I have a fair amount of experience with the ignition systems on older Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis. I don’t really have much of a problem with breaker points ignition systems and have found that many attempts to up-grade from breaker points bring other problems. Correctly set-up ignition points can last 5,000 and even 10,000 miles. Also, using the points as “signaling” devices only, doesn’t deal with many other deficiencies with the distributor.

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2. The Maximum Number Of Ignition Retries
3. Intelli Vent Maximum Amount Of Ignition Attempts

Preventing Drunk Driving with an Ignition Interlock Device Ignition interlock devices (IIDs) are the most effective method for preventing drunk driving. Mothers Against Drunk Driving reports that IIDs have prevented more than 3 million attempts to start a vehicle while a person was intoxicated. What is claimed is: 1. An outboard motor position responsive system comprising: an ignition system; an outboard motor position sensor in communication with the ignition system, wherein the outboard motor position sensor is a voltage comparator in communication with a trim position indicator of a powerboat, wherein the voltage comparator compares a voltage detected by the trim position. Using the amount of fuel of the step where at least one successful. Ignition attempt s was recorded with a hi gh-speed camera. Was segmented using the method of maximum intercluster.

We have an old Sun distributor testing machine. It’s about 50 years old but it’s an indispensable aid in setting up distributors. Most of the older Lamborghinis that come in for “tune-up” work have, at best, improperly set-up distributors and at worst totally worn-out distributors. Most of them have incorrect or non functioning ignition advance mechanisms and the dual ignition points ( 4 points sets in some) rarely share the same dwell angle settings and are usually not synchronized correctly. You can tinker with electronic ad-on systems but if the advance curve or points synchronization are not right you are wasting your time, effort and money. We have become convinced, after over-hauling many distributors that had no signs of previous disassembly, that many of the Marelli distributors left the Lamborghini factory with incorrect springs and related parts in the ignition advance systems, The cars often had “flat-spots” when accelerating which was blamed on the carburetors.

Another problem with attempts at upgrading parts of the ignition system is that often the energy from MSD-type components is too much for the rest of the old style ignition parts causing rotors, distributor caps and spark-plug/coil cables to fail. One solution is to replace the whole system. We have modified MSD Billet Distributors to fit. In that case you can run all compatible parts such as rotor, cap, coil, amplifier and spark plug cables. MSD even sells an electronic adjustable ignition advance computer so you can disable the advance weights.

Even with the full MSD ignition system though, there are still problems. One is that above 3,000 RPM, MSD ignition amplifiers revert to single spark ignition. Except for emissions testing, what good is Multiple Spark Discharge if it goes back to single spark discharge just when you start driving on the fun side of the tachometer? Also any change or fluctuation in cam timing or lash in a distributor gear-set directly affects ignition timing control.

The best system to use is a crank-fired set-up such as what Electromotive sells. The long duration spark is initiated by a rigidly mounted trigger wheel on the end of the crankshaft. The spark goes directly from the coil pack to the spark plug and a fully programmable computer controls timing and spark duration. (Plug or cover the hole and throw the distributor on the shelf with your other relics.) All you need is a lap-top to make adjustments. Some time on a good chassis dyno would help to get the maximum performance out of your ignition system.

Canberra UAV’s petrol powered tricopter. See blog post here

Internal combustion engines can increase flight times but care must be taken to handle the extra complexity and increased vibration.

What to Buy¶

• Gas motor and ignition module
• RC Switch for controlling power to ignition module like this one from milehighrc.com
• Optionally an electric starter like this one from milehighrc.com

Connection and Configuration¶

The engine’s ignition power switch and (optional) starter should be connected to the autopilot’s servo outputs, Ignition and Starter (see ICE section in Autopilot Output Functions).

• Set ICE_ENABLE = 1 to enable the ICE feature (you may need to reload parameters after setting this in order to see below parameters)
• Set ICE_START_CHAN to the channel number corresponding to a switch on the transmitter which will be used to start the engine

These parameters may also need to be adjusted:

• Set ICE_PWM_STRT_ON is the PWM value sent to the starter to start the engine
• Set ICE_STARTER_TIME is the time (in seconds) that the starter motor should run to start the engine
• Set ICE_PWM_IGN_ON is the PWM value sent to the ignition power switch when the engine should be running
• Set ICE_PWM_IGN_OFF is the PWM value sent to the ignition power switch when the engine should be stopped

If using an on-board starter, it is important to configure an RPM sensor for the engine. This will allow the ArduPilot to detect an in-flight engine failure and attempt to restart the engine. ArduPilot supports generic pulse tachometers connected to GPIO pins (such as the Aux servo pins on a PixHawk or Cube). A tachometer may be made using a simple hall effect switch IC. Alternatively, some ignition modules support a tachometer output that can be connected directly to the GPIO pins. Desert Aircraft Electronic Ignition V2 modules support tachometer output on the signal pin of the power input connector. Note that when connecting an RPM sensor to an AUX pin, it is important to make sure that this pin is not configured to output a PWM value. On a PixHawk or Cube, Aux 5 and 6 are configured to not output PWM by default. If you need to use a different Aux pin you may need to adjust BRD_PWM_COUNT.

