Technical Note

Document Number DTN0004

Title PID Idle Control
Approved By
Revision Date Prepared By Change History
Draft 01/12/2004 Mark McCoy

Introduction
This Technical Note describes some of the possible Idle Speed Control strategies used with MoTeC
ECUs. Idle speed control may be achieved using either a 2 wire or 3 wire idle speed valve. Both
valves are controlled by varying the Duty Cycle (off to on ratio) of the signal to the valve. Stepper
motor valves are currently supported in the M400/600/800 ECUs.

Auxiliary Outputs
2 wire valves can be driven from one Auxiliary output, 3 wire valves must be driven from two
Auxiliary outputs.
In both cases one Auxiliary Output must be setup for Idle Speed Control. (function 2)
For 3 wire valves the second Auxiliary Output must be setup as an Idle Slave. (function 7)
For 4 wire stepper motors into an M400, M600 or M800 auxiliary outputs 5, 6, 7 and 8 must be used.
Configuring out put 5 to Stepper Idle Speed Control will automatically assign the other outputs to
this function.
The M400, M600 and M800 can also control idle through a Drive by Wire throttle. The Drive by Wire
function is setup on Auxiliary out put 1 and automatically assigns Auxiliary output 2. The set up for
the idle control is done through the parameters for Auxiliary output 2.
See the appropriate valve drawing for wiring and basic setup details.

Setup Parameters
The setup parameters must be adjusted to suit the particular installation. Refer to the help on each
type of idle control for details and use the suggested values as a starting point.

Proportional Gain
The proportional parameter has an immediate response when there is an Error and it controls the
bulk of the response in the system if the engine is away from its aim idle RPM. The proportional
response is equal to the proportional gain (the ‘P’ parameter) multiplied by the Error. This is the
difference between the current rpm and the aim (idle) rpm.
Proportional gain alone cannot reduce the error to zero alone. As the error becomes smaller the
size of the proportional component also becomes smaller.

Integral Gain
Integral is a more slowly changing factor there to reduce error over the longer term. The size of the
Integral component will keep increasing as long as the Error is not zero. Eg: the idle control valve
requires some duty cycle to hold a position. With an error value of close to zero, P & D components
have little effect, but the I component will hold the valves position.

Derivative Gain
Derivative Gain has a damping effect on the systems control, it is there to improve the response
time of the system. It is based on the rate of change of the Error value, so the derivative
component will be larger for sudden changes in error than for gradual changes.

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MoTeC Pty Ltd DTN0004 PID Idle Control

Dead Band
The dead band is the tolerance of error that the ECU will allow. Any physical system will never track
exactly to the aim value, so the error is never zero. Instead the tuning parameters include a
‘deadband’ – an area around the setpoint where the controller doesn’t try and drive the system
any closer to the setpoint. The engine will not have any noticeable side effects from being 50 RPM
more or less than its idle aim point so if this is set as the Dead Band the ECU will stop its idle control
function when it gets within this range.

Anti-Stall Gain
This is the gain added to the proportional gain when the idle RPM drops 300 RPM below the aim
rpm. This is to increase the size and speed of response under these conditions, preventing stall.

Air Conditioning and Power Steering Compensation

When the Air Conditioning or Power Steering status flags are active, the ECU will either add a fixed
duty cycle to a valve, move the Stepper buy a number of steps or increase the throttle angle for
DBW to compensate for the extra engine load. Digital inputs for Air Conditioner status and Power
Steering need to be configured.

Maximum Step Rate, Maximum Position, Maximum Duty and Integration limit
All of these parameters place a limit on the maximum amount of reaction to the error. For a
Stepper motor it is the rate at which it is ‘stepped’. A Drive by Wire throttle has a maximum throttle
angle and a maximum Duty Cycle limiting the rate at which it can be driven. The Integration limit is
the maximum Duty Cycle the Integral Gain can add, this is to limit the size of the Integral
component in cases where the error never reaches the deadband. The parameters are based on
the characteristics of the device being used to control idle.

Frequency
This is the frequency the valve needs to work at. The frequency needs to be set based on the
characteristics of the valve being used.

Minimum and Maximum Duty Cycle

The Duty Cycle range the valve is in to work within. This is set so that the valve has enough time to
fully open at low duty and enough time to close fully at high duty. These parameters are again
based on the physical characteristics of the valve.

Idle Tuning
Mechanical Setup
The load sensing should be set to Manifold Pressure - or if using Throttle based load sensing the MAP
sensor should be connected to the Manifold. This ensures that the fuel is adjusted as the control
valve opens and closes. A linear MAP compensation table should be set with-100% fuel trim at 0kPa
and 0% trim at 100kPa. For boosted engines this table will need to be continued linearly above
100kPa. The Fuel pressure regulator should also be connected to the manifold.
The throttle stop should be set so that the hot idle RPM is approximately 100 RPM below the desired
idle RPM.
Idle Speed Control will not compensate for erratic idle speed. First adjust the Fuel and Ignition
tables to give good idle stability. The Ignition advance table should be reasonably flat in the idle
region to help idle stability. If the condition of the engine is poor the idle speed control may not be
able to hold a steady rpm. It must be ensured that there are no other air leaks in the intake system.
The idle control is not designed to compensate for a mechanical package that does not like to
idle. It is there to maintain a steady RPM when greater load is applied to the engine, eg: power
steering or air conditioning and to help when load is taken off the engine.

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MoTeC Pty Ltd DTN0004 PID Idle Control

Parameters
Note: Idle Speed Control is only performed while the Throttle Position is less than 2.0 % and the RPM
is within 500 RPM of the desired idle speed. The idle speed will be increased when the engine is cold
to 1.5x Aim Idle at 0 degrees C and is reduced to Aim Idle linearly at 60 degrees C.
The first parameter that should be set is the Proportional Gain as this has the most effect on the
response of the idle control system. As large a value as possible should be used but too large a
value will cause the engine to hunt.
As stated previously the Proportional gain alone will not be enough to eliminate the error
completely, so some integral gain will be needed to provide a base duty or position. The Integral
Gain provides a long term drive towards the Aim idle RPM but too much will also cause overshoot
and lead to hunting.
Derivative Gain can be used to minimise over shooting of the Aim Idle RPM. This parameter is used
to help the response time of the idle system. Some systems may not need any Derivative gain at all.

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