Vehicle control module with signal switchboard and output tables

• US 10,106,171 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2016
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Crown Equipment Corporation
• Original Assignee: Crown Equipment Corporation
• Inventors: Addison, Mark E., Conley, III, Walter, Dammeyer, Karl L., Hammer, Joe K., Mangette, Stephen T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu, Yonel
• Assistant Examiner(s): Weeks, Martin A
• Application Number:
  US15/219,367
• Publication Number:
  US 20170028994A1
• Time in Patent Office: 819 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/30 including control of auxiliary equipment, e.g. air-conditioning compressors or oil pumps
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0082 for initialising the control system
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2300/121 Fork lift trucks, Clarks
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/06 Improving the dynamic response of the control system, e.g. improving the speed of regulation or avoiding hunting or overshoot
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/24 Electrical devices or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/04 Programme control other than numerical control, i.e. in sequence controllers or logic controllers G05B19/418 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2641 Fork lift, material handling vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0231 using optical position detecting means position-fixing by using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. optical position detecting means G01S5/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/30007 to perform operations on data operands
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/02 Topology update or discovery

Abstract

A control module capable of operating on one of first and second vehicles can include a) a module output table comprising a superset of module output elements comprising a first subset of module output elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of module output elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle; b) vehicle function output elements related to vehicle function outputs utilized on the first and second vehicles; and c) a configuration table comprising configuration elements corresponding to the module output elements. The module can also include computer-based structure for determining a value of a vehicle function output element corresponding to a module output element of the module output table, transforming the value to the transformed value, and storing the transformed value based on the corresponding module output element.

Claims

1. A computer-based vehicle control module capable of operating on one of first and second materials handling vehicles comprising:

a module output table comprising a superset of module output elements,

wherein the superset of module output elements comprises a first subset of module output elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of module output elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle;

vehicle function output elements related to vehicle function outputs utilized on the first vehicle and the second vehicle;

at least one configuration table comprising respective configuration elements corresponding to ones of the superset of module output elements,

wherein each respective configuration element comprises data related to determining a transformed value associated with the corresponding module output element of the module output table;

structure for determining a value of a vehicle function output element corresponding to a module output element of the module output table, transforming the value to the transformed value, and storing the transformed value based on the corresponding module output element.

2. The vehicle control module of claim 1, comprising:

a computer accessible memory and each element of the module output table comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated transformed value is stored.

3. The vehicle control module of claim 1, comprising:

a module output data structure comprising a superset of module output variables,

wherein the superset of module output variables comprises a first subset of module output variables related to the first subset of module output elements and a second subset of module output variables related to the second subset of module output elements; and

wherein each module output element corresponds to one of the superset of module output variables and comprises an offset amount of the corresponding module output variable within the module output data structure.

4. The vehicle control module of claim 3, wherein storing the transformed value is based on the corresponding module output element and an address of the module output data structure.

5. The vehicle control module of claim 1, wherein the at least one configuration table comprises:

a function output configuration table comprising respective function output configuration elements corresponding to ones of the vehicle function output elements,

wherein each respective function output configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of the value associated with the corresponding vehicle function output element, to an initially transformed value.

6. The vehicle control module of claim 5, wherein the value and the initially transformed value are the same.

7. The vehicle control module of claim 5, wherein the at least one configuration table comprises:

a module output configuration table comprising respective module output configuration elements corresponding to ones of the superset of module output elements,

wherein each respective module output configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of the initially transformed value associated with the corresponding vehicle function output element and the corresponding module output element of the module output table, to the transformed value.

8. The vehicle control module of claim 1, wherein the structure comprises:

a routing table comprising entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function output elements, and

b) associated module output elements of one of the first and second subsets of module output elements corresponding to one of the first and the second vehicle on which the vehicle control module is operating; and

a routing engine, that when executed on the one of the first and second vehicles, is configured, for each entry of the routing table, to;

a) determine the module output element associated with the vehicle function output element that is associated with the entry,

b) determine a respective configuration element of each of first and second configuration tables corresponding to the associated module output element and vehicle function output element,

c) determine the value associated with the related vehicle function output element,

d) based on the respective configuration elements, transform the value to the transformed value, which is stored based on the associated module output element.

