Torque demand control by nonlinear MPC with constraints for vehicles with variable valve lift engine

In this paper, a Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) is applied for a torque demand control for speed tracking of vehicles with a variable valve lift engine. The engine control must satisfy various constraints, e.g., actuator limitations, drivability and A/F ratio, etc. Therefore, we apply NMPC based on a collocation method which can handle the constraints explicitly. Moreover, a fuel injection control is also developed by considering a fuel dynamics of the engine. The validity and robustness of the proposed method are demonstrated by numerical simulations using a SICE engine benchmark simulator.