Vehicle control module with signal switchboard and input tables

• US 10,427,692 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2016
• Issued: 10/01/2019
• 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): Kleinman, Lail A
• Application Number:
  US15/219,350
• Publication Number:
  US 20170028993A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,162 Days
• Field of Search: None
• 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 module capable of operating on one of first and second vehicles includes an input table having a superset of input elements, with a first subset of input elements related to a first set of hardware devices on the first vehicle and a second subset related to a second set of hardware devices on the second vehicle. The module includes at least one configuration table with configuration elements corresponding to ones of the superset of input elements, wherein each configuration element has data related to transforming a value associated with an input element. The module includes vehicle function input elements related to function inputs utilized on the vehicles; and structure for determining a value of an input element corresponding to a function input element, transforming the value to a transformed value and linking the transformed value with the corresponding function input element.

Claims

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

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

at least one configuration table comprising respective configuration elements corresponding to ones of the superset of module input elements, wherein each respective configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of a value associated with the corresponding module input element of the module input table;

vehicle function input elements related to vehicle function inputs utilized on the first vehicle and the second vehicle; and

structure for determining a value associated with a module input element of the module input table corresponding to a vehicle function input element, transforming the value to a transformed value and linking the transformed value with the corresponding vehicle function input element.

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

a routing table comprising entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function input elements, and

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

wherein;

determining the value associated with a module input element comprises;

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

b) determining the value associated with the corresponding module input element of the module input table.

3. The vehicle control module of claim 1, comprising a computer accessible memory wherein each element of the module input table comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated value is stored.

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

a module input data structure comprising a superset of module input variables, wherein the superset of module input variables comprises a first subset of module input variables related to the first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of module input variables related to the second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle; and

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

5. The vehicle control module of claim 4, wherein the structure comprises:

a routing table comprising entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function input elements, and

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

wherein;

determining the value associated with a module input element comprises;

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

b) determining an address of the module input data structure,

c) constructing a composite address based on the module input element and the address of the module input data structure, and

d) determining a value associated with the composite address.

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

a module input configuration table comprising respective module input configuration elements corresponding to ones of the superset of module input elements, wherein each respective module input configuration element comprises data to effect a first transformation related to the value associated with the corresponding module input element of the module input table.

7. The vehicle control module of claim 6, wherein the at least one configuration table further comprises:

a function input configuration table comprising respective function input configuration elements corresponding to ones of the vehicle function input elements, wherein each respective function input configuration element comprises data to effect a second transformation related to the value associated with the corresponding module input element of the module input table.

8. The vehicle control module of claim 7, wherein transforming the value to the transformed value comprises:

determining the transformed value based on the first transformation and the second transformation.

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

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

leave the value unchanged;

bitmask the value;

bit-shift the value;

add a predetermined offset to the value;

or multiply the value by a predetermined gain.

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

12. The vehicle control module of claim 11, wherein each element of the function input configuration table comprises data related to a different data type associated with the corresponding vehicle function input element and the transforming the value comprises changing the data type to the different 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 encoder;

a switch;

an analog sensor;

or a digital sensor.

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

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

16. The vehicle control module of claim 4, wherein at least one module input variable of the superset of module input variables is a member of both the first subset of module input variables and the second subset of module input variables.

17. The vehicle control module of claim 4, wherein at least one module input variable of the superset of module input variables is a member of only one of the first subset of module input variables or the second subset of module input 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 input table comprising a superset of module input elements, wherein the superset of module input elements comprises a first subset of module input elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of module input elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on 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 input elements, wherein each respective configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of a value associated with the corresponding module input element of the module input table;

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

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

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

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

19. The method of claim 18, comprising:

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

a) associated vehicle function input elements, and

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

wherein;

determining the value associated with a module input element comprises;

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

b) determining the value associated with the corresponding module input element of the module input table.

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

21. The method of claim 18, comprising:

providing, by the vehicle control module, a module input data structure comprising a superset of module input variables, wherein the superset of module input variables comprises a first subset of module input variables related to the first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of module input variables related to the second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle; and

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

22. The method of claim 21, comprising:

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

a) associated vehicle function input elements, and

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

wherein;

determining the value associated with a module input element comprises;

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

b) determining an address of the module input data structure,

c) constructing a composite address based on the module input element and the address of the module input data structure, and

d) determining a value associated with the composite address.

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

a module input configuration table comprising respective module input configuration elements corresponding to ones of the superset of module input elements, wherein each respective module input configuration element comprises data to effect a first transformation related to the value associated with the corresponding module input element of the module input table.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least one configuration table comprises:

a function input configuration table comprising respective function input configuration elements corresponding to ones of the vehicle function input elements, wherein each respective function input configuration element comprises data to effect a second transformation related to the value associated with the corresponding module input element of the module input table.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein transforming the value to the transformed value comprises:

determining the transformed value based on the first transformation and the second transformation.

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

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

leaving the value unchanged;

bit masking the value;

bit-shifting the value;

adding a predetermined offset to the value;

or multiplying the value by a predetermined gain.

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

29. The method of claim 28, wherein each element of the function input configuration table comprises data related to a different data type associated with the corresponding vehicle function input element and the transforming the value comprises changing the data type to the different 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 encoder;

a switch;

an analog sensor;

or a digital sensor.

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

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

33. The method of claim 21, wherein at least one module input variable of the superset of module input variables is a member of both the first subset of module input variables and the second subset of module input variables.

34. The method of claim 21, wherein at least one module input variable of the superset of module input variables is a member of only one of the first subset of module input variables or the second subset of module input variables.