9. The vehicle control module of claim 1, comprising a computer accessible memory and each vehicle function output element comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated value is stored.

10. The vehicle control module of claim 1, wherein transforming the value comprises one or more of:

leaving the value unchanged;

bitmasking the value;

bit-shifting the value;

adding a predetermined offset to the value; and

multiplying the value by a predetermined gain.

11. The vehicle control module of claim 7, wherein each element of the module output configuration table comprises data related to an output data type of the transformed value associated with the corresponding module output element of the module output table.

12. The vehicle control module of claim 11, wherein transformation of the initially transformed value comprises changing a first data type of the value to the output data type.

13. The vehicle control module of claim 1, wherein the hardware devices implemented on the one of the first and the second vehicles comprise one or more of:

a bus of a vehicle network;

an output driver;

an analog output device; and

a digital output device.

14. The vehicle control module of claim 1, wherein at least one module output element of the superset of module output elements is a member of both the first subset of module output elements and the second subset of module output elements.

15. The vehicle control module of claim 1, wherein at least one module output element of the superset of module output elements is a member of only one of the first subset of module output elements or the second subset of module output elements.

16. The vehicle control module of claim 3, wherein at least one module output variable of the superset of module output variables is a member of both the first subset of module output variables and the second subset of module output variables.

17. The vehicle control module of claim 3, wherein at least one module output variable of the superset of module output elements is a member of only one of the first subset of module output variables or the second subset of module output variables.

18. A method for a vehicle control module capable of operating on one of first and second materials handling vehicles comprising:

providing, by the vehicle control module, a module output table comprising a superset of module output elements,

wherein the superset of module output elements comprises a first subset of module output elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of module output elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle;

providing, by the vehicle control module, vehicle function output elements related to vehicle function outputs utilized on the first vehicle and the second vehicle;

providing, by the vehicle control module, at least one configuration table comprising respective configuration elements corresponding to ones of the superset of module output elements,

wherein each respective configuration element comprises data related to determining a transformed value associated with the corresponding module output element of the module output table;

determining, by the vehicle control module, a value of a vehicle function output element corresponding to a module output element of the module output table;

transforming, by the vehicle control module, the value to the transformed value; and

storing, by the vehicle control module, the transformed value based on the corresponding module output element.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein each element of the module output table comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated transformed value is stored.

20. The method of claim 18, comprising:

providing, by the vehicle control module, a module output data structure comprising a superset of module output variables,

wherein the superset of module output variables comprises a first subset of module output variables related to the first subset of module output elements and a second subset of module output variables related to the second subset of module output elements; and

wherein each module output element corresponds to one of the superset of module output variables and comprises an offset amount of the corresponding module output variable within the module output data structure.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein storing the transformed value is based on the corresponding module output element and an address of the module output data structure.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one configuration table comprises:

a function output configuration table comprising respective function output configuration elements corresponding to ones of the vehicle function output elements,

wherein each respective function output configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of the value associated with the corresponding vehicle function output element, to an initially transformed value.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the value and the initially transformed value are the same.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one configuration table comprises:

a module output configuration table comprising respective module output configuration elements corresponding to ones of the superset of module output elements,

wherein each respective module output configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of the initially transformed value associated with the corresponding vehicle function output element and the corresponding module output element of the module output table, to the transformed value.

25. The method of claim 18, comprising:

providing, by the vehicle control module, a routing table comprising entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function output elements, and

b) associated module output elements of one of the first and second subsets of module output elements corresponding to one of the first and the second vehicle on which the vehicle control module is operating; and

wherein

determining a value of a vehicle function output element comprises;

a) determining the module output element associated with the vehicle function output element that is associated with the entry, and

b) determining the value associated with the related vehicle function output element; and

transforming the value to the transformed value comprises;

a) determining a respective configuration element of each of first and second configuration tables corresponding to the associated module output element and the vehicle function output element,

b) based on the respective configuration elements, transforming the value to the transformed value, which is stored based on the corresponding module output element.

