Design and Development of Engine Control Unit Bench Simulation Tool Using Hardware in Loop

An ECU is at the heart of control of any modern IC engines which has several functions to be monitored and controlled. Among the controlled parameters are fuel supply and ignition which are dependent on few real time measured parameters such as crankshaft position, mass air flow. The output of the ECU performs an action on the engine by controlling amount of power to actuators precisely. ECU are designed to stand the adverse conditions of operation to which a vehicle is typically exposed to, but in few cases, ECU fail due to faulty wiring and over voltage. The prime solution used is to replace the faulty ECU by new one. But this solution has limitations that the replacement costs are high. As an alternative for repairing ECUs, our project focuses on creating an ECU bench test tool for real time ECU testing and validate the working of ECU. A Technician is need of an ECU bench simulation tool that can generate signals similar to CKP, TPS, O2, MAP, IAT and CLT sensors. This also can be used for testing aftermarket ECUs as well as being a useful tool for the Research and Study purposes in motorsports.