State Machines As An Effective Supervisory Engine Control Algorithm

An effective part of any modern automotive controller is a state machine. A state machine is a collection of discrete states, which can be defined in a language independent manner. The state model of a system is always in one of its possible states, the model transitions from one state to another when stimuli are received.

The state machine helps in identifying the functions to be carried out in each state. The states of the state machine clearly define the present running state of the plant that is controlled. The state machine helps in identifying its func tions, which has to run in continuous loop, or in discrete loop or when an external interrupt arises. Effectively designed state machine reduces the time to develop any automotive controller.

A state machine was implemented for an automotive control project and its validity was verified.