METHOD AND SYSTEM OF ENERGY SAVING CONTROL

• US 20120239268A1
• Filed: 01/13/2012
• Published: 09/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Lin, Yu-Hui, Chen, Syuan-Yi, Chang, Chih-Tang
• Application Number:
  US13/350,306
• Publication Number:
  US 20120239268A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/96
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0638 Engine speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/081 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/244 Charge state
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4041 Position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/804 Relative longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/60 Traffic rules, e.g. speed limits or right of way
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/146 Speed limiting
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/17 with provision for special action when the preceding vehicle comes to a halt, e.g. stop and go
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility

Abstract

The application relates to a method and system of energy saving control for a vehicle, the method includes the steps of detecting a total distance between a specific vehicle and another vehicle in front, referring as the preceding vehicle, the speed of the preceding vehicle and the dynamic information of the specific vehicle; obtaining a safe distance, an energy saving buffer zone and a cruise control activation zone according to the total distance between a preceding vehicle and the specific vehicle, the speed of the preceding vehicle and the dynamic information of the specific vehicle; and determining whether the preceding vehicle enters the energy saving buffer zone, and enable an energy saving control operation while activating the specific vehicle to enter into a following mode if the preceding vehicle stays in the cruise control activation zone.

Claims

1. A method of energy saving control adapted for a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

detecting a total distance between a specific vehicle and another vehicle in front that is referred as the preceding vehicle, the speed of the preceding vehicle and the dynamic information of the specific vehicle;

obtaining a safe distance and an energy saving buffer zone according to the total distance between the preceding vehicle and the specific vehicle, the speed of the preceding vehicle and the dynamic information of the specific vehicle; and

determining whether the preceding vehicle had entered the energy saving buffer zone, and thus enabling an energy saving control operation while activating the specific vehicle to enter into a following mode if the preceding vehicle is in the energy saving buffer zone.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific vehicle is a vehicle selected from the group consisting of an electric vehicle and a hybrid vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic information of the specific vehicle includes a speed of the specific vehicle, a motor rotation speed of the specific vehicle, a state-of-charge (SOC) of a battery used in the specific vehicle and a depth-of-discharge (DOD) of the battery used in the specific vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

detecting whether there is any vehicle moving in front of the specific vehicle, and then enabling the specific vehicle to enter a constant speed mode if there is none.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

obtaining a cruise control activation zone according to the speed of the preceding vehicle and the speed of the specific vehicle.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:

determining whether the preceding vehicle had stayed in the cruise control activation zone, and then enabling the specific vehicle to move following smoothly with the preceding vehicle based upon the calculation of the energy saving control operation if the preceding vehicle had entered the cruise control activation zone.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

enabling the specific vehicle to enter the following mode under the condition when the total distance between the preceding vehicle and the specific vehicle is not larger than a distance equal to the sum of the energy saving zone and the safe distance.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

enabling the specific vehicle to enter a constant speed mode under the condition when the total distance between the preceding vehicle and the specific vehicle is larger than a distance equal to the sum of the energy saving zone and the safe distance.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:

controlling the speed of the specific vehicle based upon the energy saving control operation for enabling the specific vehicle to move following smoothly with the preceding vehicle while allowing the total distance between the specific vehicle and the preceding vehicle to be maintained not larger than a distance equal to the sum of the cruise control activation zone and the safe distance, under the condition when the preceding vehicle is accelerating/decelerating smoothly and steadily and the total distance between the specific vehicle and the preceding vehicle is not larger than the distance equal to the sum of the cruise control activation zone and the safe distance.

10. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:

enabling the specific vehicle to abandon keeping the smooth following of the preceding vehicle and then enter a constant speed mode under the condition when the preceding vehicle is accelerating/decelerating in a violent manner and is moving out of the cruise control activation zone.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the specific vehicle can be controlled manually or automatically to abandon keeping the smooth following of the preceding vehicle.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the specific vehicle is controlled to abandon the following mode through the stepping on the brake of the specific vehicle that is performed by the driver.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific vehicle can be controlled manually or automatically to enter an energy saving control mode.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the energy saving control operation further comprises the steps of:

obtaining a major current according to an acceleration and the speed of the preceding vehicle;

performing a fuzzy control operation based upon a follow error and the differential of the follow error so as to obtain a complementary current;

generating a total drive current by adding the values of the major current and the complementary current; and

feeding the total drive current to a motor of the specific vehicle for the generation of a suitable torque to maintain the safe distance between the specific vehicle and the preceding vehicle.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the fuzzy control operation further comprises the steps of:

generating a membership function for the complementary current based upon the follow error and the differential of the follow error;

obtaining an information including a motor rotation speed of the specific vehicle and a SOC of a battery used in the specific vehicle and a DOD of the battery used in the specific vehicle;

dynamically adjusting parameters of the membership function relating to the complementary current according to the information including the motor rotation speed of the specific vehicle and the SOC of the battery used in the specific vehicle and the DOD of the battery used in the specific vehicle; and

generating fuzzy rules.

