Good day!

I was wondering if it would be possible to study the behavior and internal processes of any of the recent Electronic Control Unit of modern vehicles using microcontroller kit such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, TI c2000, ect.? and what would be the most applicable microcontroller? I am really interested in this kind of topics.

Thanks in advance.

 

Hello friend,

I am passionate about this area too, I always say we should start searching for knowledge about the process we want to control or modify. In this case I recommend you to start studying how an automotive ECU works and beyond that, what ECU you want to emulate? I can begin telling you that in a car you can find about seventy (70, depending on the brand) different ECUs.

The principal ECUs we find in a car is relative to the ignition and fuel injection control (being this a manual or a standard car). In this type (also call them PCMs what means Powertrain control modules) the designers built a rigorous engine control to pass the emission tests and have a good engine performance. Basically, The PCM has two basic modes, open loop mode, and closed loop mode (these modes depend on the status of the O2 sensors) and other specifics modes. I am attaching 3 basic documents where you can find more detail information about the engine controls.

After you get the knowledge about ECUs/ECMs and PCMs you need to get knowledge about PICs or boards to prototype the process you want. In this link, you can get what people have done with Arduino to control a little engine: fuel injection control.

Well, my friend, I hope I have been useful on solving your doubts and I'd like to know your advances in this subject. Don't hesitate to ask me for any advice.

Kind regards.

Angel Velasquez.