Process, apparatus, media and signals for controlling operating conditions of a hybrid electric vehicle to optimize operating characteristics of the vehicle

• US 20030173126A1
• Filed: 03/15/2002
• Published: 09/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Hybrid Technologies, LLC
• Original Assignee: Azure Dynamics Incorporated
• Inventors: Gosselin, Robert Michael
• Granted Patent: US 6,879,054 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 180/65.3
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/48 Parallel type
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 15/2045 for optimising the use of energy
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/70 Interactions with external data bases, e.g. traffic centres
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/00 Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L
• 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 2050/0025 Transfer function weighting factor
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/0644 Engine speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/086 Power
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/024 in which a parameter or coefficient is automatically adjusted to optimise the performance
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 Engine management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/64 Electric machine technologies in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

Process, apparatus, media and signals are disclosed for controlling a supply of power from an electric generator in a hybrid electric vehicle having a prime mover supplying mechanical energy to the generator. The process carried out by the apparatus and defined by codes on the media and in codes in the signals involves locating, from among a plurality of sets of vehicle operating conditions associated with a requested generator power value, an optimal set of operating conditions that optimizes operating characteristics of the vehicle and producing signals for controlling the prime mover and the generator to operate the vehicle at the optimal set of operating conditions, to supply power at the requested generator power value. The present invention also provides a way of producing vehicle performance records for use in producing signals for controlling the prime mover and the generator to achieve the optimized operating characteristics.

Claims

1. A process for controlling operating conditions of a hybrid electric vehicle to optimize operating characteristics of the vehicle, the process comprising:

locating, from among a plurality of sets of vehicle operating conditions associated with a requested generator power value, an optimal set of operating conditions that optimizes operating characteristics of the vehicle; and

producing signals for controlling a prime mover of the vehicle and a generator driven by the prime mover to operate the vehicle at said optimal set of operating conditions, to supply power at said requested generator power value.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein locating comprises finding an optimal set of operating characteristics, associated with operating conditions associated with said requested power value, that provides a minimal value in a function of said operating characteristics that is less than values produced by other sets of operating characteristics associated with other operating conditions associated with said requested power value.

3. The process of claim 2 wherein locating further comprises subjecting the operating characteristics of a plurality of different operating conditions associated with said requested power value to said function.

4. The process of claim 3 wherein subjecting comprises subjecting said operating characteristics to a weighted function.

5. The process of claim 4 further comprising selecting weights used in said function according to operating mode of the vehicle.

6. The process of claim 2 wherein producing comprises producing said signals in response to a set of operating conditions associated with said optimal set of operating characteristics.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein locating comprises locating a set of vehicle operating characteristics associated with said requested generator power value.

8. The process of claim 7 wherein locating comprises locating a vehicle performance record having a field containing said requested generator power value and fields containing values identifying operating conditions under which said requested generator power can be produced and fields containing values identifying operating characteristics of the vehicle when the vehicle is operated at said operating conditions.

9. The process of claim 7 wherein locating comprises calculating an optimization index for each set of vehicle operating characteristics associated with said requested generator power value.

10. The process of claim 9 wherein calculating an optimization index comprises calculating a cost value as a function of a weighted sum of normalized operating characteristic values.

11. The process of claim 10 further comprising selecting weights for use in calculating said weighted sum, in response to an operating mode of the vehicle.

12. The process of claim 9 wherein locating comprises identifying the best optimization index.

13. The process of claim 12 wherein identifying the best optimization index comprises finding the optimization index with the lowest number.

14. The process of claim 12 wherein locating comprises identifying a set of operating conditions associated with vehicle operating characteristics that produced said best optimization index.

15. The process of claim 14 wherein producing said signals comprises producing a speed signal for setting an angular speed of the prime mover and producing a torque signal for setting a torque burden on the generator.