26. The method of claim 18, wherein each vehicle function output element comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated value is stored.

27. The method of claim 18, wherein transforming the value comprises one or more of:

leaving the value unchanged;

bitmasking the value;

bit-shifting the value;

adding a predetermined offset to the value; and

multiplying the value by a predetermined gain.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein each element of the module output configuration table comprises data related to an output data type of the transformed value associated with the corresponding module output element of the module output table.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein transformation of the initially transformed value comprises changing a first data type of the value to the output data type.

30. The method of claim 18, wherein the hardware devices implemented on the one of the first and the second vehicles comprise one or more of:

a bus of a vehicle network;

an output driver;

an analog output device; and

a digital output device.

31. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one element of the superset of module output elements is a member of both the first subset of module output elements and the second subset of module output elements.

32. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one element of the superset of module output elements is a member of only one of the first subset of module output elements or the second subset of module output elements.

33. The method of claim 20, wherein at least one module output variable of the superset of module output variables is a member of both the first subset of module output variables and the second subset of module output variables.

34. The method of claim 20, wherein at least one module output variable of the superset of module output elements is a member of only one of the first subset of module output variables or the second subset of module output variables.

35. A computer-based vehicle control module capable of operating on one of first and second materials handling vehicles comprising:

a module output table comprising a first superset of module output elements,

wherein the first superset of module output elements comprises a first subset of module output elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of module output elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle;

a vehicle function output table comprising a set of vehicle function output elements related to vehicle function outputs utilized on the first vehicle and the second vehicle;

at least one configuration table comprising respective configuration elements corresponding to ones of the first superset of module output elements,

wherein each respective configuration element comprises data related to determining a transformed value associated with the corresponding module output element of the module output table;

structure comprising a routing table and routing engine for determining a value of a vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table corresponding to a module output element of the module output table, transforming the value to the transformed value, and linking the transformed value with the corresponding module output element.

36. The vehicle control module of claim 35, wherein the at least one configuration table comprises:

a function output configuration table comprising respective function output configuration elements corresponding to ones of the vehicle function output elements,

wherein each respective function output configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of the value associated with the corresponding vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table, to an initially transformed value.

37. The vehicle control module of claim 36, wherein the value and the initially transformed value are the same.

38. The vehicle control module of claim 36, wherein the at least one configuration table comprises:

a module output configuration table comprising respective module output configuration elements corresponding to ones of the first superset of module output elements,

wherein each respective module output configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of the initially transformed value associated with the corresponding module output element of the module output table, to the transformed value.

39. The vehicle control module of claim 35, wherein the structure comprises:

the routing table comprising entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function output elements, and

b) associated module output elements of one of the first and second subsets of module output elements corresponding to one of the first and the second vehicle on which the vehicle control module is operating; and

the routing engine, that when executed on the one of the first and second vehicles, is configured, for each entry of the routing table, to;

a) determine the module output element associated with the vehicle function output element that is associated with the entry,

b) determine a respective configuration element of each of first and second configuration tables corresponding to the associated module output element and vehicle function output element,

c) determine the value associated with the related vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table,

d) based on the respective configuration elements, transform the value to the transformed value, which is linked with the associated module output element.

40. The vehicle control module of claim 39, wherein:

the first superset further comprises a third subset of module output elements related to one or more default values;

the routing table further comprises one or more entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function output elements, and

b) associated module output elements of the third subset; and

the routing engine, when executed on the one of the first and second vehicles, is further configured, for each entry of the routing table related to the third subset of module output elements, to;

a) determine the module output element associated with the vehicle function output element that is associated with the entry,

b) determine a respective configuration element of each of first and second configuration tables corresponding to the associated module output element and the vehicle function output element,

c) determine a value associated with the related vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table,

d) based on the respective configuration elements, transform the value to the transformed value, which is linked with the associated module output element.

