Thesis worker

Thesis worker

30 hp - System Identification and Automatic Control

Background
Scania is now undergoing a transformation from being a supplier of trucks, buses and engines to a supplier of complete and sustainable transport solutions. The next generation powertrains with increased efficiency and electrification are important steps in this transformation as well as meeting the science based target of carbon dioxide reduction.
In the department for Engine Control Systems we are responsible for development of control systems for combustion engines for all powertrains in the group. An intensive technical development is ongoing to bring our already world leading engine platform to the next level of sustainable transport solutions.
A crucial part of this is the technology shift we are doing within gas exchange system. By controlling gas flow with the engine internal valves replacing external flaps a more efficient engine with further improved customer values can be achieved.

Thesis description
The system central for the thesis regards gas exchange control of the next generation of combustion engines. A theoretical understanding of the system is essential for the system controller. Hence, the thesis will initially be composed of two parts; System Identification and Automatic Control. If time allows, a third part could be introduced; Implementation and testing on the end product.

System Identification
While hardware is in development, the base design has matured enough for the next development step, system identification. The identification will later be used when designing the control software and should account for all instabilities in the hardware and software system while yielding satisfactory control properties. The identified system (plant model) can be modelled according to the writers’ preference but should be the basis for the controller design; a transfer function, state-space model, ANN network etc. Preliminary test data will be available for analysis as well as standalone engines and should compose the data of which the system identification is conducted.

Automatic Control
Following the system identification, the writers should propose control designs which accounts for instabilities and yields satisfactory properties. This will initially be in a laboratory setting such as matlab, simulink, python etc. and not limited to the computational limits of the engine management system. The writers should then conduct a theoretical analysis based on the system identification result and propose different control methods, e.g., MPC, Neural Network Control, PID etc on the closed loop system of the plant model. Currently a PID controller is used which will be the baseline for the writers to replace or optimize.

Implementation and testing
The proposed control method will with the aid of the supervisor be applied in a standalone engine and/or truck and be tested. This puts constraints on the available computational resources, thus requiring the previously two sections of the thesis to optimize precision against computational load. The resulting data should be used for an final analysis of the product.

Profile
Applied physics or control theory M.Sc. students are well suited for this assignment. Additionally it is beneficial to have experience with matlab and simulink. This thesis could be conducted by one student alone or by two working in pair.

Additional information

Numbers of student : 1 or 2
Start date: September 2024
Estimated time required: 20 weeks
The Recruitment is ongoing,. A background check might be conducted for this position.

Contact person & supervisor

Manager::Niclas Gunnarsson Phone: +46855383455 Email: niclas.gunnarsson@scania.com
Supervisor::Markus Hellberg Mediaa Phone: +46767201804 Email: markus.hellberg.mediaa@scania.com

Requisition ID: 6586 Number of Openings: 1.0 Part-time / Full-time: Full-time Regular / Temporary: Temporary Country / Region: SE Location(s):

Södertälje, SE, 151 38

Required Travel: 0% Workplace: Hybrid

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