Abstract: A method for providing a coast recommendation for an operator of a vehicle, including receiving vehicle position data; determining a projected route; determining a first speed change position and a first speed change target speed; determining a first residual speed and a first residual speed position based at least in part on the first speed change position and the first speed change target speed; determining a first lower speed envelope; determining an overall lower speed envelope based at least in part on the first residual speed; determining an upper speed envelope; determining a target speed profile based at least in part on the first residual speed, the first residual speed position, the first lower speed envelope, and the upper speed envelope; determining a coast start point based at least in part on the target speed profile; and communicating the coast start point to the operator of the vehicle.

Abstract: A method for providing a cruising speed recommendation to an operator of a vehicle includes determining a projected route; receiving route characteristic data including route elevation data; determining a sampling resolution; sampling the route elevation data at the sampling resolution to generate sampled route elevation data; determining at least one start of uphill position and at least one start of downhill position; determining at least one cruise speed route segment based at least in part on the at least one start of uphill position and the at least one start of downhill position; determining a corresponding cruising speed for the at least one cruise speed route segment based at least in part on one or more of the route elevation data and the sampled route elevation data; and communicating the corresponding cruising speed for the at least one cruise speed route segment.

Abstract: A method for providing a cruising speed recommendation to an operator of a vehicle includes determining a projected route; receiving route characteristic data including route elevation data; determining a sampling resolution; sampling the route elevation data at the sampling resolution to generate sampled route elevation data; determining at least one start of uphill position and at least one start of downhill position; determining at least one cruise speed route segment based at least in part on the at least one start of uphill position and the at least one start of downhill position; determining a corresponding cruising speed for the at least one cruise speed route segment based at least in part on one or more of the route elevation data and the sampled route elevation data; and communicating the corresponding cruising speed for the at least one cruise speed route segment.

Abstract: A method for providing a coast recommendation for an operator of a vehicle, including receiving vehicle position data; determining a projected route; determining a first speed change position and a first speed change target speed; determining a first residual speed and a first residual speed position based at least in part on the first speed change position and the first speed change target speed; determining a first lower speed envelope; determining an overall lower speed envelope based at least in part on the first residual speed; determining an upper speed envelope; determining a target speed profile based at least in part on the first residual speed, the first residual speed position, the first lower speed envelope, and the upper speed envelope; determining a coast start point based at least in part on the target speed profile; and communicating the coast start point to the operator of the vehicle.

Abstract: A method for providing a cruising speed recommendation to an operator of a vehicle includes determining a projected route; receiving route characteristic data including route elevation data; determining a sampling resolution; sampling the route elevation data at the sampling resolution to generate sampled route elevation data; determining at least one start of uphill position and at least one start of downhill position; determining at least one cruise speed route segment based at least in part on the at least one start of uphill position and the at least one start of downhill position; determining a corresponding cruising speed for the at least one cruise speed route segment based at least in part on one or more of the route elevation data and the sampled route elevation data; and communicating the corresponding cruising speed for the at least one cruise speed route segment.

Abstract: A method for estimating energy consumption of a vehicle includes receiving, from a remotely located computing device, standardized energy consumption data corresponding to at least one other vehicle, the standardized energy consumption data corresponding to energy consumption of the at least one other vehicle as a function of speed. The method further includes generating a scaling factor by comparing the energy consumption data corresponding to the energy consumption of the vehicle as a function of speed with the standardized energy consumption data. The method further includes scaling the standardized energy consumption data to generate a profile of the energy consumption efficiency of the vehicle. The method further includes generating a signal to selectively adjust at least one of a speed of the vehicle, at least one route characteristic of a portion of a route being traversed by the vehicle, and a torque demand of the vehicle.

Abstract: A method of quantifying a particulate matter in an exhaust stream includes the steps of accumulating a particulate matter on a sensor. The sensor provides a signal that varies based upon an amount of the particulate on the sensor. The sensor includes a measurement cycle that includes a deadband zone, followed by an active zone, which is followed by a regeneration zone. The particulate matter is calculated after an end of the deadband zone is reached and prior to an end of the measurement cycle.