16. An apparatus for controlling operating conditions of a hybrid electric vehicle to optimize operating characteristics of the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a power request processor operable to locate, from among a plurality of sets of vehicle operating conditions associated with a requested generator power value, an optimal set of operating conditions that optimizes operating characteristics of the vehicle; and

a control signal generator operable to produce signals for controlling a prime mover of the vehicle and a generator driven by the prime mover to operate the vehicle at said optimal set of operating conditions, to supply power at said requested generator power value.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a locator operable to locate an optimal set of operating characteristics, associated with operating conditions associated with said requested power value, that provides a minimal value in a function of said operating characteristics that is less than values produced by other sets of operating characteristics associated with other operating conditions associated with said requested power value.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising a device operable to subject the operating characteristics associated with a plurality of different operating conditions associated with said requested power, it value to said function.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein said device is operable to subject said operating characteristics to a weighted function.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising a selector operable to select weights used in said function according to the operating mode of the vehicle.

21. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said control signal generator is operable to produce said signals in response to a set of operating conditions associated with said optimal set of operating characteristics.

22. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said request processor comprises a processor circuit.

23. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a locator operable to locate a set of vehicle operating characteristics associated with said requested generator power value.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said locator comprises a processor circuit.

25. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said locator is operable to locate a vehicle performance record having a field containing said requested generator power value and fields containing values identifying operating conditions under which said requested generator power can be produced and fields containing values identifying operating characteristics of the vehicle when the vehicle is operated at said operating conditions.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising a computation device operable to calculate an optimization index for each set of vehicle operating characteristics associated with said requested generator power value.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein said computation device comprises a processor circuit.

28. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein said computation device is operable to calculate a cost value as a function of a weighted sum of normalized operating characteristic values.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 further comprising a selector operable to select weights for use in calculating said weighted sum, in response to an operating mode of the vehicle.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said selector comprises a processor circuit.

31. The apparatus of claim 26 further comprising an identifier operable to identify the best optimization index.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein said identifier comprises a processor circuit.

33. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein said identifier is operable to find the optimization index with the lowest number.

34. The apparatus of claim 31 further comprising a device operable to identify a set of operating conditions associated with the vehicle operating characteristics that produced said best optimization index.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said device comprises a processor circuit.

36. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said control signal generator is operable to produce a speed signal for setting an angular speed of the prime mover and produce a torque signal for setting a torque burden on the generator in response to said set of operating conditions associated with the vehicle operating characteristics that produced said best optimization index.

37. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein said control signal generator comprises a processor circuit.

38. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a database interface facilitating communication between said request processor and a database storing said sets of vehicle operating conditions

39. An apparatus for controlling operating conditions of a hybrid electric vehicle to optimize operating characteristics of the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

means for locating, from among a plurality of sets of vehicle operating conditions associated with a requested generator power value, an optimal set of operating conditions that optimizes the operating characteristics of the vehicle; and

means for producing signals for controlling a prime mover of the vehicle and a generator to operate the vehicle at said optimal set of operating conditions to supply power at said requested generator power value.

40. A computer readable medium for providing instructions that cause a processor circuit to control operating conditions of a hybrid electric vehicle to optimize operating characteristics of the vehicle, the instructions comprising:

codes for directing the processor circuit to locate, from among a plurality of sets of vehicle operating conditions associated with a requested generator power value, an optimal set of operating conditions that optimizes the operating characteristics of the vehicle; and

codes for directing the processor circuit to produce signals for controlling a primer mover of the vehicle and a generator driven by the prime mover to operate the vehicle at said optimal set of operating conditions to supply power at said requested generator power value.

41. A computer data signal for providing instructions that cause a processor circuit to control operating conditions of a hybrid electric vehicle to optimize operating characteristics of the vehicle, the signal comprising:

a code segment operable to direct the processor circuit to locate, from among a plurality of sets of vehicle operating conditions associated with a requested generator power value, an optimal set of operating conditions that optimizes the operating characteristics of the vehicle; and

a code segment operable to direct the processor circuit to produce signals for controlling a primer mover of the vehicle and a generator driven by the prime mover to operate the vehicle at said optimal set of operating conditions to supply power at said requested generator power value.

