MOTRONIC - Torque Guided Engine Management Systems to Meet Future Challenges in Emissions and Fuel Consumption Reduction

Due to the social and legal requirements on the engine and the entire vehicle the functional scope of modem Engine Management Systems (EMS) has dramatically grown. As driving forces of this ongoing process the reduction of fuel consumption and emissions have to be considered - in the past as well as in the future. But also increasing comfort and diagnosis demands lead to a further increasing complexity of today's and future EMS. In order to securely control this complexity a well structured functional architecture in combination with physically based functions forms the necessary basis.

With the launch of the MOTRONIC ME7 Bosch introduced a torque based functional architecture to meet these requirements. This includes not only the mentioned optimization of engine performance and compliance with legal standards on emission, fuel consumption and diagnosis. As additional key factor the re-usability of components and control strategies allows the adaptation to strongly differing demands in various markets, but also e.g. to alternative engine concepts, such as Gasoline Direct Injection or Variable Valve Lift systems. Eventually even the integration of the engine control as a subsystem into the functional architecture of a vehicle control concept is possible.

Based on a brief description of the torque based architecture - as the system's “backbone” - this paper describes the MOTRONIC M7, an Engine Management System to meet the demands of the Indian market. Coming from the M7 system this discourse also includes suitable solutions for essential future tasks regarding exhaust emission standards and fuel consumption reduction in the USA, Europe and Japan, based on Port Fuel Injection or Gasoline Direct Injection. It also gives a short overview concerning alternative approaches for the control of the powertrain or entire vehicle based on the Bosch CARTRONIC, an ordering concept which integrates the engine control into a vehicle control system.