Method of controlling a vehicle based on operation characteristics

• US 7,899,584 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2007
• Issued: 03/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Inventors: Schricker, David R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Broadhead; Brian J
• Application Number:
  US11/711,790
• Publication Number:
  US 20080208393A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,462 Days
• Field of Search: 701/50, 701/65, 701/55, 701/56
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

A method of controlling a vehicle includes determining an operation assigned to the vehicle along at least one segment of a route assigned to the vehicle and determining at least one control parameter of the vehicle based on at least one operation characteristic. The at least one operation characteristic relates to the operation assigned to the vehicle. The at least one control parameter is determined before operating the vehicle on the assigned route.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a vehicle, comprising:

determining an operation assigned to the vehicle along at least one segment of a route assigned to the vehicle;

determining at least one control parameter of the vehicle based on at least one operation characteristic, the at least one operation characteristic relating to the operation assigned to the vehicle and wherein the at least one operation characteristic includes at least one route characteristic of the assigned route, the at least one route characteristic relating to at least one of location, road grade, total effective grade, and moisture of the assigned route, the at least one control parameter being determined before operating the vehicle on the assigned route;

storing the at least one route characteristic in memory of an off-board computer system, the at least one control parameter being determined using the off-board computer system;

transmitting the at least one control parameter to the vehicle; and

operating the vehicle to execute the operation assigned to the vehicle, including implementing the at least one control parameter.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein operating the vehicle to execute the operation assigned to the vehicle, including implementing the at least one control parameter includes overriding a local control command.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one operation characteristic further includes a measured payload amount.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one control parameter includes at least one of a shift strategy, an engine speed, a hydraulic motor speed, a strategy for managing parasitic loads, or a strategy for managing fuel injection in an engine of the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one control parameter includes a shift strategy, and the method further includes:

determining a shift strategy for each of a plurality of different payload amounts; and

determining an applied shift strategy based on the determined shift strategies and a measured payload amount.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one control parameter is determined using an optimization algorithm, the optimization algorithm determining the at least one control parameter based on at least one of a target number of shifts, a target vehicle speed, a target cycle time, or a target amount of fuel consumed.

7. The method of claim 1, further including:

updating the operation characteristic; and

updating the at least one control parameter of the vehicle based on the updated operation characteristic.

8. A system for controlling a vehicle, comprising:

a controller and memory coupled to the controller, the controller configured to;

determine an operation assigned to the vehicle along at least one segment of a route assigned to the vehicle,

determine at least one control parameter of the vehicle based on at least one operation characteristic before the vehicle operates on the assigned route, the at least one operation characteristic relating to the operation assigned to the vehicle, the determination of the at least one control parameter including determining a reduction in power consumption by one or more parasitic loads during at least one portion of the assigned operation to free up power for other loads; and

implement the determined reduction in power consumption by the one or more parasitic loads during operation of the vehicle to free up power for other loads.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one operation characteristic includes at least one route characteristic of the assigned route, the at least one route characteristic relating to at least one of location, road grade, total effective grade, and moisture of the assigned route.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the controller and memory are disposed in an off-board computer system.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the at least one control parameter includes a shift strategy; and

the controller is further configured to determine a shift strategy for each of a plurality of different payload amounts.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the controller is disposed in an off-board computer system, and the controller is further configured to:

determine a target shift strategy based on the determined shift strategies, and

transmit the target shift strategy to the vehicle.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein:

the controller is disposed in an off-board computer system, and the controller of the off-board computer system is configured to transmit the determined shift strategies and associated payload amounts to the vehicle; and

a controller in the vehicle is configured to determine a target shift strategy based on the determined shift strategies.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the controller in the vehicle is configured to determine the target shift strategy based on the determined shift strategies and a measured payload amount.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein implementing the determined reduction in power consumption by the one or more parasitic loads during operation of the vehicle to free up power for other loads includes freeing up power for propulsion of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein the vehicle is at least one of a truck, a crane, an earth moving machine, a mining vehicle, material handling equipment, and a loader.

17. A method of controlling a vehicle, comprising:

determining at least one control parameter of the vehicle associated with each of a plurality of payload amounts, the at least one control parameter being associated with an operation of the vehicle along at least one segment of a route of the vehicle;

selecting a desired payload amount for the operation of the vehicle along the at least one segment of the route of the vehicle, including selecting the desired payload amount based on at least one operation characteristic relating to the route of the vehicle;

determining a target control parameter based at least in part on the at least one determined control parameter and the desired payload amount; and

implementing the target control parameter during operation of the vehicle.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the determination of the at least one control parameter associated with each of the plurality of payload amounts occurs before operating the vehicle along the route.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the at least one control parameter associated with each of the plurality of payload amounts includes a shift strategy;

the shift strategy is determined for each of the payload amounts; and

the method further includes determining a target shift strategy.

20. The method of claim 17, further including:

measuring an actual payload amount; and

wherein determining a target control parameter based at least in part on the determined control parameters and the desired payload amount includes determining the target control parameter based on the determined control parameters, the desired payload amount, and the measured payload amount.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein selecting the desired payload amount based on at least one operation characteristic relating to the route of the vehicle includes selecting the desired payload amount based on at least one of location, road grade, total effective grade, and moisture of the route of the vehicle.