Patent ID: 8924125

Claim:
A method for optimizing a performance of a vehicle engine, the method comprising: determining an initial value for a first engine control parameter based on one or more detected operating conditions of the vehicle engine; determining a value of a first engine performance variable; artificially perturbing the determined value of the first engine performance variable; adjusting the initial value for the first engine control parameter based on the perturbed first engine performance variable to cause the first engine performance variable to approach a target engine performance variable; controlling operation of the vehicle engine based on the adjusted initial value for the first engine control parameter; and repeating the acts of determining the initial value for the first engine control parameter, determining the value of the first engine performance variable, artificially perturbing the determined value of the first engine performance variable, and adjusting the initial value for the first engine control parameter based on the perturbed first engine performance variable until the first engine performance variable approaches the target engine performance variable.