Autonomous driving with dynamic skip fire
First Claim
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1. A method of controlling the operation of an engine, the method comprising:
- determining a desired engine torque;
determining a proposed effective operational displacement from a plurality of potentially available effective operational displacements suitable for delivering the desired engine torque, the proposed effective operational displacement being the most fuel efficient effective operational displacement among the plurality of potentially available effective operational displacements;
determining whether there is an alternative effective operational displacement available that is capable of delivering an alternative engine torque that has a better associated fuel economy than delivering the desired engine torque at the proposed effective displacement, the alternative engine torque being different than the desired engine torque but within a designated range of the desired engine torque; and
when it is determined that an alternative engine torque that is within the designated range of the desired engine torque exists that has better fuel economy than the desired engine torque, determining whether the alternative engine torque is suitable for current use, and if so, directing operation of the engine to operate at the alternative effective operational displacement to deliver the alternative engine torque.
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Abstract
The present invention relates generally to techniques for improving fuel efficiency of a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine capable of operating at various displacement levels. An autonomous driving unit or cruise controller selects when possible an engine torque output that corresponds to a fuel efficient displacement level. The resultant vehicle speed profile and NVH level is acceptable to vehicle occupants.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method of controlling the operation of an engine, the method comprising:
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determining a desired engine torque; determining a proposed effective operational displacement from a plurality of potentially available effective operational displacements suitable for delivering the desired engine torque, the proposed effective operational displacement being the most fuel efficient effective operational displacement among the plurality of potentially available effective operational displacements; determining whether there is an alternative effective operational displacement available that is capable of delivering an alternative engine torque that has a better associated fuel economy than delivering the desired engine torque at the proposed effective displacement, the alternative engine torque being different than the desired engine torque but within a designated range of the desired engine torque; and when it is determined that an alternative engine torque that is within the designated range of the desired engine torque exists that has better fuel economy than the desired engine torque, determining whether the alternative engine torque is suitable for current use, and if so, directing operation of the engine to operate at the alternative effective operational displacement to deliver the alternative engine torque. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of controlling the operation of an engine, the method comprising:
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determining a desired engine torque; determining a proposed effective operational displacement from a plurality of potentially available effective operational displacements suitable for delivering the desired engine torque, the proposed effective operational displacement being the most fuel efficient effective operational displacement among the plurality of available effective operational displacements; determining whether there is an alternative effective operational displacement that is capable of delivering an alternative engine torque that is within a designated range of the desired engine torque with better fuel economy than would be provided by operation at the proposed effective operational displacement, the alternative engine torque being different than the desired engine torque; and when it is determined that an alternative effective operational displacement that is capable of delivering an alternative engine torque that is within the designated range of the desired torque with better fuel economy than the desired engine torque exists, determining whether the alternative engine torque is suitable for use under current operating conditions, and if so, directing operation of the engine at the alternative effective operational displacement to deliver the alternative engine torque, wherein the designated range does not exceed 5% of the desired engine torque such that the alternative effective operational displacement is capable of delivering at least 95% of the desired engine torque. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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Specification