Abstract: A system includes an exhaust system fluidly configured to define an exhaust stream. A sensor is arranged in the exhaust system and is configured to be exposed to the exhaust stream and accumulate particulate matter on the sensor. The sensor provides a signal that varies based upon an amount of particulate matter on the sensor. A control system is in communication with the sensor. The control system includes a controller configured to calculate a differential of a conductance signal related to the signal, compare consecutive differentials to identify an erroneous differential in an abnormal signal based upon an anomaly relating to the accumulation of the particulate matter, and reconstruct the abnormal signal by correcting the erroneous differential to produce a corrected, decimated conductance signal. The control system is configured to determine a total accumulated particulate matter adjusted for the anomaly.

Abstract: A system includes an exhaust system fluidly configured to define an exhaust stream. A sensor is arranged in the exhaust system and is configured to be exposed to the exhaust stream and accumulate particulate matter on the sensor. The sensor provides a signal that varies based upon an amount of particulate matter on the sensor. A control system is in communication with the sensor. The control system includes a controller configured to calculate a differential of a conductance signal related to the signal, compare consecutive differentials to identify an erroneous differential in an abnormal signal based upon an anomaly relating to the accumulation of the particulate matter, and reconstruct the abnormal signal by correcting the erroneous differential to produce a corrected, decimated conductance signal. The control system is configured to determine a total accumulated particulate matter adjusted for the anomaly.

Abstract: A method of quantifying a particulate matter in an exhaust stream includes the steps of accumulating a particulate matter on a sensor. The sensor provides a signal that varies based upon an amount of the particulate on the sensor. The sensor includes a measurement cycle that includes a deadband zone, followed by an active zone, which is followed by a regeneration zone. The particulate matter is calculated after an end of the deadband zone is reached and prior to an end of the measurement cycle.

Abstract: A method of implementing a digital filter in an event driven engine controller configured to sample an analog signal at a sample rate dependent on a time interval between engine events such as the time interval between pulses from a crank sensor signal. Since the sample rate is variable, the filter coefficients in the digital filter need to be adjusted or updated in response to changes in the sample so that the filter characteristic or transfer function remains consistent even though the sample rate varies.

Abstract: A misfire detection system monitors engine speed fluctuations in the engine rotation frequency domain and identifies misfire when a phase angle locks onto a stable value rather than fluctuating randomly. After misfire detection, the system also performs cylinder or cylinder pair identification using predefined phase angle regions, where the identification process incorporate knowledge of what phase angle region a locked phase angle falls within.

Abstract: A misfire detection system monitors engine speed fluctuations in the engine rotation frequency domain and identifies misfire when a phase angle locks onto a stable value rather than fluctuating randomly. After misfire detection, the system also performs cylinder or cylinder pair identification using predefined phase angle regions, where the identification process incorporate knowledge of what phase angle region a locked phase angle falls within.

Abstract: A system and method for identifying the cylinders having the lowest (“weakest”) and highest (“strongest”) Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) utilizes engine speed derivative and/or higher order derivative values typically available in an engine control module by virtue of the need to detect misfire. A delta parameter is calculated that is indicative of the difference between the engine speed derivatives and/or higher order derivatives for the “weakest” and the “strongest” cylinders. Control action is then taken to balance the cylinders, based on the delta parameter, by first increasing torque for the “weakest” cylinder, by at least one increasing spark advance, increasing fuel, decreasing dilution (EGR) or slowing decay of fuel control on cold start. Once the weakest cylinder has been balanced, the control action is then directed to increasing torque of the new “weakest” cylinder.