16. A system of energy saving control adapted for a vehicle, comprising:

a detection device, for detecting a total distance between a specific vehicle and another vehicle in front that is referred as the preceding vehicle, the speed of the preceding vehicle and the dynamic information of the specific vehicle; and

an energy saving control device, coupled to the detection device so as to be used for obtaining a safe distance and an energy saving buffer zone according to the total distance between the preceding vehicle and the specific vehicle, the speed of the preceding vehicle and the dynamic information of the specific vehicle, while determining whether the preceding vehicle had entered the energy saving buffer zone, and thus enabling an energy saving control operation to be activated and used for controlling the specific vehicle to enter into a following mode based upon the calculation of the energy saving control operation if the preceding vehicle is in the energy saving buffer zone.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the specific vehicle is a vehicle selected from the group consisting of an electric vehicle and a hybrid vehicle.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the detection device is substantially a radar device.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the dynamic information of the specific vehicle includes a speed of the specific vehicle, a motor rotation speed of the specific vehicle, a SOC of a battery used in the specific vehicle and a DOD of the battery used in the specific vehicle.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the detection device is further being designed to detect whether there is any vehicle moving in front of the specific vehicle, and if there is no vehicle in front, the specific vehicle is enabled to enter a constant speed mode.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the energy saving control device further comprises:

a process unit, for receiving the detection of the total distance between the specific vehicle and the preceding vehicle, the speed of the preceding vehicle and the dynamic information of the specific vehicle while basing upon the received total distance between the specific vehicle and the preceding vehicle, the speed of the preceding vehicle and the dynamic information of the specific vehicle to obtain the safe distance and the energy saving buffer zone.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the process unit further is designed to obtain a cruise control activation zone according to the speed of the preceding vehicle and the speed of the specific vehicle so as to be used as a base for making an evaluation to determine whether the preceding vehicle had entered the cruise control activation zone, and consequently the energy saving control operation is activated for controlling the specific vehicle to move following smoothly with the preceding vehicle based upon the calculation of the energy saving control operation if the preceding vehicle stayed in the cruise control activation zone.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the specific vehicle is enabled to enter the following mode under the condition when the total distance between the preceding vehicle and the specific vehicle is not larger than a distance equal to the sum of the energy saving zone and the safe distance.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the specific vehicle is enabled to enter a constant speed mode under the condition when the total distance between the preceding vehicle and the specific vehicle is larger than a distance equal to the sum of the energy saving zone and the safe distance.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the speed of the specific vehicle is controlled based upon the energy saving control operation for enabling the specific vehicle to move following smoothly with the preceding vehicle while allowing the total distance between the specific vehicle and the preceding vehicle to be maintained not larger than a distance equal to the sum of the cruise control activation zone and the safe distance, under the condition when the preceding vehicle is accelerating/decelerating smoothly and steadily and the total distance between specific vehicle and the preceding vehicle is not larger than the distance equal to the sum of the cruise control activation zone and the safe distance.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the specific vehicle is enabled to abandon keeping the smooth following of the preceding vehicle and then enter a constant speed mode under the condition when the preceding vehicle is accelerating/decelerating in a violent manner and is moving out of the cruise control activation zone.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein the energy saving control device further comprises:

a speed control unit, coupled to the process unit, for obtaining a major current according to an acceleration and the speed of the preceding vehicle;

a fuzzy control unit, coupled to the process unit, for performing a fuzzy control operation based upon a follow error and the differential of the follow error so as to obtain a complementary current; and

an adder, for generating a total drive current by adding the values of the major current and the complementary current so as to be used for driving a motor of the specific vehicle to generate a torque sufficient enough for maintaining the safe distance between the specific vehicle and the preceding vehicle.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the fuzzy control unit is further designed to performed the following steps:

generating a membership function for the complementary current based upon the follow error and the differential of the follow error;

obtaining an information including a motor rotation speed of the specific vehicle and a SOC of a battery used in the specific vehicle and a DOD of the battery used in the specific vehicle;

dynamically adjusting parameters of the membership function relating to the complementary current according to the information including the motor rotation speed of the specific vehicle, the SOC of the battery used in the specific vehicle and the DOD of the battery used in the specific vehicle; and

generating fuzzy rules.