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

a source table comprising a first superset of source elements, wherein the first superset of source elements comprises a first subset of source elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of source elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle;

at least one configuration table comprising respective configuration elements corresponding to ones of the first superset of source elements, wherein each respective configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of a value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table;

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

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

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

a module input configuration table comprising respective module input configuration elements corresponding to ones of the first superset of source elements, wherein each respective module input configuration element comprises data to effect a first transformation related to the value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table.

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

a function input configuration table comprising respective function input configuration elements corresponding to ones of the vehicle function input elements, wherein each respective function input configuration element comprises data to effect a second transformation related to the value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table.

38. The vehicle control module of claim 37, wherein transforming the value to the transformed value comprises:

determining the transformed value based on the first transformation and the second transformation.

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

the routing table comprising entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function input elements, and

b) associated source elements of one of the first and second subsets of source 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 source element associated with the vehicle function input 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 source element,

c) determine the value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table, and

d) based on the corresponding respective configuration elements, transform the value to the transformed value, which is linked to the vehicle function input element associated with the entry.

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

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

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

a) associated vehicle function input elements, and

b) associated source 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 source elements, to;

a) determine the source element associated with the vehicle function input element that is associated with the entry,

b) determine a respective configuration element of each of the first and second configuration tables corresponding to the associated source element,

c) determine the value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table, and

d) based on the corresponding respective configuration elements, transform the value to the transformed value, which is linked to the vehicle function input element associated with the entry.

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 input table.

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

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

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

leave the value unchanged;

bitmask the value;

bit-shift the value;

add a predetermined offset to the value;

or multiply the value by a predetermined gain.

45. The vehicle control module of claim 37, wherein each element of the module input configuration table comprises data related to a data type of the value associated with the corresponding element of the source table.

46. The vehicle control module of claim 45, wherein each element of the function input configuration table comprises data related to a different data type associated with the corresponding element of the vehicle function input table and the transforming the value comprises changing the data type to the different 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 encoder;

a switch;

an analog sensor;

or a digital sensor.

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

49. The vehicle control module of claim 35, wherein at least one element of the first superset of source elements is a member of only one of the first subset of source elements or the second subset of source 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 source table comprising a first superset of source elements, wherein the first superset of source elements comprises a first subset of source elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of source elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on 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 source elements, wherein each respective configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of a value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table;

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

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

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

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

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

a module input configuration table comprising respective module input configuration elements corresponding to ones of the first superset of source elements, wherein each respective module input configuration element comprises data to effect a first transformation related to the value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table.

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

a function input configuration table comprising respective function input configuration elements corresponding to ones of the vehicle function input elements, wherein each respective function input configuration element comprises data to effect a second transformation related to the value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein transforming the value to the transformed value comprises:

determining the transformed value based on the first transformation and the second transformation.

54. The method of claim 50, comprising:

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

a) associated vehicle function input elements, and

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

wherein;

determining the value of a source element comprises;

a) determining the source element associated with the vehicle function input element that is associated with the entry, and

b) determining the value associated with the corresponding source element of the source 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 source element, and

b) based on the corresponding respective configuration elements, transforming the value to the transformed value, which is linked to the vehicle function input element associated with the entry.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein:

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

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

a) associated vehicle function input elements, and

b) associated source elements of the third subset; and

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

a) determining the source element associated with the vehicle function input element that is associated with the entry,

b) determining a respective configuration element of each of the first and second configuration tables corresponding to the associated source element,

c) determining the value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table, and

d) based on the corresponding respective configuration elements, transforming the value to the transformed value, which is linked to the vehicle function input element associated with the entry.

56. The method of claim 54, wherein the number of entries of the routing table equals the number of elements of the vehicle function input table.

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

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

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

leaving the value unchanged;

bit masking the value;

bit-shifting the value;

adding a predetermined offset to the value;

or multiplying the value by a predetermined gain.

60. The method of claim 52, wherein each element of the module input configuration table comprises data related to a data type of the value associated with the corresponding element of the source table.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein each element of the function input configuration table comprises data related to a different data type associated with the corresponding element of the vehicle function input table and the transforming the value comprises changing the data type to the different 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 encoder;

a switch;

an analog sensor;

or a digital sensor.

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

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

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

a source table comprising a first superset of source elements, wherein the first superset of source elements comprises a first subset of source elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of source elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle;

a module input configuration table comprising respective module input configuration elements corresponding to ones of the first superset of source elements, wherein each respective module input configuration element comprises data related to effect a transformation of a value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table;

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

a routing table comprising entries related to;

a) associated vehicle function input elements, and

b) associated source elements of one of the first and second subsets of source 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 source element associated with the vehicle function input element that is associated with the entry,

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

c) determine the value associated with the corresponding source element of the source table, and

d) based on the corresponding module input configuration element, transform the value to a transformed value.

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

a function input configuration table comprising respective function input configuration elements corresponding to ones of the vehicle function input elements, wherein each respective function input configuration element comprises data related to effect a further transformation of the transformed value associated with the corresponding source element of the source 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;

e) based on the corresponding function input configuration element, further transform the transformed value to a further transformed value; and

f) link the further transformed value with the vehicle function input element associated with the entry.

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 input table.

68. The vehicle control module of claim 65, comprising a computer accessible memory and wherein:

each element of the source table comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated value is stored.

69. The vehicle control module of claim 65, comprising a computer accessible memory wherein:

each element of the vehicle function input table comprises a respective address in the memory where its associated transformed value is stored.

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

leave the value unchanged;

bitmask the value;

bit-shift the value;

add a predetermined offset to the value;

or multiply the value by a predetermined gain.

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

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