Managing
Complexity in Large Scale
Control
System Design
Project Leader,
Advanced Vehicle System Control
Propulsion System
Engineering Dept.
Research and Advanced
Engineering
Ford Motor Company
Abstract: Automotive controls have historically
been limited to the powertrain (engine and transmission) and brake systems
within the vehicle with only minimal communication between them. As customer
and regulatory demands in the areas of performance, fuel economy, and emissions
continue to grow, the need for more sophistication and coordination within the
vehicle increases. Automakers are responding by leveraging cost and speed
improvements in microprocessors and communication networks that enable the
introduction of more advanced subsystems (e.g. advanced vehicle stability
control systems and hybrid vehicle powertrains). Managing the control system
development and coordination of these new systems is rapidly becoming more
complex. At the same time, the faster development times being dictated by today's
economic environment require more reusability and portability of controller
software from one project to the next.
The Advanced
Vehicle System Control (VSC) team in Ford's Research and Advanced Engineering
has been using a new process for developing advanced vehicle control solutions.
The process is oriented on a functional approach. Specifically, the vehicle
control system is broken down into "atomic" functions that are
portable and reusable and that have standard, generic interfaces. To facilitate
this functional management process, a database tool is under development for
tracking the functions, signals, code releases, and hardware allocations for
each new project. The enumerated functions in the database also map directly to
the Simulink (implementation) models of the control systems. The talk will
focus on describing the functional management process and how it has been
applied to several recent advanced hybrid vehicle projects.
3:30 – 4:30
p.m.