Emerging Technologies

A good while back, actually June 2006, I read an interesting article in that month's Motor Age Magazine about technologies on the horizon for our cars and trucks.  That article continued to haunt me in the coming months so I got it out a few days ago and read the thing once more.  One section in particular stood out for me about monitoring ion current within the engine's cylinders to provide combustion feedback and diagnostic services. Here's an excerpt:

ION CURRENT MONITORING

An ion is an atom of any material that has gained or lost at least one electron. Ions conduct electricity, and by measuring the current flowing along a path of ions, we can tell when the concentration of ions in that path increases or decreases.

Saab began using ion current monitoring in the early '90s in their Trionic ignition system. A steady voltage is applied to the spark plug at all times, except during the firing event. This establishes an ion current path across the spark plug gap, and the control unit monitors that current. Pressure in the cylinder due to compression or detonation affects that current, allowing the control unit to detect camshaft position and detonation faster and accurately without conventional sensors.

In the Trionic system, only the ion current created by the control unit is monitored, but ions also are a natural byproduct of most chemical reactions, such as burning. A company called Woodward, produces engine management systems for racing engines, has developed a way to monitor ionization during combustion. Ionization increases dramatically during combustion. Measuring the timing and magnitude of the ion current spikes can produce a reliable and repeatable signal that looks much like a spark plug firing line, but it's a picture of ions generated by the combustion event itself, not the ignition system. This technology holds the key to a whole new generation of engine control and diagnostics.

Instead of reading an oxygen sensor to adjust air/fuel ratio for a whole bank of cylinders, ion monitoring allows closed-loop air/fuel ratio control for each individual cylinder. Emissions are reduced and cylinder balance is almost perfect--noticeably improving the smoothness of four-cylinder engines. Knock and misfire detection are instantaneous and nearly 100 percent accurate. Misfire detection does not have to be disabled under certain driving conditions, as is necessary when detecting misfire with crankshaft speed readings.

Engine diagnostics will change completely. Imagine being able to view one oscilloscope trace, or one set of traces, that shows ignition timing, air/fuel ratio, compression pressure and combustion pressure in each cylinder, as well as crankshaft and camshaft positions. In the lab, a dedicated ion sensor positioned some distance away from the spark plug has been shown as the best way to provide all this information. However, dais technology is still a bit too expensive for regular production cars. But the technology is well established, and Woodward is convinced it will be adopted for production soon, probably for diesel engines first.

My Take

I know it's a bit technical, but without getting bogged down in the technology itself imagine where this is all going.

Today's vehicles are extremely complicated as it is.  Government mandates on fuel mileage and emission levels have driven the manufacturers into every more complicated processes to comply with all the regulations.  Consequently when problems arise, especially with anything concerning driveability, they can be very hard to diagnose and repair.

• What's going happen when everyday vehicles all have this level of sophistication?
• Will a vehicle owner have even a prayer of fixing his own car?
• Will the independent repair shop down the road have  a prayer of fixing it?
• What will it cost when the diagnostic equipment reaches the level of a MRI setup in a local hospital?
• What level of education will the Tech have to have?
• How much will he need to be paid?
• Who's going to fix your car?

I wouldn't be surprised if all this technology which is supposed to improve air quality instead makes the vehicle disposable for lack of cost effective repair.

Are we trading clean air for full landfills?

Eric