Method for computer-assisted determination of multiple rotational irregularities in an internal combustion engine

1. A method for computer-assisted determination of multiple rotational irregularities in an internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of combustion chambers with moving pistons mechanically connected to one another via a crankshaft in order to set the crankshaft in rotation, the method comprising:

measuring, using an encoder wheel and a sensor, a plurality of segment times of a currently-ignited combustion chamber and a logically-preceding ignited combustion chamber, wherein

the encoder wheel is connected in a co-rotational manner to the crankshaft and divided into a plurality of angular segments,

the sensor is configured to measure the plurality of segment times, and

a respective segment time is a duration the encoder wheel requires for rotation of a respective angular segment of a respective combustion chamber to move past the sensor;

determining, based on the plurality of segment times, an uneven running value of the currently-ignited combustion chamber that is ignited in a logical ignition sequence of the plurality of combustion chambers immediately after the logically-preceding ignited combustion chamber, wherein

an uneven running value determined for the logically-preceding ignited combustion chamber exceeds a specified threshold value and indicates a fault in the logically-preceding ignited combustion chamber;

determining a compensation factor that models an influence of the logically-preceding ignited combustion chamber on the uneven running value of the currently-ignited combustion chamber;

determining a compensated uneven running value of the currently-ignited combustion chamber from the uneven running value of the currently-ignited combustion chamber and the compensation factor; and

comparing the compensated uneven running value of the currently-ignited combustion chamber with the specified threshold value to determine whether the currently-ignited combustion chamber has a fault, wherein

the uneven running value is determined according to a predefined calculation rule for measurement variables of the currently-ignited combustion chamber and measurement variables of the logically-preceding ignited combustion chamber continuously and successively for each combustion chamber in the logical ignition sequence of the plurality of combustion chambers while the internal combustion engine is operating,

a respective uneven running value represents a measure of the rotational irregularity of the crankshaft due to the currently-ignited combustion chamber, and

the compensation factor is determined from:

a computationally-determined segment time of an assumed non-faulty logically-preceding combustion chamber, and

an uneven running difference value that results from the difference between:

a first uneven running value of the assumed, non-faulty logically-preceding combustion chamber, and

a second uneven running value of the assumed, faulty, logically-preceding combustion chamber.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the compensation factor is a proportional factor that results from the ratio of the segment time of a combustion chamber when faulty to the segment time of the same combustion chamber when non-faulty.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

determining the compensated uneven running value from the compensation factor and the uneven running difference value, which was previously determined for the logically-preceding combustion chamber, further comprises:

determining an uneven running difference value for the combustion chamber, wherein

the uneven running difference value and the determined uneven running value are added.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the compensation factor for each pair of combustion chambers that immediately follow one another in the logical ignition sequence of the plurality of combustion chambers is newly calculated.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions operable, when executed by one or more computing systems, to configure the one or more computing systems to perform the method of claim 1 .