METHOD FOR INITIALIZING THE MASS OF A MOTOR VEHICLE

• US 20140121912A1
• Filed: 10/03/2013
• Published: 05/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Zeppelin - Stiftung der Stadt Friedrichshafen)
• Original Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Zeppelin - Stiftung der Stadt Friedrichshafen)
• Inventors: MAIR, Roland, SCHNEIDER, Florian
• Granted Patent: US 9,182,033 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/51
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2300/125 Heavy duty trucks
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/13 Load or weight
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2312/02 Driving off
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/52 dependent on the weight of the machine, e.g. change in weight resulting from passengers boarding a bus

Abstract

A method of initializing the mass of a motor vehicle, in particular when the motor vehicle is re-started or when it is at rest, for the control of a starting process of the motor vehicle. From measured and/or calculated operating parameters of the motor vehicle, an operating situation of the motor vehicle is determined and, on the basis of the operating situation determined and as a function of operating situation dependent loading and/or unloading patterns, the mass of the motor vehicle is initialized.

Claims

1-9. -9. (canceled)

10. A method of initializing a mass of an motor vehicle, when the motor vehicle is either re-started or at rest, for control of a starting process of the motor vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

determining, with a control device, an operating situation of the motor vehicle from at least one of measured and calculated operating parameters of the motor vehicle; and

initializing, with the control device, the mass of the motor vehicle on a basis of the determined operating situation and as a function of at least one of operating situation dependent loading and unloading patterns.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of initializing the mass of the motor vehicle on the basis of the determined operating situation only if an error counter value, for the determined operating situation, is smaller than a limit value.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the steps of calculating, with the control device, the mass of the motor vehicle, following the initialization of the mass of the motor vehicle, either during or after the starting process, and

comparing the initialized mass of the motor vehicle with the calculated mass of the motor vehicle to determine whether the initialization of the mass of the motor vehicle lies either within or outside an admissible tolerance band around the calculated mass.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of adopting, with the control device, at least one of the operating situation dependent loading pattern and the operating situation dependent unloading pattern, if the initialization of the mass of the motor vehicle is within the admissible tolerance band on the basis of the comparison between the initialized mass of the motor vehicle and the calculated mass of the motor vehicle.

14. The method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of reducing the operating situation dependent error counter value by an increment, if the initialized mass of the motor vehicle lies within the admissible tolerance band.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising the step of activating the respective, previously inactive operating situation dependent loading and the unloading pattern, if the operating situation dependent error counter value is smaller than a first limit value.

16. The method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of increasing the operating situation dependent error counter value by an increment, if the initialized mass of the motor vehicle lies outside the admissible tolerance band.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising the step of deactivating the respective, previously active operating situation dependent loading and the unloading pattern, if the operating situation dependent error counter value exceeds a second limit value.

18. A transmission control device of a motor vehicle comprising a processor, a memory and data interfaces, the data interfaces communicate with at least one of sensors and other control devices and receives at least one of measured and calculated operating parameters therefrom, the processor evaluates the operating parameters and determines an operating situation dependent mass of the motor vehicle and initializes the mass of the motor vehicle, the processor communicates with the memory which stores the operating parameters, the operating situations, the operating situation dependent loading and unloading patterns, the transmission control device implementing a method of initializing the mass of the motor vehicle, when the motor vehicle is either re-started or at rest, for controlling a starting process of the motor vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

determining, with the processor, the operating situation of the motor vehicle from the at least one of the measured and the calculated operating parameters of the motor vehicle, and

initializing the mass of the motor vehicle on a basis of the determined operating situation and as a function of the at least one of the operating situation dependent loading and unloading patterns.

19. A method of estimating mass of an motor vehicle, when the motor vehicle is either re-started or at rest, to control a starting process of the motor vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

at least one of measuring operating parameters with sensors and calculating operating parameters with control devices;

transmitting the at least one of the measured and the calculated operating parameters from the sensors and the control devices, via data interfaces, to a processor;

determining, with the processor, an operating situation of the motor vehicle that depends on the at least one of the measured and the calculated operating parameters;

comparing, with the processor, a value of an error counter that corresponds to the determined operating situation to a limit value that corresponds to the determined operating situation;

estimating, with the processor, the mass of the motor vehicle based on an operating situation dependent pattern that corresponds to the determined operating situation, if the value of the error counter is lower than the limit value;

controlling the starting process of the motor vehicle as a function of the estimated mass of the motor vehicle;

calculating, with the processor, an actual mass of the motor vehicle following the estimation of the mass of the motor vehicle and comparing the estimated mass of the motor vehicle to the actual mass of the motor vehicle;

increasing the value of the error counter, if the estimated mass of the motor vehicle is outside a tolerance range of the actual mass of the motor vehicle; and

decreasing the value of the error counter, if the estimated mass of the motor vehicle is within the tolerance range of the actual mass of the motor vehicle.