42. A method of producing a record for use in controlling a supply of power from an electric generator powered by a prime mover in a hybrid electric vehicle, the method comprising:

associating a set of operating characteristics of the vehicle known to occur when the vehicle is operated under certain operating conditions, with respective power values approximately equal to the actual power produced by the generator when the generator is operated under operating conditions approximately equal to said certain operating conditions.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein associating comprises quantizing to a pre-defined resolution a plurality of actual generator output power values associated with respective sets of operating conditions to produce a plurality of quantized generator output power values.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein associating comprises grouping said sets of operating conditions according to respective corresponding quantized generator output power values.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein associating comprises, for each set of operating conditions associated with a quantized generator output power value finding a set of operating characteristic values closest to a set of operating conditions associated with a quantized generator TI output power value.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein finding a set of operating characteristic values comprises interpolating said set of operating characteristic values from a set of operating characteristic values associated with said certain operating conditions.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein associating comprises normalizing the found set of operating characteristic values to produce a set of normalized operating characteristic values.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein associating comprises associating said set of normalized operating characteristic values with operating conditions associated with a quantized generator output power value.

49. An apparatus for producing a record for use in controlling a supply of power from an electric generator powered by a prime mover of a hybrid electric vehicle the apparatus comprising:

a processor circuit configured to associate a set of operating characteristics of the vehicle known to occur when the vehicle is operating under certain operating conditions, with respective power values approximately equal to the actual power produced by the generator when the generator is operated under operating conditions approximately equal to said certain operating conditions.

50. The apparatus of claim 49 wherein said processor circuit is configured to quantize to a pre-defined power resolution a plurality of actual generator output power values associated with respective sets of operating conditions to produce a plurality of quantized generator output power values.

51. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein said processor circuit is configured to group said sets of operating conditions according to respective corresponding quantized generator output power values.

52. The apparatus of claim 51 wherein said processor circuit is configured to, for each set of operating conditions associated with a quantized generator output power value, find a set of operating characteristic values closest to said each set of operating conditions.

53. The apparatus of claim 52 wherein said processor circuit is configured to interpolate said set of operating characteristic values from a set of operating characteristic values associated with said certain operating conditions.

54. The apparatus of claim 53 wherein said processor circuit is configured to normalize the found set of operating characteristic values to produce a set of normalized operating characteristic values.

55. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein said processor circuit is configured to associate said set of normalized operating characteristic values with operating conditions associated with a quantized generator output power value.

56. A computer readable medium operable to provide codes for directing a processor circuit to control a supply of power from an electric generator powered by a prime mover in a hybrid electric vehicle, by:

associating a set of operating characteristics of the vehicle known to occur when the vehicle is operated under certain operating conditions, with respective power values approximately equal to the actual power produced by the generator when the generator is operated under operating conditions approximately equal to said certain operating conditions.

57. A data signal operable to provide codes for directing a processor circuit to control a supply of power from an electric generator powered by a prime mover in a hybrid electric vehicle, said data signal comprising:

a signal segment providing codes for directing a processor circuit to associate a set of operating characteristics of the vehicle known to occur when the vehicle is operated under certain operating conditions, with respective power values approximately equal to the actual power produced by the generator when the generator is operated under operating conditions approximately equal to said certain operating conditions.

58. A database structure for storing records for use in controlling the operation of a hybrid electric vehicle having an electric generator driven by a prime mover of the electric vehicle, the database structure comprising:

means for storing a given generator output power value, means for associating a set of operating characteristics of the vehicle known to occur when the vehicle is operated under certain operating conditions, with respective power values approximately equal to the actual power produced by the generator when the generator is operated under operating conditions approximately equal to said certain operating conditions.