Systems and methods for controlling turbocharger operation by maintaining a virtual turbocharger speed calculation using airflow parameters in the context of an engine. An example uses a turbocharger speed estimator, an energy observer, and an energy controller. Optimization of turbocharger speed control, including avoidance of overspeed, while reducing wastegate actuation, can be achieved using a predictive control algorithm.

A method for estimating pressure in an intake manifold of an indirect injection combustion engine. A pressure sensor measures pressure in the intake manifold, the intake manifold being in fluidic communication with a combustion cylinder, a piston guided in translation in the combustion cylinder and connected to a rotating crankshaft. The method includes: measuring, with the pressure sensor, a maximum pressure corresponding substantially to a maximum pressure in the intake manifold during a preceding cycle of the engine; measuring, with the pressure sensor, a minimum pressure corresponding substantially to a minimum pressure in the intake manifold during the preceding cycle of the engine; determining a pre-calculated average pressure correction factor from a crankshaft angular position and from an engine speed; and estimating the pressure in the intake manifold for the crankshaft angular position of the current engine cycle from the average correction factor and from the minimum and maximum pressures.

An engine system incorporating an engine, one or more sensors, and a controller. The controller may be connected to the one or more sensors and the engine. The one or more sensors may be configured to sense one or more parameters related to operation of the engine. The controller may incorporate an air-path state estimator configured to estimate one or more air-path state parameters in the engine based on values of one or more parameters sensed by the sensors. The controller may have an on-line and an off-line portion, where the on-line portion may incorporate the air-path state estimator and the off-line portion may configure and/or calibrate a model for the air-path state estimator.

A fuel injection controller for a vessel engine to drive a propulsion apparatus mounted in a vessel is configured or programmed to execute functions of an effective opening area calculator to calculate an effective opening area of a throttle valve based on a throttle opening degree of the vessel engine, a filter value calculator to determine a first-order lag filter value of the effective opening area, a correction value calculator to determine a ratio of the effective opening area to the first-order lag filter value as a correction value, a predictive suction pressure calculator to determine predictive suction pressure by multiplying an average value of suction pressure detected at a suction passage by the correction value determined by the correction value calculator, a fuel injection amount calculator to calculate a fuel injection amount based on the predictive suction pressure, and a fuel injection driver to drive a fuel injector based on the fuel injection amount.

A method for setting a throttle valve that includes feedback control of a throttle position of the throttle valve in the entire operating range of an internal combustion engine, wherein the feedback control is based on an internal model control principle.

An operating method for a fresh-air feed device for an internal combustion engine is configured for feeding fresh air from the environment surrounding the internal combustion engine into at least one combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine. A controllable throttle valve is configured for varying a through-flowable area of the fresh-air feed device and for at least partially shutting off the fresh-air feed device. The device has a compressor which is arranged upstream of the throttle valve in an intended through-flow direction from the environment into the combustion chamber, which is configured for conveying an air mass flow in the intended through-flow direction in the fresh-air feed device. A pre-compressor section of the device is arranged upstream of the compressor, an intermediate section is arranged downstream of the compressor device and upstream of the throttle valve, and a post-throttle section is arranged downstream of the throttle valve. A first air pressure sensor is arranged in the pre-compressor section, and a second air pressure sensor is arranged in the post-throttle section. In a first operating state, a first air pressure is measured via the first air pressure sensor. In a second step in the first operating state, a second air pressure is measured via the second air pressure sensor. Based on the second air pressure, a theoretical air pressure for the intermediate section is ascertained in a manner dependent on a theoretically through-flowable area set by the throttle valve. The theoretical air pressure is compared with the first air pressure or with a comparison value for the first air pressure. In the event of a deviation of the theoretical air pressure from the first air pressure or from the comparison value beyond an error threshold value, a corrective value for the ascertainment of the theoretical air pressure is determined.

A skip fire control system for an engine of a vehicle includes a set of sensors configured to measure a set of operating parameters of the engine corresponding to a volumetric efficiency of the engine, a set of sub-systems having a set of operational states that affect transitions between different firing patterns/fractions of the engine, and a controller configured to, based on the set of operating parameters and the set of operational states of the set of sub-systems, determine a best firing pattern/fraction by taking into account losses or penalties to transition at least some of the set of operational states of the set of sub-systems to obtain a target firing pattern/fraction, and control the engine based on the target firing pattern/fraction to maximize an efficiency of the engine.

An engine diagnostic system includes a control system having a controller operatively connected to an engine. A monitoring system has a sensor operatively connected to the engine. A diagnostic system is operatively connected to the engine. The diagnostic system is configured to implement a sensor diagnostic procedure that includes a sensor health test. The sensor health test includes comparing a measured value of a sensor to an expected value and determining the health of the sensor based on the difference between the measured value and the expected value. The sensor diagnostic procedure can also include telematics data analysis.

Methods, devices, estimators, controllers and algorithms are described for estimating working chamber air charge during engine operations. The described approaches and devices are well suited for use in dynamic firing level modulation controlled engines. Manifold pressure is estimated for a time corresponding to an induction event associated with a selected working cycle. The manifold pressure estimate accounts for impacts from one or more intervening potential induction events that will occur between the time that the manifold pressure is estimated and the time that the induction event associated with the selected working cycle occurs. The estimated manifold pressure is used in the estimation of the air charge for the selected working cycle. The described approach may be used to individually calculate the air charge for each induction event at any time that the engine is operating in a mode that can benefit from the individual cylinder air charge estimations.

Control techniques for a turbocharger of an engine utilize a wastegate valve configured to divert exhaust gas from a turbine of the turbocharger that is rotatably coupled to a compressor of the turbocharger. A controller is utilized to obtain a torque request for the engine, determine a target compressor power based on the engine torque request, determine a normalized target turbine power based on the target compressor power, determine a target position for the wastegate valve based on the normalized target turbine power and a normalized exhaust flow, and actuate the wastegate valve to the target position. Such control techniques involve the actual calculation of much less intermediate parameters, such as target turbine pressure ratio, which results in more efficient calibration and implementation.