In order to configure an RPM sensor, the following parameters must be set:

• Set RPM_TYPE to 2 for a standard GPIO input pin.
• Set RPM_PIN to the appropriate value for the auxiliary pin you are using.
• Set the remaining ‘RPM_*’ parameters as appropriate for your system.
• Set ICE_RPM_CHAN to 1.

Throttle control for an ICE engine is similar to controlling a standard brushless ESC. The throttle servo can be connected to any servo output with a SERVOx_FUNCTION set to 70 (Channel 3 is configured this way by default). It is important to set the Min and Max PWM values on this servo output to be within the mechanical limits of your throttle assembly (using SERVOx_MIN and SERVOx_MAX). While doing this, also verify that the servo moves in the correct direction with respect to a manual throttle input. Note that the throttle servo will not move unless the vehicle is armed. It is recommended to arm the vehicle with ignition power disconnected in order to test the throttle servo.

After configuring the limits of your throttle servo, the following parameters must be set:

Maximum Amount Of Ignition Attempts Rheem

• Set THR_MIN to the desired setting at idle. This will be found empirically during engine testing.
• Set THR_SLEWRATE to a value appropriate for your engine. 20%/s is a good starting point.
• Set THR_MAX if you would like to prevent your engine from reaching full throttle.

If you are using a quadplane and would like the ICE engine to be disabled during a VTOL descent to reduce the risk of prop strikes, set Q_LAND_ICE_CUT to 1.

Advanced Starter Configuration¶

A variety of parameters are available for configuring the engine start routine. The auto-start functionality will attempt to start the engine any time the vehicle is armed, the engine is enabled, and the measured RPM is below the ICE_RPM_THRESH. If the engine is not successfully started within a configurable amount of time, the program will wait for a configurable delay before attempting to start again. It is important to remember that the starter will run in pulses. DO NOT approach the engine between failed start attempts as the starter will attempt to start again if the engine is still enabled.

• ICE_START_PCT overrides the throttle setting during start.
• ICE_START_TIME controls the maximum amount of time the starter will run in each start attempt.
• ICE_START_DELAY sets a delay between start attempts. This can be useful when your starter has a limited duty cycle.
• ICE_RPM_THRESH sets the minimum RPM reading for the engine to be considered running. This should be set to a value below your idle RPM.

Starting and Stopping the Motor¶

When using the ArduPilot ICE library to control an engine, the engine can be enabled or disabled using an RC switch, via MAVLink command, or via a mission command. Typically, a 3 position switch on an RC transmitter is used to control the engine. This switch has the following three positions:

• Low: Force the engine to be disabled. This ignores MAVLink commands and mission items that attempt to control the engine’s state.
• Mid: Keep the current state of the engine, but allow MAVLink commands and mission items to change the state of the engine.
• High: Force the engine to be enabled. This ignores MAVLink commands and mission items that attempt to control the engine’s state.

If an ICE_START_CHAN is not configured, the behavior will be the same as when the switch is in the middle position.

The Maximum Number Of Ignition Retries

To start the motor with RC control:

• Arm the vehicle
• Raise the transmitter’s starter switch to start the motor
• If the engine does not include a starter motor, use a hand-held starter motor to start it

To stop the motor with RC control:

• Lower the transmitter’s starter switch
• Disarm the vehicle

Quadplanes can also automatically stop the engine once the final phase of a VTOL landing is entered by setting the Q_LAND_ICE_CUT parameter to 1.

Note

The engine can be started and stopped in autonomous missions by using the DO_ENGINE_CONTROL mission command. This useful preceding NAV_VTOL_TAKEOFF or NAV_VTOL_LAND to start or stop the engine to prevent prop strikes while landing in wind with a low clearance prop. See Mission Commands section.

Vibration isolation¶

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The high vibration from internal combustion engines means that vibration dampening is critical. It is often necessary to mount the autopilot on an plate with self adhesive lead weights added to increase its mass.