Responsiveness Improvement of Idling Speed Control for Automotive Using SMC

To improve the responsiveness of engine speed control to disturbances, robust controls were investigated by simulation. The intake air control system of a gasoline engine is a typical nonlinear system, and the disturbances and parameter perturbations are generally regarded as being the unstable factors with regard to engine control. In this paper, a Mean-Value Engine Model (MVEM) with disturbances and parameter perturbations is investigated using Sliding Mode Control (SMC), which is a form of variable structure control, with a view to address instability in the idle speed control process. The simulation results confirmed that, compared with a conventional PI (Proportional-Integral) controller, the stability of the idle speed for an engine that is being subjected to disturbances, parameter variations and background noise is greatly improved by the application of SMC.