Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule Zurich

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) is an institution of the Swiss Confederation dedicated to higher learning and research. Together with the ETH Lausanne and four research institutes, it forms the federally directed, and to a major degree financed, ETH domain. The institutions of the ETH domain uphold their autonomy and identity on the basis of the ETH Federal Law and in the full awareness of their social, economic and cultural responsibility to the nation and its citizens.

For more than 20 years the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH-IDSC) has successfully pursued research in the area of engine and power-train control. The automotive control group in ETH-IDSC currently consists of three senior scientists, two post-docs and 15 doctoral students. The ETH-IDSC operates four medium size engine test benches (200 kW range; one static, three dynamic) and state of the art emission measuring equipment, capable of measuring all relevant species of emissions with sampling times shorter than 10 ms.

One of the core competences of ETH-IDSC is modeling, multivariable robust control and optimization of engine systems. With the aid of research real-time systems and modern industrial development tools the designed models and controller can be validated and tested on state of the art test-benches. Experience with the implementation of robust controller in production type ECUs allow to judge the applicability of new models and controller structures. In the last years the investigation of chemical processes, e.g. catalytic converters, became a focus of the activities.