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New technology makes software-only AFM possible


Zane
  • By Zane Merva

    Executive Editor, GM-Trucks.com

    1/5/2015

    GM Ventures is taking the wraps off brand new technology designed to take the company's existing Active Fuel Management system into a new software-only era.

    A 2012 GM Ventures Equity Investment, Tula Technology, Inc has developed a unique digital control system that can "skip" cylinders firing to save fuel. It's called Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF) and it may change everything you know about how an internal combustion engine fires.

The press release says it best:

 

 

"Instead of relying on fixed cylinder deactivation or switching between fixed patterns like current multi-cylinder engines, Tula’s DSF technology continuously makes dynamic firing decisions on an individual cylinder basis to deliver the required engine torque for all vehicle speeds and loads while avoiding vibration.

 

Independent testing commissioned by Tula shows that the application of DSF technology can improve fuel efficiency in a multi-cylinder engine (4/6/8 cylinders) by as much as 15 percent when compared to a vehicle equipped with an engine that does not have cylinder deactivation."

 

In short, GM has replicated the mechanical attributes of displacement on demand with a digital software solution. Will this technology see the light of day in the future? We sure hope so.


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