Vehicle control apparatus and method
First Claim
1. Apparatus for controlling a land vehicle, comprising:
- a programmable controller including stored therein data representative of a reference model of the vehicle'"'"'s performance, said data including vehicle tractive efficiency data which includes parameters on traction characteristics of a vehicle having a chosen wheel and tire combination when moving on a selected land surface;
a slave controller operatively connectable to each of a plurality of controllable sub-systems of a said vehicle, and operatively connected to the programmable controller;
one or more sensors, operatively connected to the programmable controller, for detecting the performance of said controllable sub-systems; and
a comparator for comparing the detected performance of the said controllable sub-systems and the reference model, the controller being operable to control the said sub-systems in dependence on an output of the comparator, characterised in that the reference model is a steady-state model, whereby to permit co-ordinated, automated control of all the said sub-systems.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In the field of agricultural tractor and implement combinations, there have been numerous attempts at improving the efficiency of isolated sub-systems such as the engine, the implement control and the transmission. Such sub-systems have individually successfully been automated, but previous attempts to automate the entire control of a tractor during eg. plowing operations have previously failed. Accordingly, a control apparatus has been provided for a tractor/implement combination to include a control apparatus comprising a plurality of microprocessors. The microprocessors are arranged in a hierarchical control strategy that includes a steady state reference model of various performance parameters of the tractor/implement combination. The tractor/implement combination can therefore be controlled in an automated, integrated way such that the tractor operator does not have to operate any of the sub-systems while maximizing the performance against a chosen criterion such as minimum fuel consumption or maximum work rate.
-
Citations
45 Claims
-
1. Apparatus for controlling a land vehicle, comprising:
-
a programmable controller including stored therein data representative of a reference model of the vehicle'"'"'s performance, said data including vehicle tractive efficiency data which includes parameters on traction characteristics of a vehicle having a chosen wheel and tire combination when moving on a selected land surface; a slave controller operatively connectable to each of a plurality of controllable sub-systems of a said vehicle, and operatively connected to the programmable controller; one or more sensors, operatively connected to the programmable controller, for detecting the performance of said controllable sub-systems; and a comparator for comparing the detected performance of the said controllable sub-systems and the reference model, the controller being operable to control the said sub-systems in dependence on an output of the comparator, characterised in that the reference model is a steady-state model, whereby to permit co-ordinated, automated control of all the said sub-systems. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. A method of controlling an agricultural tractor, including an adjustable, vehicle-powered soil tillage implement, comprising the steps of:
-
initiating a control apparatus having a programmable controller including stored therein data representative of a reference model of the vehicle'"'"'s performance; a slave controller operatively connectable to each of a plurality of controllable sub-systems of a said vehicle, and operatively connected to the programmable controller; one or more sensors, operatively connected to the programmable controller, for detecting the performance of said controllable sub-systems; and a comparator for comparing the detected performance of the said controllable sub-systems and the reference model, the controller being operable to control the said sub-systems in dependence on an output of the comparator, characterized in that the reference model is a steady-state model, whereby to permit co-ordinated, automated control of all the said sub-systems; inputting to the control apparatus a set value of an adjustable characteristic of or associated with the implement, said adjustable characteristic being the tilling depth of the implement below a soil surface level; and operating the vehicle under control of the control apparatus, the control apparatus maintaining the adjustable characteristic of the implement at said set value while simultaneously automatically adjusting one or more sub-systems of the vehicle to optimize a performance parameter thereof. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
-
Specification