The Disadvantage Function Technique for Optimization of Engine Control Strategies

The advent of electronic control systems has enabled automobile manufacturers to consider a vast variety of fuel, ignition, and exhaust gas recirculation system calibrations. Given a control system providing satisfactory performance, it is important to determine the calibration of that system which minimizes fuel consumption while meeting emission control standards.

The disadvantage function technique enables an engineer to determine such an optimal calibration through an iterative procedure, interacting with a computer program. This paper describes the technique, illustrates it by example, and compares it with well-known optimization methods.