Method and apparatus for matching vehicle ECU programming to current vehicle operating conditions

• US 9,747,254 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2013
• Issued: 08/29/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zonar Systems, Inc. (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Zonar Systems, Inc. (Continental AG)
• Inventors: McQuade, Charles Michael, Hunt, Bryan, Mayer, Dan
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Isaac
• Application Number:
  US13/857,982
• Publication Number:
  US 20130261907A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,607 Days
• Field of Search: 701 51, 701 93, 701 99, 701103
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 1/02 not restricted to adjustment of injection timing, e.g. varying amount of fuel delivered
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/50 said parameters being related to the vehicle or its components
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/60 said parameters being related to the driver demands or status
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/701 Information about vehicle position, e.g. from navigation system or GPS signal
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/2425 Particular ways of programming the data
• 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

Abstract

Disclosed herein are techniques for implementing vehicle ECU reprograming, so the ECU programming, which plays a large role in vehicle performance characteristics, is tailored to current operational requirements, which may be different than the operational characteristics selected by the manufacturer when initially programming the vehicle ECU (or ECUs) with specific instruction sets, such as fuel maps. In one embodiment, a controller monitors the current operational characteristics of the vehicle, determines the current ECU programming, and determines if a different programming set would better suited to the current operating conditions. In the event that the current programming set should be replaced, the controller implements the ECU reprogramming. In a related embodiment, users are enabled to specify the ECU programming to change, such as changing speed limiter settings.

Claims

1. A method of matching the fuel map of a vehicle controller that controls at least one performance characteristic of a vehicle, travelling a projected route, to current vehicle operational requirements, comprising the steps of:

(a) during vehicle operation, automatically collecting vehicle operational data;

(b) using a processor to analyze the vehicle operational data in real-time to determine if a different fuel map would lead to improved performance over the current road condition;

(c) if the analysis so indicates, automatically requesting approval, from a computing device having computer readable memory and that has the projected route stored in memory, and that analyzes the projected route to determine if approval is warranted, to change the fuel map of the vehicle controller, the approval being dependent on the length of the route segment for which a benefit would be obtained by switching to the different fuel map; and

(d) if the approval is granted, automatically changing the fuel map of the vehicle controller to improve the performance of the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle operational data comprises at least two elements selected from a group consisting of:

(a) vehicle mass;

(b) vehicle speed;

(c) engine oil temperature;

(d) engine oil pressure;

(e) fuel use;

(f) vehicle position;

(g) ambient temperature;

(h) PTO use;

(i) time of day;

(j) ambient weather conditions;

(k) engine RPMs;

(l) engine load;

(m) cruise control status;

(n) transmission status;

(o) accessory fan status; and

(p) a predefined vehicle route.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of automatically requesting approval to change the fuel map of the vehicle comprises the step of wirelessly conveying an approval request to a remote computing device, such that the remote computing device acts as the approval agent, determining whether or not to approve the request.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of wirelessly conveying the approval request to the remote computing device comprises the step of including vehicle operational data with the approval request, so the remote computing device can analyze the vehicle operational data before acting on the approval request.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the vehicle operational data used by the remote computing device includes data additional to that used to determine if a different fuel map would lead to improved performance.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of changing the fuel map of the vehicle controller to improve the performance of the vehicle comprises the step of reprogramming the vehicle controller while the vehicle is operational.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of using the processor to analyze the vehicle operational data in real-time to determine if a different fuel map would lead to improved performance comprises the steps of:

(a) providing a plurality of different ECU fuel maps and predetermined performance parameters;

(b) for each ECU fuel map, using the current vehicle operational data to determine at least one vehicle performance characteristic that would result in using that ECU fuel map in light of current vehicle operational data;

(c) comparing the results from each ECU fuel map to identify the ECU fuel map that optimizes vehicle performance based on the predetermined performance parameters; and

(d) determining if the current ECU fuel map is the ECU fuel map that optimizes vehicle performance based on the predetermined performance parameters.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of using the processor to analyze the vehicle operational data in real-time to determine if a different fuel map would lead to improved performance comprises the step of determining if a different fuel map would result in at least one of the following conditions:

(a) an increase in horsepower;

(c) an increase in torque;

(d) a reduced engine load;

(e) a lower coolant or oil operating temperature; and

(f) a lower cost per loaded mile.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of using a processor to analyze the vehicle operational data, does not include a comparison with data collected from other vehicles travelling the same projected route.

19. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of using the processor to analyze the vehicle operational data in real-time to determine if a different fuel map would lead to improved performance comprises the step of determining if a different fuel map would result in increased torque.

20. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of using the processor to analyze the vehicle operational data in real-time to determine if a different fuel map would lead to improved performance comprises the step of determining if a different fuel map would result in a lower coolant or oil operating temperature.

9. A system for analyzing the fuel map of a vehicle controller that controls at least two performance characteristics of a vehicle, driving on a projected route, in light of current vehicle operating conditions, the system comprising:

(a) vehicle operational data generating components;

(b) an approval agent in the form of a computing device which has a computer readable memory in which is stored a projected route for the vehicle; and

(b) at least one processor, the at least one processor implementing the functions of;

(i) analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time, and using information of differing predefined fuel maps to determine if a different fuel map would lead to improved performance;

(ii) if the analysis so indicates, automatically requesting approval to change the fuel map of the vehicle controller from the approval agent, which evaluates the route length for which a benefit would be gained by switching to a different fuel map, in reaching an approval decision; and

(iii) if approval is received, automatically changing the fuel map of the vehicle controller to a different predefined fuel map to improve the performance of the vehicle when such change would result in improved performance.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

(a) an output device for conveying the approval request to a driver of the vehicle, acting as the approval agent; and

(b) an input device for enabling the driver of the vehicle to respond to the approval request.

11. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

(a) a first data link for wirelessly conveying the approval request to a remote computing device;

(b) an input device for enabling a user of the remote computing device, acting as the approval agent, to respond to the approval request; and

(c) a second data link for wirelessly conveying a response to the approval request to the vehicle.

12. The system of claim 9, further comprising a wireless data link for conveying data between the vehicle and a remote computing device, and wherein the function of analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time is implemented at the remote computing device in response to receiving vehicle operational data from the vehicle.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

(a) a first data link for wirelessly conveying the approval request to a remote computing device acting as approval agent;

(b) a second data link for wirelessly conveying a response to the approval request to the vehicle from the remote computing device.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine if a different fuel map would lead to at least one of:

(a) an increase in horsepower;

(b) an increase in torque;

(c) a reduced engine load;

(d) a lower coolant or oil operating temperature;

(e) an increase in speed; and

(f) a lower cost per loaded mile.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the function of analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time is implemented by automatically determining if the current fuel map of the vehicle controller corresponds to predetermined programming parameters for a current vehicle load condition.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the function of analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time is implemented by automatically determining if a vehicle PTO unit is activated, such PTO use generally requiring lower horsepower output than normal driving.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the function of analyzing the vehicle operational data in real-time is implemented by automatically determining if the current-fuel map of the vehicle controller corresponds to a predetermined fuel map for a specific route being traveled by the vehicle, the specific route having been input by at least one a driver at the vehicle and a remote dispatcher.

21. The method of claim 9, wherein the route section for which an advantage will be gained comprises roadway of a particular grade.