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NIRA i7r Handbook NIRA i7r Handbook version A6, December 2015...
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NIRA i7r must be installed by professional automotive technicians in accordance with the instructions in this handbook, following good practice. NIRA i7r is only intended for racing use and not for use on public roads. It is not certified for use on vehicles subject to emission standards unless the appropriate waivers have been issued.
It also gives you significant control over the mapping of the output signals. This allows NIRA i7r to work with many different sensors, actuators and engine types. Setup, configuration and programming of NIRA i7r is done via the NIRA rk software.
NIRA rk is the calibration software that allows you to setup and configure a large number of parameters in NIRA i7r. It is designed to run on a PC using the Windows operating system and communicates with NIRA i7r via a Kvaser CAN-dongle.
NIRA i7r reads sensor values, processes the data and sends output signals to various actuators. NIRA i7r is a fully sequential engine management system for engines with up to 8 cylinders. By using the NIRA rk software, you have the ability to modify many of the parameters that control the data processing and the output signals in NIRA i7r.
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0-5V analog input) 1.3.2 Output Functions NIRA i7r processes the input signals and controls the output signals in order to manage the following actuators. 8 Fuel injectors (amount and sequence) Fuel Pressure Control (controls pressure control and/or volume control valve) ...
Logging – advanced data logging and graphical analysis tools in NIRA rk software Combustion, Lambda and Measurement Principles For combustion to take place, oxygen needs to be available. The oxygen content of the air changes with air temperature and pressure.
A/F and lambda. Measurement Principles Two key measurement principles prevail in the operation of NIRA i7r: The engine position (and derived values such as rotational speed, speed rate of change etc) is measured using the angular positioning measurement principle. This measurement is crucial for the control of critical events such as injection timing etc.
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In the “lost gap” the zero crossing is widely spread and can’t be uniquely defined By swapping the polarity of the inductive sensor the signal will be inverted. NIRA i7r uses zero crossing detection at falling edge, which means the scope picture has to look like the pictures above.
Begin by determining if additional sensors are needed and where to install them. Make sure any existing sensors you expect to use with NIRA i7r are in good working order. The NIRA i7r wiring harness has markings in clear text on each wire to simplify the work of connecting all the sensors.
Note that there are different hardware for Piezo Injectors and Solenoid Injectors. Make sure that your Nira Hardware fits the injector before connecting the injectors. All injectors for Nira i7r is connected in the same order as firing order with start at cylinder one...
This signal is provided by a crank position sensor that creates the signal by reading the pattern of a pulse wheel that is fitted to the crankshaft. NIRA i7r supports both hall sensors and inductive sensors.
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16 – 2 lost NIRA i7r reads symmetrical pulse wheels that are split into a maximum of 60 sections (60 – 1 lost, 60 – 2 lost) and a minimum of 16 sections (16 – 1 lost, 16 – 2 lost). All symmetrical patterns in between are compatible with NIRA i7r.
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There must not be any doubts regarding what type of pulse wheel that is fitted on the engine. The pattern must be entered into NIRA rk and it is absolutely necessary to enter the correct values to be able to start the engine.
Picture 3-1. Measuring the TDC to ”2-lost” angle. Cam Position Sensor (CMP) Since the fuel injection is controlled sequentially with NIRA i7r, a signal that tells NIRA i7r the engine’s phase in the combustion cycle is necessary. NIRA i7r thus requires that the engine has a Cam Position Sensor.
NIRA i7r connector. Therefore, the “Crank” and “Cam” wires must be fitted to the correct connector matrix on installation. Instructions for the cam sensor are found in the table below.
Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (ECT) The ECT sensor is used by NIRA i7r to monitor overall engine temperature and for cold start enrichment. If you plan on using the ECT sensor that came with your engine you will need to know or establish its resistance as a function of temperature. This information is often available in the service manual for your engine.
3.10.1 Input Filters All inputs to NIRA i7r, including the Aux inputs, can be filtered using the “Advanced” setting in NIRA rk. Sometimes this is useful when dealing with noisy input signals in order to improve readability during data logging.
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Boost control valves have three port and two or three connection pins NIRA i7r controls the boost pressure actuator by giving the valve a PWM-signal. A pressure drop that depends on the PWM-signal is created over the R-port and thus the pressure that reaches the waste gate actuator is controlled.
PWM output or an H-bridge output to control the boost pressure actuator. This configuration is done using NIRA rk. 100% 0% duty duty ”R” Return ”R” Return ”C” ”C” ”W” ”W” Compressor Compressor Wastegate Wastegate Bypass flow through the Boost Pressure Actuator dependent on the PWM through the actuator coil Boost control valves either have two or three connection pins.
It must be connected to terminal 15. Connect one side of the relay coil to terminal 15. Connect the other to the wire marked “Pin V.72” in the NIRA i7r harness. Always connect a fuse with proper rating. Connect each pin due to table below.
