Vehicle transmission shift quality

• US 7,390,284 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2002
• Issued: 06/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricardo UK Limited (Ricardo PLC)
• Original Assignee: Ricardo UK Limited (Ricardo PLC)
• Inventors: Wheals, Jonathan Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): PANG, ROGER L
• Application Number:
  US10/477,245
• Publication Number:
  US 20040242374A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,234 Days
• Field of Search: 477/97, 477/115, 477/120, 477/902, 701/55, 701/58, 701/59, 701/60, 180/272
• US Class Current: 477/115
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/02 including control of driveline clutches
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/11 Stepped gearings
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0029 Mathematical model of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0031 Mathematical model of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0638 Engine speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0657 Engine torque
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/22 Psychological state; Stress level or workload
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/221 Physiology, e.g. weight, heartbeat, health or special needs
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18 Propelling the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 17/03 driven by electric motors
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 17/05 driven by internal-combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2061/0034 Accumulators for fluid pressure supply; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2061/0071 Robots or simulators for testing control functions in automatic transmission testing of transmissions G01M13/02
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2061/0084 Neural networks
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 61/0025 Supply of control fluid; Pumps therefore
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 61/0437 by using electrical signals F16H61/0403 and F16H61/061 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 Engine management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/19251 Control mechanism

Abstract

A vehicle powertrain modelling system includes a powertrain model (20), a vehicle model (30), a seat model (55), a driver model (60) and a correlation element (50) comprising a neural network. As a result vehicle development is enhanced, using the neural network (50) to correlate modelled shift aspects with previous subjectively obtained ratings.

Claims

1. A vehicle powertrain modeling system for modeling the performance of a vehicle during a gear shift, the system comprising:

(a) a transmission shift parameter model element representing powertrain factors affecting shift quality;

(b) a vehicle model element representing the dynamics/physical characteristics of the vehicle under consideration;

(c) a driver parameter model element representing driver subjectivity during a particular gear shift, wherein a PID control technique is used to derive a metric associated with the neuromuscular feedback required by the driver to maintain seated posture during a particular gear shift; and

(d) a correlation element to correlate data from said model elements with ratings of gear shift quality, wherein gear shift quality is the performance of the vehicle during a gear shift as perceived by the driver of the vehicle.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the correlation element comprises a neural network.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the transmission shift parameter model element comprises as parameters at least one of engine torque, engine speed, control of clutch(es), control of transmission engagement actuators, control of active dampers to control chassis pitch, control of active driver seat ergonomics.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the driver parameter model element comprises as parameters at least one of shift time, pitch, longitudinal acceleration or jerk at the seat rail and/or pressure acting on the driver'"'"'s body, shear forces, head pitch, trunk pitch about the hip axis, engine speed change, aural cues or neuromuscular effort at the neck.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a vehicle maneuver element, defined in terms of at least one of vehicle speed, vehicle acceleration, and specified transmission shift.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the vehicle transmission is a stepped ratio transmission.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the stepped ratio transmission is an AMT transmission.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is configured for measuring or modeling the forces experienced by the driver during a gear shift, and to output a rating for the quality of said gear shift in relation to an ideal or desired force profile for said driver during said gear shift.

9. A method of modeling a vehicle transmission comprising the steps of designating a vehicle maneuver including a particular gear shift, vehicle speed and longitudinal acceleration, modeling associated transmission shift parameters, modeling associated driver parameters, and correlating the modeled parameters with ratings of gear shift quality, wherein the gear shift quality is the performance of the vehicle during a gear shift as perceived by the driver of the vehicle, the method including an assessment of driver subjectivity during a particular gear shift using a PID control technique to derive a metric associated with the neuromuscular feedback required by a driver to maintain seated posture during a particular gear shift.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the correlating the modeled parameters further comprises measuring or modeling the forces experienced by the driver during a gear shift, and outputting a rating for the quality of said gear shift in relation to an ideal or desired force profile for said driver during said gear shift.

11. A system for modeling vehicle driver subjectivity during a particular gear shift, the system comprising a PID controller for deriving a metric associated with the neuromuscular feedback required by the driver to maintain seated posture during a particular gear shift as part of an assessment of gear shift quality, wherein gear shift quality is the performance of the vehicle during a gear shift as perceived by the driver of the vehicle.