Apparatus and method of controlling a robot to automatically simulate driving of a motorcar
First Claim
1. A method of controlling a robot for simulating driving of a motorcar having an engine with a variable-position throttle and a change-speed transmission connecting said engine to a driving road wheel of said motorcar, said robot to control said throttle, said method including the steps of:
- operating said motorcar at a first selected indicated road speed and first rate of acceleration with said change-speed transmission in a selected gear thereof and noting a first position of said throttle required to maintain said first speed and rate of acceleration;
operating said motorcar at a second selected indicated road speed and second rate of acceleration with said change-speed transmission in said selected gear thereof and noting a second position of said throttle which is required to maintain said second speed and rate of acceleration;
taking as a first difference value the difference between said second and said first throttle positions, and taking as a second difference value the difference between said second rate of acceleration and said first rate of acceleration;
comparing said first and second difference values to determine a gain value; and
using said gain value to control positioning of said throttle by said robot.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for controlling a robot to simulate driving of a motor vehicle while the vehicle is actually on a chassis dynamometer includes provision for quickly, automatically, and accurately determining an accelerator gain factor to be used by the robot in actuating the accelerator of the motor vehicle to achieve predetermined vehicle speeds and accelerations. As a result, the simulated driving of the motor vehicle can be achieved so that the vehicle may be tested according to a predetermined travel pattern. To determine the accelerator gain, a proportional gain is determined on the basis of differences in incremental accelerator openings and resulting accelerations'"'"'s while the motor vehicle is in a selected transmission gear. A product of the gain multiplied by a coefficient based on the various transmission ratios available is used as the accelerator gain dependent upon the particular transmission ratio selected during a test sequence.
16 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of controlling a robot for simulating driving of a motorcar having an engine with a variable-position throttle and a change-speed transmission connecting said engine to a driving road wheel of said motorcar, said robot to control said throttle, said method including the steps of:
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operating said motorcar at a first selected indicated road speed and first rate of acceleration with said change-speed transmission in a selected gear thereof and noting a first position of said throttle required to maintain said first speed and rate of acceleration; operating said motorcar at a second selected indicated road speed and second rate of acceleration with said change-speed transmission in said selected gear thereof and noting a second position of said throttle which is required to maintain said second speed and rate of acceleration; taking as a first difference value the difference between said second and said first throttle positions, and taking as a second difference value the difference between said second rate of acceleration and said first rate of acceleration; comparing said first and second difference values to determine a gain value; and
using said gain value to control positioning of said throttle by said robot. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of controlling a robot to simulate driving of a motorcar, the robot controlling a throttle of the motorcar, said method including the steps of:
- while the motorcar is in a selected gear accelerating the motorcar at differing rates of acceleration and noting the throttle positions required to achieve each rate of acceleration, determining a proportional gain on the basis of the differences in degree of opening of said throttle and the differences in acceleration, and using as a gain of the robot a product of the obtained proportionate gain multiplied by a coefficient based on a transmission ratio of the motorcar.
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11. Apparatus for controlling the throttle position of a motorcar to simulate driving of the motorcar, said apparatus including;
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a controller providing an output signal indicative of a chosen traveling pattern for said motorcar; a throttle position actuator positioning said motorcar throttle in response to said output signal; an operating circuit receiving an indication of said throttle position of said motorcar, of the speed of operation of an engine of said motorcar, of the indicated road speed of said motorcar, and of the rate of acceleration of said motorcar; first and second memories providing a first difference signal indicative of the difference in throttle positions of said motorcar to operate at respective first and second speeds and rates of acceleration; third and forth memories providing a second difference signal indicative of the difference in said first and second rates of acceleration; a proportional gain generator providing a gain signal in response to said first and second difference signals; and a multiplier multiplying said gain signal by a value indicative of a transmission gear ratio of said motorcar to provide a gain product value which is used by said throttle position actuator as a correction value in setting said throttle position. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification