METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MATCHING VEHICLE ECU PROGRAMMING TO CURRENT VEHICLE OPERATING CONDITIONS

• US 20130261907A1
• Filed: 04/05/2013
• Published: 10/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zonar Systems, Inc. (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Zonar Systems, Inc. (Continental AG)
• Inventors: MCQUADE, CHARLES MICHAEL, HUNT, BRYAN, MAYER, DAN
• Granted Patent: US 9,747,254 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/51
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 1/02 not restricted to adjustment of injection timing, e.g. varying amount of fuel delivered
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/50 said parameters being related to the vehicle or its components
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/60 said parameters being related to the driver demands or status
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/701 Information about vehicle position, e.g. from navigation system or GPS signal
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/2425 Particular ways of programming the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00

Abstract

Disclosed herein are techniques for implementing vehicle ECU reprograming, so the ECU programming, which plays a large role in vehicle performance characteristics, is tailored to current operational requirements, which may be different than the operational characteristics selected by the manufacturer when initially programming the vehicle ECU (or ECUs) with specific instruction sets, such as fuel maps. In one embodiment, a controller monitors the current operational characteristics of the vehicle, determines the current ECU programming, and determines if a different programming set would better suited to the current operating conditions. In the event that the current programming set should be replaced, the controller implements the ECU reprogramming. In a related embodiment, users are enabled to specify the ECU programming to change, such as changing speed limiter settings.

Claims

1. A method of matching the programming of a vehicle controller that controls at least one performance characteristic of a vehicle to current vehicle operational requirements, the comprising the steps of:

(a) during vehicle operation, automatically collecting vehicle operational data;

(b) using a processor to analyze the vehicle operational data in real-time to determine if different programming would lead to improved performance;

(c) if the analysis so indicates, automatically requesting approval to change the programming of the vehicle controller; and

(d) if the approval is granted, automatically changing the programming of the vehicle controller to improve the performance of the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle operational data comprises at least one element selected from a group consisting of:

(a) vehicle mass;

(b) vehicle speed;

(c) engine oil temperature;

(d) engine oil pressure;

(e) fuel use;

(f) vehicle position;

(g) ambient temperature;

(h) PTO use;

(i) time of day;

(j) ambient weather conditions;

(k) engine RMPs;

(l) engine load;

(m) cruise control status;

(n) transmission status;

(o) accessory fan status; and

(p) a predefined vehicle route.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the programming comprises a fuel map.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of automatically requesting approval to change the programming of the vehicle comprises the step of wirelessly conveying an approval request to a remote computing device, such that a remote user determines whether or not to approve the request.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of wirelessly conveying the approval request to the remote computing device comprises the step of including vehicle operational data with the approval request, so the remote user can review the vehicle operational data before acting on the approval request.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of automatically requesting approval to change the programming of the vehicle comprises the step of wirelessly conveying an approval request and vehicle data to a remote computing device, such that the remote computing device uses the vehicle data to determine whether or not to grant the approval request.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the vehicle data used by the remote computing device is different than the vehicle operational data used to determine if different programming would lead to improved performance.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of automatically requesting approval to change the programming of the vehicle comprises the step of conveying an approval request to a driver of the vehicle, and further comprising the step of enabling the driver of the vehicle to respond to the approval request.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of changing the programming of the vehicle controller to improve the performance of the vehicle comprises the step of reprogramming the vehicle controller while the vehicle is operational.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of using the processor to analyze the vehicle operational data in real-time to determine if different programming would lead to improved performance comprises the steps of:

(a) providing a plurality of different ECU programming sets;

(b) for each ECU programming set, using the current vehicle operational data to determining at least one vehicle performance characteristic that would result in using that ECU programming set in light of current vehicle operational data;

(c) comparing the results from each ECU programming set to identify the ECU programming set that optimizes vehicle performance based on predetermined parameters; and

(d) determining if the current ECU programming set is the ECU programming set that that optimizes vehicle performance based on the predetermined parameters.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of using the processor to analyze the vehicle operational data in real-time to determine if different programming would lead to improved performance comprises the step of determining if a different programming set would result in at least one of the following conditions:

(a) improved fuel economy;

(b) an increase in horsepower;

(c) an increase in torque;

(d) a reduced engine load;

(e) a lower coolant or oil operating temperature;

(f) an increase in speed; and

(g) a lower cost per loaded mile.

12. A non-transitory memory medium having machine instructions stored thereon for carrying out steps (b) and (d) of claim 1.

13. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 12, having machine instructions stored thereon for carrying out the step of claim 4.

14. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 12, having machine instructions stored thereon for carrying out the step of claim 5.

15. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 12, having machine instructions stored thereon for carrying out the step of claim 8.

16. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 12, having machine instructions stored thereon for carrying out the steps of claim 10.

17. A system for analyzing the programming of a vehicle controller that controls at least one performance characteristic of a vehicle in light of current vehicle operating conditions, the system comprising:

(a) at least one vehicle operational data generating component; and

(b) at least one processor, the at least one processor implementing the functions of

(i) analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time to determine if different programming would lead to improved performance;

(ii) if the analysis so indicates, automatically requesting approval to change the programming of the vehicle controller; and

(iii) if approval is received, automatically changing the programming of the vehicle controller to improve the performance of the vehicle when such reprograming would result in improved performance.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

(a) an output device for conveying the approval request to a driver of the vehicle; and

(b) an input device for enabling the driver of the vehicle to respond to the approval request.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

(a) a first data link for wirelessly conveying the approval request to a remote computing device;

(b) an input device for enabling a user of the remote computing device to respond to the approval request; and

(c) a second data link for wirelessly conveying a response to the approval request to the vehicle.

20. The system of claim 17, further comprising a wireless data link for conveying data between the vehicle and a remote computing device, and wherein the function of analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time is implemented at the remote computing device in response to receiving vehicle operational data from the vehicle.

21. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

(a) a first data link for wirelessly conveying the approval request to a remote computing device driver of the vehicle;

(b) a second data link for wirelessly conveying a response to the approval request to the vehicle from the remote computing device.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine if different programming would lead to at least one of:

(a) improved fuel economy;

(b) an increase in horsepower;

(c) an increase in torque;

(d) a reduced engine load;

(e) a lower coolant or oil operating temperature;

(f) an increase in speed; and

(g) a lower cost per loaded mile.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the function of analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time is implemented by automatically determining if a geographical location of the vehicle corresponds to a geographical location that allows a different maximum vehicle speed than enabled by the current programming of the vehicle controller responsible for maximum vehicle speed.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the function of analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time is implemented by automatically determining if current programming of the vehicle controller corresponds to predetermined programming parameters for a current vehicle load condition.

25. The system of claim 17, wherein the function of analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time is implemented by automatically determining if a vehicle PTO unit is activated, such PTO use generally requiring lower horsepower output than normal driving.

26. The system of claim 17, wherein the function of analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time is implemented by automatically determining if current programming of the vehicle controller corresponds to predetermined programming parameters for a specific route being traveled by the vehicle, the specific route having been input by at least one a driver at the vehicle and a remote dispatcher.