METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING A RANGE OF A VEHICLE

• US 20140005879A1
• Filed: 10/20/2011
• Published: 01/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Poechmueller, Werner, Kobiela, Fanny, Laedke, Michael, Stuebner, Guido, Engelsberg, Andreas, Rentel, Bettina, Mausbach, Thorsten
• Granted Patent: US 9,785,612 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/26 Vehicle weight
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/64 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/52 drive range estimation, e.g. of estimation of available travel distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/10 Weight
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/20 Road profile, i.e. the change in elevation or curvature of a plurality of continuous road segments
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18127 Regenerative braking
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0097 Predicting future conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/086 wherein the vehicle mass is dynamically estimated
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• 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

A method for determining a range of a vehicle, the vehicle having an electric motor to supply driving power and/or to recuperate braking energy, and a weight of the vehicle is determined on the basis of an acceleration and/or recuperation behavior as a function of a torque and/or a rotational speed of the electric motor, the range of the vehicle being determined on the basis of the ascertained vehicle weight.

Claims

1-14. -14. (canceled)

15. A method for determining a range of a vehicle, the vehicle having an electric motor at least one of to provide driving power and to recover braking energy, the method comprising:

determining a weight of the vehicle as a function of at least one of;

i) an acceleration behavior, and ii) a recuperation behavior, iii) a machine torque, and iv) a rotational speed of the electric motor; and

determining the range of the vehicle on the basis of the determined vehicle weight.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the range is additionally determined as a function of a scheduled or likely route course.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the vehicle weight is determined as a function at least one of:

route information, a gradient of a road course, a vehicle orientation, and an altitude of the vehicle above or below NN.

18. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the vehicle weight is determined taking one of a vehicle speed, or an air movement, into account.

19. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the brake energy recuperation by the electric motor are controlled on the basis of the vehicle weight.

20. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein damping of a chassis of the motor vehicle is controlled on the basis of the vehicle weight.

21. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the vehicle weight is averaged across a plurality of measured values of the vehicle weight.

22. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the vehicle weight is determined after one of an acceleration or recuperation process has been concluded.

23. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein determined values of the vehicle weight are checked with regard to plausibility and, based on the check, are either taken into account in unchanged form, at modified weightings, or are not taken into account at all.

24. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the vehicle weight is made available to different control devices of the motor vehicle.

25. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the vehicle weight is determined after a vehicle has started and is one of interrupted or terminated when a door or a trunk of the vehicle is opened.

26. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the vehicle weight is determined under an assumption of a specific vehicle weight at a start of a trip, at least one of a net weight of the vehicle, an average weight of an adult person, a determined number of passengers based on seat sensors, and a particular vehicle weight of the previous ride, and a weight determined via a learning process, being used to determine the vehicle weight.

27. A device for determining a range of a vehicle, the vehicle having an electric motor to supply at least one of driving power and to recuperate braking energy, and at least one control unit, the control unit designed to determine a weight of the vehicle as a function of at least one of:

i) an acceleration behavior, ii) a recuperation behavior, iii) a machine torque, and iv) a rotational speed of the electric motor, and to determine a range of the vehicle on the basis of the determined vehicle weight.

28. A motor vehicle drive train, comprising:

an electric motor to provide at least one of driving power, and to recuperate braking energy; and

a device for determining a range of a vehicle, the vehicle having an electric motor to supply at least one of driving power and to recuperate braking energy, and at least one control unit, the control unit designed to determine a weight of the vehicle as a function of at least one of;

i) an acceleration behavior, ii) a recuperation behavior, iii) a machine torque, and iv) a rotational speed of the electric motor, and to determine a range of the vehicle on the basis of the determined vehicle weight.