In order to be able to start the engine you need to calibrate NIRA i7r using NIRA rk. To ensure a successful calibration effort, it’s recommended that you study the NIRA rk sections in the handbook in order to understand how to use this tool to calibrate an engine before you try to start the engine the first time.
To install NIRA rk on your PC, execute the NIRA-rk.exe file supplied on the memory stick that is part of your NIRA i7r package. This will launch the NIRA rk Setup Wizard, which will guide you through the installation process. Follow the directions in the dialog boxes.
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In this screen you can choose among several options. Open File... lets you open an existing i3d file (a file with calibration data.) Read from NIRA i7r loads calibration data from NIRA i7r into NIRA rk. Start from Default starts NIRA rk with default settings.
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4.2.3 Wizards If you opted to start NIRA rk in default mode (see previous section), you must go through all Wizards before you can load any calibration data to NIRA i7r. This is necessary in order to ensure that you’ve entered appropriate values for all Engine Setup-parameters before you start mapping.
Offline in it. This status bar shows the state of the connection to NIRA i7r. In order to go online and be able to upload mapping data to NIRA i7r, you first have to go through all steps of all NIRA i7r Engine Setup Wizards.
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Picture 4-5: The “Preferences” tab lets you add comments and choose whether you want to simulate engine running values (Engine Simulator) or connect to NIRA i7r. Before attempting to connect to NIRA i7r, ensure that the drivers for the Kvaser USB- CAN dongle are installed on your computer. These drivers are available on the USB stick delivered together with NIRA i7r.
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4.3.2 Tabs NIRA rk uses tabs to organize different views of parameters, graphs, tables etc. When a new window is opened a new tab is added. This allows for quick switching between views. Each new tab gets a number in addition to a name.
All monitors are available under the category called “Monitor Output” found on the left side of the “Mappings” tab A value: Certain parameters are related to output signals from NIRA i7r, e.g. to the fuel injectors or the boost pressure control valve. Other parameters are constants used by NIRA i7r to calculate output signals or interpreting input signals.
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Alarms In addition to the built-in diagnostic alarms in NIRA i7r, which, among other things, check input signal levels, it’s possible to set user alarms using NIRA rk. Hit F5 or right- click on a parameter and choose “Set Alarm…”...
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Enter Alternatively, double-click on the parameter name. If you’re online with NIRA i7r at the time, any changes in the parameter value will be uploaded to NIRA i7r immediately. Otherwise, the changes will be uploaded next time you connect to NIRA i7r.
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). This icon indicates that the parameter is a table. Tables can be two- or three-dimensional. Tables control output values from NIRA i7r based on other parameter values. Typically these parameter values are sensor values, such as rpm or MAP.
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The axis values can only be edited in offline mode. Changes applied in NIRA rk during offline adjustment take effect when the data is loaded to NIRA i7r by the user going online and choosing update NIRA i7r. Note that the axis values have to increase monotonously.
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When choosing ”Copy”, make sure the result of the copy doesn’t create an axis with axis values that aren’t all equal or increasing looking rightward (x-axis) or downward (y- axis.) Should this happen anyway, NIRA i7r will go offline and you need to fix the axis values before you can go online again.
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Operating Point When NIRA i7r is online, NIRA rk can show where in a table NIRA i7r is currently operating, the so-called operating point. This is very helpful during the calibration effort. By checking the ”Follow” checkbox or turning this feature on/off with , NIRA rk can move the currently highlighted cell to the operating point.
PID Controllers NIRA i7 uses a number of PID controllers. A general functionality overview follows in this chapter. 4.5.1 What is a PID controller? A PID controller is named after the Proportional, Integral and Derivative control modes it uses. PID controllers are used in most automatic process control applications in industry and automotive.
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Picture 4-21: NIRA rk Dashboard. The Dashboard is brought up by hitting on the keyboard. The Dashboard is available in two versions. The difference is the rpm range. One version goes up to 7000 rpm, the other to 11000. Choose the most appropriate one for your engine.
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If you want to capture longer durations and graph them, use the logging feature in NIRA rk. See section 4.7 • BAR turns the gauge into a bar graph. The Engine Temp gauge in picture 4-22 is an example of a bar graph In the Gauge, Plot and Bar modes, there’s a ”Set”...
Logging NIRA rk includes a powerful logging feature. Any parameter can be logged and there’s no limit to the number of parameters that can be logged. However, as the number of parameters increases, the sampling rate decreases. The log can be saved to a file and shown graphically.
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NIRA rk, whether you’re calibrating a table, showing gauges or reading help screens. Note: When logging is active, no parameters are updated in NIRA rk. The reason is that NIRA rk instead tries to sample the logging parameters as fast as possible. The operating point is updated, though, and all alarms are still active.
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You can open an existing log file by selecting ”Load log file…” under File in the main menu or by hitting on the keyboard. Ctrl-F8 Note: You can also load NIRA rk log files in MATLAB. 4.7.5 Graphical Presentation Select the ”Plot” tab to view the logging graphically.
