This paper presents a procedure for using neural networks to identify the n
onlinear dynamic model of the intake manifold and the throttle body process
es in an automotive engine. A dynamic neural network called external recurr
ent neural network, is used for dynamic mapping and model construction. Dyn
amic Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm is then applied to the weight-estimation
problem. Modeling results indicate that the neural-network-based models ha
ve a rather simple structure. Early results also confirm that the neural-ne
twork-based modeling of the manifold dynamics can result in a model that is
comparable if not better than the first-principle-based models. In additio
n, it was verified that the neural model has good generalization capabiliti
es. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.