Abstract: A method for inferring Indicated Mean Effective Pressure as total transient indicated engine torque in an internal combustion engine, comprising the steps of acquiring at least one crankshaft time stamp for use in determining a cylinder-specific engine velocity; calculating an incremental change in engine kinetic energy from the previously fired cylinder (j?1st) to the currently fired (jth) cylinder using the cylinder-specific engine velocity; equating the incremental change in engine kinetic energy to a change in energy-averaged cylinder torque (IMEP) from the previously-fired (j?1st) to a currently-fired (jth) cylinder; summing a plurality of the incremental changes in engine kinetic energy over time to determine a value of the transient component of indicated torque; determining a value of the quasi-steady indicated engine torque; and adding the value of transient component of indicated torque to the value of quasi-steady indicated engine torque to yield the Indicated Mean Effective Pressure.

Abstract: A method for inferring Indicated Mean Effective Pressure as total transient indicated engine torque in an internal combustion engine, comprising the steps of acquiring at least one crankshaft time stamp for use in determining a cylinder-specific engine velocity; calculating an incremental change in engine kinetic energy from the previously fired cylinder (j?1st) to the currently fired (jth) cylinder using the cylinder-specific engine velocity; equating the incremental change in engine kinetic energy to a change in energy-averaged cylinder torque (IMEP) from the previously-fired (j?1st) to a currently-fired (jth) cylinder; summing a plurality of the incremental changes in engine kinetic energy over time to determine a value of the transient component of indicated torque; determining a value of the quasi-steady indicated engine torque; and adding the value of transient component of indicated torque to the value of quasi-steady indicated engine torque to yield the Indicated Mean Effective Pressure.

Abstract: A system and method for identifying the cylinders having the lowest (“weakest”) and highest (“strongest”) Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) utilizes engine speed derivative and/or higher order derivative values typically available in an engine control module by virtue of the need to detect misfire. A delta parameter is calculated that is indicative of the difference between the engine speed derivatives and/or higher order derivatives for the “weakest” and the “strongest” cylinders. Control action is then taken to balance the cylinders, based on the delta parameter, by first increasing torque for the “weakest” cylinder, by at least one increasing spark advance, increasing fuel, decreasing dilution (EGR) or slowing decay of fuel control on cold start. Once the weakest cylinder has been balanced, the control action is then directed to increasing torque of the new “weakest” cylinder.

Abstract: A system and method for misfire detection in a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine system includes an engine-speed activated artificial neural network (ANN)-based detection function. An input vector includes a plurality of engine speed derivatives attributable to a respective cylinder, and also includes engine speed and load values. The input vector values are updated each combustion cycle. A conventional misfire detection block is used when the engine speed is at or below an engine speed threshold. An ANN-based misfire detection block is used when the engine speed exceeds the threshold. The ANN-based block is configured to emulate a plurality of distinct ANNs each of which is conditioned by a respective set of weights and biases to correspond to and detect when a respective cylinder has misfired. The ANN-based block includes an output signal for each ANN indicating whether the respective cylinder has misfired.

Abstract: A process for forming an adherent diamond-like carbon coating on a workpiece of suitable material such as an aluminum alloy is disclosed. The workpiece is successively immersed in different plasma atmospheres and subjected to short duration, high voltage, negative electrical potential pulses or constant negative electrical potentials or the like so as to clean the surface of oxygen atoms, implant carbon atoms into the surface of the alloy to form carbide compounds while codepositing a carbonaceous layer on the surface, bombard and remove the carbonaceous layer, and to thereafter deposit a generally amorphous hydrogen-containing carbon layer on the surface of the article.

Abstract: Hyper-eutectic aluminum-silicon alloys are surface treated with nitrogen and carbon by ion implantation means so as to form hard, wear resistant particles of silicon nitride and silicon carbide which are surrounded by a hard matrix of aluminum nitride and aluminum carbide, depending on the species implanted. During applications where wear resistance is required, the hard silicon-based particles provide the wear resistant phase, thereby shielding the surrounding aluminum-based matrix. Yet the modified aluminum-based matrix is also sufficiently hard so as to provide strength and support for the silicon-based particles. Substantial improvements in wear resistance are obtained for these hyper-eutectic aluminum-silicon alloys, as compared to conventional alloys which have not been treated in accordance with this invention.