Lowering automotive gas consumption with an Arduino

Each automotive offered in the previous couple of many years is supplied with an engine management unit, or ECU for brief. Its job is to manage almost each facet in regards to the car’s efficiency by studying varied sensors and performing upon these inputs accordingly. Nonetheless, some older rides aren’t almost as performant as they might be, which is why YouTuber Robotic Cantina wished to modify their 1997 Saturn coupe for higher gas effectivity.

To perform this objective, Robotic Cantina created a lean burn system that works by making the ECU suppose the engine is burning extra gas than the precise quantity, thus reducing gas consumption. They took an affordable air/gas combination sensor and linked its enter to the engine’s manifold. On account of the way it outputs a wideband, linear voltage, the sign needed to be transformed with an Arduino Uno right into a slim, decrease voltage vary by way of a lookup desk.

Detecting an idling or low-burn state is achieved with the assistance of a potentiometer and an air strain sensor. The potentiometer lets the motive force dial in a particular offset to tune when the lean burn ought to start, and an extra one is used for altering how a lot gas is launched on this state. Lastly, a digital-to-analog converter takes the ensuing quantized gas stage and sends it to the ECU.

Though the aim of the undertaking was to enhance gas effectivity, the tip outcome was truly the other, a lot to the dismay of Robotic Cantina. You may watch their full video beneath for extra details about how the lean burn system was constructed.