Protect the i3d data file by choosing File Lock i3d Data Set… A password can be entered that will disable access to the calibration data developed, unless the password is entered when the data is loaded to NIRA rk. FlexiPorts™ - Set up Example for setting up a FlexiPort for boost controller.
NIRA i7r controls Fuel Mass, Injection angles for two injections (Pilot and Main) and Fuel Pressure. Fuel Mass NIRA i7r handles fuel mass by a percentage value, all percentage values refer to the value: Engine Setup -> Engine Specification -> Bv Fuel Mass Cycle Max [mg/cycle] The final output of fuel mass is Mappings ->...
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Ca FML ExTemp Int Max Overview of Fuel Mass limitation (except Rate Of Change) 5.1.3 Basic Fuel in NIRA rk Matrixes and labels related to Demand source. Mappings -> 1. Fuel -> 1. Basic -> Demand xxx − Demand Torque (Conversion from Acceleration Pedal Position to a fuel rate) −...
Injection Control The injection control tables control the injection angles. One Pilot injection is supported. For extended Injection Control contact Nira. All injection angles relates to Start of injection (SOI) Crankshaft degrees (csd) Two revolutinos, 720 degrees Cyl 1 Tdc...
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5.2.3 Injection Control in NIRA rk Matrix and labels related to the Injection angles without pilot injections Mappings -> 1. Fuel -> 2. Injection Control-> Inj xx − Inj Angle Main [Inj angle main based on Requested fuel and Engine Speed] −...
Fuel Pressure Control NIRA i7r controls either one or two control valves for fuel pressure control. One in an open loop mode (VCV-valve) and one in closed loop condition (PCV-valve). If a system with one control valve is used, that one should be connected to the output that supports closed loop control.
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5.3.2 Fuel Pressure Controller The layout of the FPC PID follows Nira General PID controller (see Appendix A). The PID controller output is transferred through a linearization matrix which makes it possible to both invert the output and compensate for non-linear behaviour of the actuator as well as changing battery voltage which affect the current going through the actuator coil.
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5.3.3 Fuel Pressure Control in Nira Rk Input/sensors Engine Setup -> Sensors -> xxx − BV Fuel Pressure [Setup of fuel pressure sensor (volt/pressure conversion)] Actuator Control Mappings -> 1. Fuel -> 4. Pressure Control -> xxx − Fpc VCV Duty [Duty cycle for the VCV-valve (open loop)] −...
Boost Controller The NIRA i7r boost control calculates a regulator output using a closed loop PID controller. The regulator output can be used to control either a vacuum valve or a electric motor actuator, the latter is commonly used on e.g. VGT turbo systems.
If you’ve read the previous chapters and followed the installation instructions, NIRA i7r should be installed in your vehicle and you have an understanding of how NIRA rk is used. This chapter describes how to start the engine in a safe manner.
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Bv Fuel Mass Cycle Max Maximum total fuel mass that would be injected during one cycle (eg. two revolutions). All percentage fuel mass values in Nira Rk relates to this value. Bv Key Source 0 = Normal Key operation by ignition key.
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+20V (MAX190 V) Typical values of injector voltage Adjusting these values could make permanent damage of the unit. Contact Nira for more information Pz Sup Pwm Max / Min On Time (i7rs & i7rp) Controlling limits for the internal voltage regulator.
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Example calibration data for a pressure sensor from the sensor data sheet P1 = 50kPa, P2 = 400kPa Example of pressure sensor characteristic in NIRA rk Each pressure sensors has a low pass (LP) filter possibility for smoothing out and filtering disturbances.
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7.1.6 Mapping -> AUX -> Output -> NIRA i7r provides two fully customable relay controls. Name Controlled by Comment Related pin 2D matrix with user Do Rly2 The output pin is active low V55, Fan RLY defined axis Relay Control uses hysteresis. The Relay Control only switches when the matrix output is one or zero.
Later you can select Read NIRA i7r if you want to download all the settings from NIRA i7r into NIRA rk so you can save them as an i3d file. (This is very handy if, for some reason, your PC were to hang while you’re in the middle of calibrating the engine since you can always go back and download the most recently used calibration.)
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100% when you depress the pedal fully. This can be done with the help of the “Accelerator Calibration Wizard” in NIRA rk. If you want to calibrate the Throttle Sensor manually, follow the steps below.
2 seconds every time the ignition key is turned to the Key On Engine Off position (KOEO) position if the fuel pump and fuel pump relay are connected correctly. The pump also runs whenever the engine cranks and NIRA i7r sees a correct signal from the CKP sensor ...
Appendix A Nira General PID functionality. SetPoint Actual Value (measured) P-term Integrator handling Integrator handling I-term D-term EXE_TIME Fuel mass request Feed Forward Nira General PID controller...
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