System and method for control scheduling

• US 7,130,702 B2
• Filed: 04/21/2003
• Issued: 10/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Deka Products Limited Partnership
• Original Assignee: Deka Products Limited Partnership
• Inventors: Morrell, John B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Picard, Leo
• Assistant Examiner(s): Garland, Steven R.
• Application Number:
  US10/419,994
• Publication Number:
  US 20040210328A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,289 Days
• Field of Search: 700/90, 700/40, 700/37, 700/75, 700/71, 700/28, 700/42, 700/43, 700/46, 700/52, 700/54, 700/55, 700/76, 700/77, 60/392.81, 604/49, 123/357, 180/178, 180/7.1, 415/15
• US Class Current: 700/75
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/061 for climbing stairs
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/063 with eccentrically mounted wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/1054 Large wheels, e.g. higher than the seat portion
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 15/2009 for braking
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/52 characterised by DC-motors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/60 using power supplied by batteries in combination with fuel cells B60L50/75
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/024 in which a parameter or coefficient is automatically adjusted to optimise the performance
• 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 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility

Abstract

A system and method for controlling a device such that device operates in a smooth manner. The system may switch between control architectures or vary gain coefficients used in a control loop to control the device. As the architecture or gains are switched, the control signal may be smoothed so that the device does not experience an abrupt change in the control signal it receives. In one embodiment, the control signal may be smoothed by adding a decaying offset value to the control signal to create a smoothed control signal that is applied to the device.

Claims

1. A method of switching between modes in a multi-modular vehicle, the method comprising:

determining, in a multi-modular dynamically stabilized vehicle, whether a mode change has occurred;

determining an offset value if the mode has changed; and

adding a decaying version of the offset value to a control signal before the control signal is applied to the apparatus to create a smoothed control signal; and

applying the smoothed control signal to the vehicle;

wherein the offset value is equal to a difference between a last signal applied to the apparatus and a control signal generated after the mode change.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the offset value is decayed by the steps of:

(a) multiplying a current offset value by a number less than one;

(b) updating the current offset to equal the result of the multiplication of step (a); and

(c) repeating steps (a) and (b).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein step (c) is repeated until the current offset value approaches a lower threshold.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the lower threshold is approximately zero.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of:

storing smoothed control signal.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a difference between the stored smoothed control signal and a control signal created after the apparatus has changed modes is used to determine the offset value.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising steps of:

determining whether an offset value is currently decaying; and

replacing the currently decaying offset value with a new offset value when the vehicle changes modes.