Waste Heat Recovery
Until the 1960s, the radio was the only significant electronics in an automobile.
All other functions were entirely mechanical or electrical, such as the starter motor and the battery charging systems. There were no “intelligent safety systems,” augmenting the bumper and structural members to protect occupants in case of accidents.
Seat belts, introduced in the early 1960s, were for improving occupant safety and actuated completely mechanically. The driver or one of several mechanical control systems controlled all the engine systems. For instance, before the introduction of sensors and microcontrollers, a mechanical distributor selected the specific spark plug to fire when the fuel-air mixture was compressed just so.
The timing of the ignition was the control variable. The mechanically controlled combustion process was not optimal in terms of fuel efficiency.
Modeling of the combustion process showed, for increased fuel efficiency, there existed an optimal time when the fuel should ignite.
The timing depends on load, speed, and other measurable quantities. The electronic ignition system was one of the first mechatronic systems to go in the automobile in the late 1970s.
The electronic ignition system consists of a crankshaft position sensor, camshaft position sensor, airflow rate, throttle position, rate of throttle- position-change sensors, and a dedicated microcontroller determining the timing of the spark plug firings.
Early implementations involved only a Hall Effect sensor to sense the position of the rotor in the distributor accurately. Subsequent implementations eliminated the distributor and directly controlled the firings utilizing a microprocessor.
Complex and highly accurate
The development of the microprocessor in the late 1960s led to early forms of computer control in process and product design. Examples include numerically controlled machines and aircraft control systems.
Yet the manufacturing processes were still
All other functions were entirely mechanical or electrical, such as the starter motor and the battery charging systems. There were no “intelligent safety systems,” augmenting the bumper and structural members to protect occupants in case of accidents.
Seat belts, introduced in the early 1960s, were for improving occupant safety and actuated completely mechanically. The driver or one of several mechanical control systems controlled all the engine systems. For instance, before the introduction of sensors and microcontrollers, a mechanical distributor selected the specific spark plug to fire when the fuel-air mixture was compressed just so.
The timing of the ignition was the control variable. The mechanically controlled combustion process was not optimal in terms of fuel efficiency.
Modeling of the combustion process showed, for increased fuel efficiency, there existed an optimal time when the fuel should ignite.
The timing depends on load, speed, and other measurable quantities. The electronic ignition system was one of the first mechatronic systems to go in the automobile in the late 1970s.
The electronic ignition system consists of a crankshaft position sensor, camshaft position sensor, airflow rate, throttle position, rate of throttle- position-change sensors, and a dedicated microcontroller determining the timing of the spark plug firings.
Early implementations involved only a Hall Effect sensor to sense the position of the rotor in the distributor accurately. Subsequent implementations eliminated the distributor and directly controlled the firings utilizing a microprocessor.
Complex and highly accurate
The development of the microprocessor in the late 1960s led to early forms of computer control in process and product design. Examples include numerically controlled machines and aircraft control systems.
Yet the manufacturing processes were still