Custom Throttle-by-wire on Vanguard engine
Custom Throttle-by-wire on Vanguard engine
(OP)
Hello,
I am working on a project where we are developing a remotely operated vehicle which is powered by a Petrol IC Engine. The engine I am working with is a 23hp Vanguard Engine by Briggs&Stratton. I need to control this engine electrically, using some actuator similar to how it is done in a throttle-by-wire system in a vehicle. With regards to this, I have a few questions:
1. Where should the actuator be connected and how?
2. Should I use a linear actuator or rotary?
3. Is a throttle position sensor required? How to put a throttle position sensor on the engine?
I am attaching a video clip of the throttle lever actuation. Please suggest solutions for this or point to a resource where such a system was implemented.
I am working on a project where we are developing a remotely operated vehicle which is powered by a Petrol IC Engine. The engine I am working with is a 23hp Vanguard Engine by Briggs&Stratton. I need to control this engine electrically, using some actuator similar to how it is done in a throttle-by-wire system in a vehicle. With regards to this, I have a few questions:
1. Where should the actuator be connected and how?
2. Should I use a linear actuator or rotary?
3. Is a throttle position sensor required? How to put a throttle position sensor on the engine?
I am attaching a video clip of the throttle lever actuation. Please suggest solutions for this or point to a resource where such a system was implemented.





RE: Custom Throttle-by-wire on Vanguard engine
Examples:
Tower Hobby Servos
or better:
Hobby Partz
and:
Pololu - where you can get some servo education with more description and some FAQs
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: Custom Throttle-by-wire on Vanguard engine
You do not need a throttle position sensor. That is for driving fuel injection systems. You're engine already has that covered.
RE: Custom Throttle-by-wire on Vanguard engine
RE: Custom Throttle-by-wire on Vanguard engine
One thing to know is that inexpensive servos are signaled with pulse-width modulation. If a servo stops receiving pulses it will tend to remain in position, which means the device being controlled would continue in a possibly unsafe manner. A good addition would be a system that detected that pulses were no longer being given and that system then generating pulses to cause the throttle to close. Such a system is easy to create with a cheap microcontroller, reading pulses from the control system and duplicating them to the servo unless there are no pulses, at which point it generates pulses to send the servo to close the throttle.
RE: Custom Throttle-by-wire on Vanguard engine
Whether you decide to servo actuate the governor setting or directly actuate the throttle position will depend on what you need the engine to do. For example, - if the engine is driving the wheels through a conventional transmission, you probably need to regulate the engine torque directly - so actuate the throttle.
- if the engine is charging some kind of accumulator (batteries or a hybrid transmission) you may wish to regulate the engine rpm - so actuate the governor.
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