41. The vehicle control module of claim 39, wherein the number of entries of the routing table equals the number of elements of the vehicle function output table.

42. The vehicle control module of claim 35, comprising a computer accessible memory and each element of the module output table comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated transformed value is stored.

43. The vehicle control module of claim 35, comprising a computer accessible memory and each element of the vehicle function output table comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated value is stored.

44. The vehicle control module of claim 35, wherein transforming the value comprises one or more of:

leaving the value unchanged;

bitmasking the value;

bit-shifting the value;

adding a predetermined offset to the value; and

multiplying the value by a predetermined gain.

45. The vehicle control module of claim 38, wherein each element of the module output configuration table comprises data related to an output data type of the transformed value associated with the corresponding element of the module output table.

46. The vehicle control module of claim 45, wherein transformation of the initially transformed value comprises changing a first data type of the value to the output data type.

47. The vehicle control module of claim 35, wherein the hardware devices implemented on the one of the first and the second vehicles comprise one or more of:

a bus of a vehicle network;

an output driver;

an analog output device; and

a digital output device.

48. The vehicle control module of claim 35, wherein at least one element of the first superset of module output elements is a member of both the first subset of module output elements and the second subset of module output elements.

49. The vehicle control module of claim 35, wherein at least one element of the first superset of module output elements is a member of only one of the first subset of module output elements or the second subset of module output elements.

50. A method for a vehicle control module capable of operating on one of first and second materials handling vehicles comprising:

providing, by the vehicle control module, a module output table comprising a first superset of module output elements,

wherein the first superset of module output elements comprises a first subset of module output elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of module output elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle;

providing, by the vehicle control module, a vehicle function output table comprising a set of vehicle function output elements related to vehicle function outputs utilized on the first vehicle and the second vehicle;

providing, by the vehicle control module, at least one configuration table comprising respective configuration elements corresponding to ones of the first superset of module output elements,

wherein each respective configuration element comprises data related to determining a transformed value associated with the corresponding module output element of the module output table;

determining, by the vehicle control module, a value of a vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table corresponding to a module output element of the module output table,

transforming, by the vehicle control module, the value to the transformed value, and

linking, by the vehicle control module, the transformed value with the corresponding module output element.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the at least one configuration table comprises:

a function output configuration table comprising respective function output configuration elements corresponding to ones of the vehicle function output elements,

wherein each respective function output configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of the value associated with the corresponding vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table, to an initially transformed value.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the value and the initially transformed value are the same.

53. The method of claim 51, wherein the at least one configuration table comprises:

a module output configuration table comprising respective module output configuration elements corresponding to ones of the first superset of module output elements,

wherein each respective module output configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of the initially transformed value associated with the corresponding module output element of the module output table, to the transformed value.

54. The method of claim 50, comprising:

providing, by the vehicle control module, a routing table comprising entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function output elements, and

b) associated module output elements of one of the first and second subsets of module output elements corresponding to one of the first and the second vehicle on which the vehicle control module is operating; and

wherein

determining a value of a vehicle function output element comprises;

a) determining the module output element associated with the vehicle function output element that is associated with the entry, and

b) determining the value associated with the related vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table; and

transforming the value to the transformed value comprises;

a) determining a respective configuration element of each of first and second configuration tables corresponding to the associated module output element and the vehicle function output element,

b) based on the respective configuration elements, transforming the value to the transformed value, which is linked with the corresponding module output element.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein:

the first superset further comprises a third subset of module output elements related to one or more default values;

the routing table further comprises one or more entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function output elements, and

b) associated module output elements of the third subset; and

for each entry of the routing table related to the third subset of module output elements;

a) determining the module output element associated with the vehicle function output element that is associated with the entry,

b) determining a respective configuration element of each of first and second configuration tables corresponding to the associated module output element and the vehicle function output element,

c) determining a value associated with the related vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table, and

d) based on the corresponding respective configuration elements, transforming the value to the transformed value, which is linked with the associated module output element.

