Hybrid electric vehicle and method of path dependent receding horizon control

• US 8,612,077 B2
• Filed: 07/06/2011
• Issued: 12/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Phillips, Anthony Mark, Katsargyri, Georgia-Evangelia, Kuang, Ming Lang, Kolmanovsky, Ilya Vladimir, Michelini, John Ottavio, Dahleh, Munther Abdullah, Rinehart, Michael David
• Primary Examiner(s): Jabr, Fadey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jos, Basil T
• Application Number:
  US13/176,972
• Publication Number:
  US 20120010768A1
• Time in Patent Office: 895 Days
• Field of Search: 701/22, 701/36, 701 57- 58, 701/99, 701/104, 701/123, 701/467, 701/206, 180/65.29, 180/65.21, 180/65.265
• US Class Current: 701/22
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 15/2045 for optimising the use of energy
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/12 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/421 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/423 Torque
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/441 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/443 Torque
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/642 Slope of road
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/52 drive range estimation, e.g. of estimation of available travel distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/54 Energy consumption estimation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/16 with provision for separate direct mechanical propulsion
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/61 by batteries charged by engine-driven generators, e.g. series hybrid electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/13 Maintaining the SoC within a determined range
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/10 Controlling the power contribution of each of the prime movers to meet required power demand
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/12 using control strategies taking into account route information estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters B60W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/64 Electric machine technologies in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/84 : Data processing systems or methods, management, administration
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 : Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 : Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 903/903 : having energy storing means, e.g. battery, capacitor

Abstract

A path-dependent control of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) includes segmenting an original route into segments. A virtual route based on the remaining portion of the original route is generated once the HEV reaches a current segment of the original route. The virtual route includes a first segment corresponding to the current segment of the original route and a last segment representing at least two other segments of the remaining portion of the original route. Battery SoC set-points for the segments of the virtual route are generated. The vehicle is controlled according to the battery SoC set-point for the first segment of the virtual route as the vehicle travels along the current segment of the original route.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a controller configured to segment an original route into segments with each segment having a characteristic different than neighboring segments, generate a virtual route based on the remaining portion of the original route once a vehicle reaches a current segment of the original route, wherein the virtual route includes a first segment corresponding to the current segment and a virtual segment representing at least two other segments of the remaining portion of the original route, wherein the characteristic of the virtual segment is an average of the characteristics of the at least two other segments of the remaining portion of the original route;

the controller further configured to generate battery state-of-charge (SoC) set-points for the segments of the virtual route based on each of the characteristics of each of the segments of the virtual route including the first segment and the virtual segment and control the vehicle according to the battery SoC set-point for the first segment of the virtual route as the vehicle travels along the current segment.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the controller is further configured to repeat the generation of a virtual route based on the remaining portion of the original route as the vehicle reaches each new segment of the original route, repeat the generation of battery SoC set-points for the segments of each virtual route, and control the vehicle according to the battery SoC set-point for the first segment of each virtual route as the vehicle travels along each new segment of the original route.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the original route includes N segments and the virtual route includes n_c+1 segments, wherein N and n_c are integers;

wherein the controller is further configured to enable selection of the value of n_csubject to the constraint that N is greater than n_c.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein:

when n_c equals one, the n_c segment is the first segment of the virtual route and corresponds to the current segment of the original route and the n_c+1 segment of the virtual route is the last segment of the virtual route and represents the at least two other segments of the remaining portion of the original route.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein:

when n_c is greater than one, the n_c segments of the virtual route includes the first segment of the virtual route which corresponds to the current segment of the original route and the n_c+1 segment of the virtual route is the last segment of the virtual route which represents the last (N−

k−

n_c) segments of the remaining portion of the original route where k is the numerical order value of the current segment of the original route.

6. The system of claim 3 wherein:

the controller is configured to generate the battery SoC set-points for the segments of the virtual route such that the battery SoC set-point for the first segment of the virtual route is based on at least one of the length of each of the initial n_c segments and the last n_c+1 segment of the virtual route, the average vehicle speed along each of the initial n_c segments and the last n_c+1 segment of the virtual route, the average road grade of each of the initial n_c segments and the last n_c+1 segment of the virtual route, and the battery SoC at the beginning of each of the initial n_c+1 segments and the last n_c+1 segment of the virtual route.

7. The system of claim 3 wherein:

the controller is configured to repeat the generation of a virtual route based on the remaining portion of the original route once the vehicle reaches each new segment of the original route, repeat the generation of battery SoC set-points for the segments of each virtual route, and control the vehicle according to the battery SoC set-point for the first segment of each virtual route as the vehicle travels along each new segment of the original route;

wherein the controller is configured to terminate the repeating of the generation of a virtual route and battery SoC set-points once the vehicle reaches a new segment of the original route such that the remaining portion of the original route has n_c+1 segments.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the controller is configured to generate the battery SoC set-points for the segments of the virtual route such that the battery SoC set-point for the first segment of the virtual route is based on at least one of the length of each of the first and last segments of the virtual route, the average vehicle speed along each of the first and last segments of the virtual route, the average road grade of each of the first and last segments of the virtual route, and the battery SoC at the beginning of each of the first and last segments of the virtual route.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the controller is further configured to generate a second virtual route based on the remaining portion of the original route once the vehicle reaches the next segment of the original route, wherein the second virtual route includes a first segment corresponding to the next segment of the original route and a last segment representing at least two other segments of the remaining portion of the original route;

the controller is further configured to generate battery SoC set-points for the segments of the second virtual route; and

the controller is further configured to control the vehicle according to the battery SoC set-point for the first segment of the second virtual route as the vehicle travels along the next segment of the original route.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the characteristic of each segment pertains to vehicle speed such that each segment is associated with a different vehicle speed than neighboring segments.