Terrain-based vehicle speed control and system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A control system for a motor vehicle, characterized by:
- the system being operable in an automatic mode selection condition in which the system is configured to;
receive a plurality of terrain indicator signals from a plurality of vehicle sensors, said terrain indicator signals representative of a variety of different parameters associated with vehicle motion and status,automatically determine, in dependence on said terrain indicator signals, a terrain over which the vehicle is travelling, andselect automatically an appropriate system operating mode from a plurality of operating modes in dependence on the determined terrain, whereby the system assumes operation in said system operating mode,the system being further configured to allow activation of a Hill Descent Control (HDC) system configured to automatically control the speed of the vehicle to maintain substantially constant speed when descending an incline,wherein when the HDC system is actively controlling the speed of the vehicle the system is configured automatically to suspend changes in the automatically selected system operating mode.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide a control system for a motor vehicle, the system being operable in an automatic mode selection condition in which the system is configured to select automatically an appropriate system operating mode whereby the system assumes operation in said system operating mode, the system being further configured to allow activation of an automatic progress control function in which a speed of the vehicle over terrain is controlled automatically by the system, wherein when the automatic progress control function is active the system is configured automatically to suspend changes in the selected system operating mode.
10 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A control system for a motor vehicle, characterized by:
-
the system being operable in an automatic mode selection condition in which the system is configured to; receive a plurality of terrain indicator signals from a plurality of vehicle sensors, said terrain indicator signals representative of a variety of different parameters associated with vehicle motion and status, automatically determine, in dependence on said terrain indicator signals, a terrain over which the vehicle is travelling, and select automatically an appropriate system operating mode from a plurality of operating modes in dependence on the determined terrain, whereby the system assumes operation in said system operating mode, the system being further configured to allow activation of a Hill Descent Control (HDC) system configured to automatically control the speed of the vehicle to maintain substantially constant speed when descending an incline, wherein when the HDC system is actively controlling the speed of the vehicle the system is configured automatically to suspend changes in the automatically selected system operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method of controlling a vehicle system to operate in an automatic mode selection condition implemented by a controller, when the system is operating in the automatic mode selection condition the method comprising:
-
receiving a plurality of terrain indicator signals from a plurality of vehicle sensors, said terrain indicator signals representative of a variety of different parameters associated with vehicle motion and status; automatically determining, in dependence on said terrain indicator signals, a terrain over which the vehicle is travelling; and selecting automatically by said controller an appropriate system operating mode in dependence on the determined terrain, whereby the system assumes operation in the selected mode, the method further comprising activating a Hill Descent Control (HDC) system configured to automatically control the speed of the vehicle to maintain a substantially constant speed when descending an incline, whereby when the HDC system is actively controlling the speed of the vehicle the method comprises suspending automatically changes in the automatically selected system operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (16)
-
Specification