56. The vehicle control module of claim 54, wherein the number of entries of the routing table equals the number of elements of the vehicle function output table.

57. The method of claim 50, wherein each element of the module output table comprises a respective address in a memory where its associated transformed value is stored.

58. The method of claim 50, wherein each element of the vehicle function output table comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated value is stored.

59. The method of claim 50, wherein transforming the value comprises one or more of:

leaving the value unchanged;

bitmasking the value;

bit-shifting the value;

adding a predetermined offset to the value; and

multiplying the value by a predetermined gain.

60. The method of claim 53, wherein each element of the module output configuration table comprises data related to an output data type of the transformed value associated with the corresponding element of the module output table.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein transformation of the initially transformed value comprises changing a first data type of the value to the output data type.

62. The method of claim 50, wherein the hardware devices implemented on the one of the first and the second vehicles comprise one or more of:

a bus of a vehicle network;

an output driver;

an analog output device; and

a digital output device.

63. The method of claim 50, wherein at least one element of the first superset of module output elements is a member of both the first subset of module output elements and the second subset of module output elements.

64. The method of claim 50, wherein at least one element of the first superset of module output elements is a member of only one of the first subset of module output elements or the second subset of module output elements.

65. A computer-based vehicle control module capable of operating on one of first and second materials handling vehicles comprising:

a module output table comprising a first superset of source elements,

wherein the first superset of module output elements comprises a first subset of module output elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of module output elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle;

a vehicle function output table comprising a set of vehicle function output elements related to vehicle function outputs utilized on the first vehicle and the second vehicle;

a module output configuration table comprising respective module output configuration elements corresponding to ones of the first superset of module output elements,

wherein each respective module output configuration element comprises data related to a transformed value associated with the corresponding module output element of the module output table;

a routing table comprising entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function output elements, and

b) associated module output elements of one of the first and second subsets of module output elements corresponding to one of the first and the second vehicle on which the vehicle control module is operating; and

a routing engine, that when executed on the one of the first and second vehicles, is configured, for each entry of the routing table, to;

a) determine the module output element associated with the vehicle function output element that is associated with the entry,

b) determine the module output configuration element of the module output configuration table corresponding to the associated module output element,

c) determine a first value associated with the related vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table,

d) based on the corresponding module output configuration element, transform the value to the transformed value, and

e) link the transformed value with the associated module output element.

66. The vehicle control module of claim 65, comprising:

a function output configuration table comprising respective function output configuration elements corresponding to ones of the vehicle function output elements,

wherein each respective function output configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of an initial value associated with the corresponding vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table; and

wherein

the routing engine, that when executed on the one of the first and second vehicles, is further configured, for each entry of the routing table, to;

based on the corresponding function output configuration element, transform the corresponding initial value to the first value associated with the related vehicle function output element of the vehicle function output table.

67. The vehicle control module of claim 65, wherein the number of entries of the routing table equals the number of elements of the vehicle function output table.

68. The vehicle control module of claim 67, comprising a computer accessible memory each element of the module output table comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated transformed value is stored.

69. The vehicle control module of claim 67, comprising a computer accessible memory each element of the vehicle function output table comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated value is stored.

70. The vehicle control module of claim 65, wherein the transformation of the value comprises one or more of:

leaving the value unchanged;

bitmasking the value;

bit-shifting the value;

adding a predetermined offset to the value; and

multiplying the value by a predetermined gain.

71. The vehicle control module of claim 65, wherein at least one element of the first superset of module output elements is a member of both the first subset of module output elements and the second subset of module output elements.

72. The vehicle control module of claim 65, wherein at least one element of the first superset of module output elements is a member of only one of the first subset of module output elements or the second subset of module output elements.