IDLE SPEED CONTROL — A BENCHMARK FOR HYBRID SYSTEM RESEARCH1

The design of engine control systems has been traditionally carried out using a mix of heuristic techniques validated by simulation and prototyping with approximate mean—value models. However, the ever increasing demands on passengers’ comfort, safety, emissions and fuel consumption imposed by car manufacturers and regulations call for more robust techniques and the use of cycle—accurate models. The use of hybrid methodologies is then natural because of the rich combination of time and event-based behaviors exhibited by a controlled engine. While there is no doubt that hybrid modeling is relevant for this application, its efficiency in providing industrial strength solutions is still debated. For this reason, it is important to corral the hybrid system research community to provide evidence of the quality of the proposed control solutions. In this perspective, we present a hybrid benchmark problem on “Idle Speed Control” proposed by the Network of Excellence HYCON. We hope this benchmark problem will also serve as the basis for comparison of different approaches, thus helping industry to identify the best solutions available.