Where to begin? Fuel injection control.

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Tomvreomfodj
 
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Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2013 10:15 pm

Where to begin? Fuel injection control.

Post by Tomvreomfodj »

Good evening.

I am new here, and am having a hard time sorting out precisely what which products are capable of doing. I would like a hand figuring out exactly what I need for this project, and where to start learning how to program / wire it.

I am building an electronic fuel injection system. I have things like mass air flow and oxygen sensors; I need a computer to control it. The device must:
-Run on the vehicle's electrical circuit, about 13 volts DC. On what voltages do your boards normally operate? Do you have an appropriate adapter to make this work? If not, what amperage am I designing / shopping for the adapter to handle?
-Receive at least five distinct analog signals. I suppose that I could run these all through a switching box and one input, if it's fast enough. Sampling rate should be at least hundreds per second for each signal, preferably thousands. Does the board read analog signals, or will I need to add a widget for that? What voltage range would the board be able to handle for an analog signal?
-Output on/off signals to two fuel injectors, independent of one another. "On" duration should be controllable on the order of a microsecond. It's OK if response is slow (up to about one half of a millisecond), as long as it is consistent and precise. I'm also assuming that I'll need some kind of switching box to receive a low-power signal from the computer and switch a high-power circuit for the injector.
-Permanently remember and rapidly retrieve and modify a table of values - about 5,000 of them. It also needs to store its own program, of course. Not much memory, really, but the point is that it needs some.
-Display and allow to be modified by the user various values from the analog inputs and program variables.
-Have some kind of shielding against the electromagnetic noise typical of an engine. I can build this if you don't sell it.
-Be small and tolerate vibration.

In a pinch, I can use one computer for each fuel injector, in which case each will need fewer inputs and only one output.

All that having been said -
Where, in this very large list of gadgets in the navigation bar on the left, do I start?

Thank you in advance.

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adafruit_support_mike
 
Posts: 67446
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm

Re: Where to begin? Fuel injection control.

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

Unfortunately, nothing we have is rated for vehicular or safety critical use. We support hobbyists and experimenters working in areas where having a whole system shut down is a nuisance at worst. Vehicular electronics, especially engine control systems, have to obey a whole different set of rules.. from the components up.

That being the case, all I can officially do is suggest you talk to a mechanic who's certified for engine control systems, or an automotive engineer.

If you want to get used to working with programmable hardware in general, I'd suggest starting with an Arduino Uno. That's the simplest and most general microcontroller development board we have. It almost certainly isn't powerful enough to meet the list of requirements you stated, but you can get some experience working with sensors and hammering out the general logic of what you're doing. Think of it as an electronic scratchpad rather than a direct solution.

A person qualified to design engine control electronics will be able to tell you what specific parts and techniques you'll need, and what laws/rules you'll have to obey. A general knowledge of sensors and microcontrollers will help you ask them the right questions.

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