Vehicle Mass Computation

• US 20140244120A1
• Filed: 02/28/2013
• Published: 08/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Fujii, Yuji, Kapas, Nimrod, Kucharski, Joseph F., Yanakiev, Diana, Tseng, Eric Hongtei, Lu, Jianbo, Pietron, Gregory Michael
• Granted Patent: US 10,166,980 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/58
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/11 Stepped gearings
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0088 Adaptive recalibration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2400/00 Indexing codes relating to detected, measured or calculated conditions or factors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/22 Strain gauge
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0657 Engine torque
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/30 Wheel torque
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/10 Weight
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/13 Load or weight
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention

Abstract

A vehicle having a drivetrain is controlled based on a difference between a torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle has constant non-zero speed and the torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle is accelerating. The drivetrain torque may be measured by a drivetrain torque sensor. The effective vehicle mass is computed from the torque difference. The computed mass of the vehicle is used to adjust the activation of a collision warning system or a collision avoidance system. A method of operating a vehicle where the activation of a collision avoidance system is adjusted based on a difference between a torque transmitted by a drivetrain when the vehicle has constant non-zero speed and the torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle is accelerating is disclosed. The torque difference is used to compute a vehicle mass that is used to adjust a collision warning distance.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

a drivetrain; and

at least one controller programmed to control operation of the vehicle based on a torque transmitted by the drivetrain measured when the vehicle has constant non-zero speed and the torque transmitted by the drivetrain measured when the vehicle is accelerating.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein controlling operation of the vehicle based on a torque transmitted by the drivetrain measured when the vehicle has constant non-zero speed and the torque transmitted by the drivetrain measured when the vehicle is accelerating includes computing a mass of the vehicle based on the measured torques.

3. The vehicle of claim 2 wherein computing a mass of the vehicle based on the measured torques includes taking a difference between the measured torques.

4. The vehicle of claim 2 further comprising a collision avoidance system, wherein controlling operation of the vehicle includes adjusting an activation of the collision avoidance system based on the mass of the vehicle.

5. The vehicle of claim 2 further comprising a collision warning system, wherein controlling operation of the vehicle includes adjusting an activation of the collision warning system based on the mass of the vehicle.

6. A vehicle comprising:

a drivetrain; and

at least one controller programmed to control operation of the vehicle based on a difference between a torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle has constant non-zero speed and the torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle is accelerating.

7. The vehicle of claim 6 further comprising a torque sensor operatively arranged with the at least one controller and configured to measure the torques.

8. The vehicle of claim 6 wherein controlling operation of the vehicle based on a difference between a torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle has constant non-zero speed and the torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle is accelerating includes computing a mass of the vehicle based on the difference between the torques.

9. The vehicle of claim 8 further comprising a collision avoidance system, wherein controlling operating of the vehicle includes adjusting an activation of the collision avoidance system based on the mass of the vehicle.

10. The vehicle of claim 8 further comprising a collision warning system, wherein controlling operation of the vehicle includes adjusting an activation of the collision warning system based on the mass of the vehicle.

11. A method for operating a vehicle comprising:

adjusting an activation of a collision avoidance system based on a difference between a torque transmitted by a drivetrain when the vehicle has constant non-zero speed and the torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle is accelerating.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein a difference between a torque transmitted by a drivetrain when the vehicle has constant non-zero speed and the torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle is accelerating is used to compute a mass of the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising adjusting a collision warning distance based on the mass of the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising generating a driver warning when an actual distance to an obstacle is less than the collision warning distance.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising decelerating the vehicle when an actual distance to an obstacle is less than the collision warning distance.