In 2002, Wärtsilä took a decision to develop a new embedded control system for harsh environments as a strategic move to ensure the performance and reliability of future products. The requirements on the system were set very high - unsurpassed reliability, high fault tolerance, extreme scalability and flexibility as well as a cost efficient design were some of the objectives. The outcome of the design eventually became known as UNIC - Unified Controls - and was first introduced on engines in the field in 2005. The development of the more complex features was, however, at that time still ongoing, and the final and most advanced applications went into commercial operation in 2008. The design introduced novel ideas related to sensor design, cabling, electronics, fault tolerance and redundancy that enabled a both reliable and cost efficient design. The system also introduced new possibilities for advanced engine control, with several patented inventions related to e.g. engine speed/load control as well as fuel injection, pushing the envelope for what can be considered state-of-the-art in engine controls. It should, however, be remembered that only the real-world experience will show the actual reliability of the system. Today this system has been delivered with thousands of engines and has acquired more than five million cumulative operation hours in the field. This gives us now the opportunity to review how well the design ideas and assumptions have turned out in practise and how well the system has withstood the test of the realworld. This paper guides us through the project, focusing not only on the aspects and assumptions that turned out to be successful, but also on the problems, failures and rework that occurred during the introduction process. Based on this experience, some important lessons can be learned for future work. In addition, this paper also reflects on the future development of controls, looking towards the future on both embedded controls and its relation to the Big Picture, i.e. efficient system integration and total solutions.


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    Title :

    The UNIC embedded controls - first years of field experience


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2010


    Size :

    13 Seiten, 13 Bilder, 4 Quellen


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Storage medium


    Language :

    English




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