Approach control of a gas exchange solenoid actuator for IC engines

Application of solenoid valve actuators in internal combustion engines can facilitate operations such as variable valve timing for improved efficiency and emission. Unfortunately, smooth solenoid valve landing is hard to achieve due to limited control authority, limited bandwidth, and time varying disturbances. The resultant valve impact causes unacceptable noise and component wear on the engine. To solve this ``soft seating" problem, the controller is further divided into approach and landing sub-controllers. The landing controller causes the valve to follow a smooth trajectory for a low-impact landing in the last portion of the valve flight. Before armature landing starts, the approach controller complements the landing control by setting a consistent initial condition for the landing trajectory. This thesis focuses on developing a cycle-adaptive approach controller that utilizes information from the repetitive operations of the engine valve. Additionally, a novel way of using induced voltages to identify disturbance pressure magnitudes is introduced.