalanced crankshaft mounted accessory is attached). The weight and angle are determined by measuring crankshaft deflection at various speeds (rpm) throughout the recommended operating range of the engine. The angle and deflection distance are then averaged and multiplied against a rotating mass of the engine and a constant to determine an angle and weight for the unbalanced crankshaft mounted accessory.