System and method for improving fuel economy for autonomous driving vehicles
First Claim
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1. A vehicle capable of autonomous operation, comprising:
- an engine having a plurality of working chambers;
an autonomous driving unit arranged to coordinate autonomous driving of the vehicle, including defining a requested torque demand for the engine; and
a controller, responsive to the autonomous driving unit, for controlling the operation of the engine to deliver the requested torque demand by either;
operating the engine at a first firing fraction that defines a first effective displacement of the engine when an occupant is present in the vehicle;
oroperating the engine at a second firing fraction that defines a second effective displacement of the engine when an occupant is not present in the vehicle,wherein the second effective displacement is more fuel efficient than the first engine displacement,wherein the controller is further arranged to operate the engine at the first effective displacement by operating the working chambers of the engine at the first effective firing fraction and operate the engine at the second effective displacement by operating the working chambers of the engine at the second effective firing fraction.
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Abstract
The present invention relates generally to improving the fuel efficiency of autonomous vehicles by operating either (1) at a first effective engine displacement that takes into account noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) when the vehicle is occupied or (2) at a second effective engine displacement, without concern for occupant NVH, when the vehicle is not occupied. The second effective engine displacement is typically more fuel efficient than the first effective engine displacement, but result in a higher level of NVH compared to the first effective engine displacement.
46 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A vehicle capable of autonomous operation, comprising:
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an engine having a plurality of working chambers; an autonomous driving unit arranged to coordinate autonomous driving of the vehicle, including defining a requested torque demand for the engine; and a controller, responsive to the autonomous driving unit, for controlling the operation of the engine to deliver the requested torque demand by either; operating the engine at a first firing fraction that defines a first effective displacement of the engine when an occupant is present in the vehicle;
oroperating the engine at a second firing fraction that defines a second effective displacement of the engine when an occupant is not present in the vehicle, wherein the second effective displacement is more fuel efficient than the first engine displacement, wherein the controller is further arranged to operate the engine at the first effective displacement by operating the working chambers of the engine at the first effective firing fraction and operate the engine at the second effective displacement by operating the working chambers of the engine at the second effective firing fraction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An autonomous vehicle having an internal combustion engine with a plurality of working chambers arranged to meet a torque request demand while autonomously driving, the engine further arrange to:
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meet the torque request demand by selecting a first operational firing fraction from a first set of firing fractions when the autonomous vehicle is occupied; and meet the torque request demand by selecting a second operational firing fraction, when the autonomous vehicle is unoccupied, wherein the second operation firing fraction is smaller than the first operation firing fraction. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An autonomous vehicle, comprising;
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an autonomous driving unit arrange to control driving of the vehicle in response to one or more inputs from sensors that sense the driving environment, the autonomous driving unit generating varying requested torque demands in response to changes in the driving environment; and an engine controller, responsive to the varying engine torque demands received from the autonomous driving unit, the engine controller configured to; selectively operate a plurality of working chambers of the engine at varying first operational firing fractions selected to meet the varying engine torque demands when the vehicle is occupied; and selectively operate the plurality of working chambers of the engine at varying second operational firing fractions selected to meet the varying engine torque demands when the vehicle is not occupied, wherein the autonomous vehicle operates in a more fuel efficient manner when not occupied compared to when occupied. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A method of operating an autonomous vehicle, the autonomous vehicle having an internal combustion engine providing motive power, the internal combustion engine having a working chamber, the working chamber having a torque output level, the method comprising:
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determining whether an occupant is in the vehicle; determining the torque output level of the working chamber to operate at either a first firing fraction or a second firing fraction based on the determination of the vehicle occupancy; operating the working chamber of the internal combustion engine at the first firing fraction when occupied; and operating the working chamber of the internal combustion engine at the second firing fraction when not occupied; wherein the determined torque output level at the first firing fraction when the vehicle is occupied is different compared to the second firing fraction when the vehicle is not occupied. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A vehicle capable of autonomous operation, comprising:
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an engine having a plurality of working chambers; an autonomous driving unit arranged to coordinate autonomous driving of the vehicle; and a firing fraction controller for controlling skip fire operation of the engine to deliver a requested torque demand as defined by the autonomous driving unit, the firing fraction controller either; operating the engine at a first effective firing fraction defining a first effective displacement of the engine when an occupant is present in the vehicle;
oroperating the engine at a second effective firing fraction defining a second effective displacement of the engine when an occupant is not present in the vehicle, wherein the engine; (a) generates less Noise Vibration and harshness (NVH) at the first effective firing fraction compared to the second effective firing fraction; and (b) is more fuel efficient when operating at the second effective firing fraction compared to second effective firing fraction. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification