Method and Apparatus for Controlling Traveling Speed of a Vehicle

• US 20100318273A1
• Filed: 06/10/2009
• Published: 12/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daimler Truck AG (Daimler Truck Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Inventors: Aleksic, Mario, Michalek, Joseph, Benowitz, Mike, Passegger, Thomas, Martin, Bernd
• Granted Patent: US 8,346,456 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/98
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/042 where at least one electrical quantity is set by the vehicle operator
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/20 Road profile, i.e. the change in elevation or curvature of a plurality of continuous road segments
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0097 Predicting future conditions

Abstract

In a method for controlling the driving speed of a vehicle that has a speed control device into which a set speed can be entered as driver command, a reference variable of the speed control device is varied within a specified or specifiable speed range of the set speed, based on an evaluation of a section of the road ahead of the driver and maintaining a minimum fuel usage in a first operating mode of the speed control device. To enable a better control of the driving speed, the method includes steps of i) detecting a change of the set speed; ii) changing over from the first operating mode to a second operating mode of the speed control device when a change of the set speed has been detected; iii) determining the reference variable in the second operating mode based on the change in such a manner that a tuning of the speed control device to a higher driving speed takes place with an increase of the set speed resulting from the change, and a tuning process of the speed control device to a lower driving speed takes place with a decrease of the set speed resulting from the change; and iv) changing back from the second operating mode to the first operating mode, if an interruption criterion is fulfilled.

Claims

1-9. -9. (canceled)

10. A method for controlling the driving speed of a vehicle having a speed control device into which a set speed can be entered as driver command, said method comprising:

varying a reference variable of the speed control device within a specified or specifiable range of the set speed, based on an evaluation of a section of the road ahead of the driver, and based on maintaining a state of the vehicle with a fuel usage that is as low as possible, in a first operating mode of the speed control device;

detecting a change of the set speed;

changing over from the first operating mode to a second operating mode of the speed control device, when a change of the set speed has been detected;

in the second operating mode adjusting the reference variable based on the change, in such a manner that the speed control device is tuned to a higher driving speed in the case of an increase of the set speed resulting from the change, and to a lower driving speed in the case of a decrease of the set speed resulting from the change; and

changing back from the second operating mode to the first operating mode when an interruption criterion is satisfied.

11. The method according to the claim 10, further comprising:

determining a difference value of the change of the set speed;

determining an actual value of a reference variable at the change; and

setting the reference variable to a sum of the actual value of the reference variable and the difference value of the change.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

setting the reference variable to a sum of the actual value of the driving speed that exists at the change and the difference value of the change.

13. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

changing back to the first operating mode as soon as a period of the interruption criterion has elapsed.

14. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

changing back to the first operating mode as soon as a control deviation of the interruption criterion falls below a threshold value.

15. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

switching from the second operating mode to a third operating mode as soon as the interruption criterion is fulfilled;

calculating a target value of the reference variable at the interruption criterion corresponding to the first operating mode;

determining an actual value of the reference variable at the interruption criterion;

bringing the reference variable from the actual value up to the target value of the reference variable in the third operating mode; and

changing from the third operating mode to the first operating mode after the approach.

18. A vehicle having a speed control device for controlling a driving speed of the vehicle, by executing a method according to claim 10.

16. A speed control device for the predictive control of the driving speed of a vehicle based on a specifiable set speed and based on a distance profile of a section of road ahead of the vehicle, wherein the speed control device is configured to modify the driving speed of the vehicle in response to a sudden change of the set speed, aligned with the change of the set speed, and to regulate it temporarily to a constant speed level.

17. The speed control device according to claim 16, wherein a distance profile of the section of the road ahead of the vehicle is determined in a predictive manner by means of a satellite-supported position determination system and a digital map.