Development and Testing of a Control Algorithm to Assist Drive-Off in the Gradient-A Rapid Control Prototyping Approach

In the present scenario, when the vehicle is maneuvering in the gradient, more clutch and accelerator pedal modulations is needed during stop and go condition. These kinds of pedal modulations are not desirable for many customers as it requires more skilled driving. Failure of doing such actions will even result in engine stalling which becomes an annoyance to such customers. In order to overcome this problem, the low idle speed of the engine can be increased only during the drive-off condition. In this paper, we proposed the development and real-time testing of the control algorithm to increase the engine low idle speed during drive-off. This proposed algorithm detects the drive-off condition and then an offset value is added to increase the low idle speed. Various input conditions are considered to enable or disable the increment of engine low idle speed. The control algorithm has been developed using MATLAB/Simulink tool and tested using ETAS EHOOKS tool. The performance of the algorithm is tested using Rapid Control Prototyping Technique (RCP) in the vehicle. It is observed that the low idle speed is increased during drive-off and the drive quality also significantly increased. The results of the numerical simulation and the real-time testing using rapid prototyping are presented and discussed in this paper.