WO2021014466A1 - System for improving vehicle performance - Google Patents

System for improving vehicle performance Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2021014466A1
WO2021014466A1 PCT/IN2020/050629 IN2020050629W WO2021014466A1 WO 2021014466 A1 WO2021014466 A1 WO 2021014466A1 IN 2020050629 W IN2020050629 W IN 2020050629W WO 2021014466 A1 WO2021014466 A1 WO 2021014466A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
vehicle
acceleration
prime mover
torque
control unit
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IN2020/050629
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Joseph Abraham
Kuriyan Arimboor
Nikith Kiran Olety
Piyush Sudhir Dawande
Original Assignee
Bajaj Auto Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Bajaj Auto Limited filed Critical Bajaj Auto Limited
Priority to MX2022000924A priority Critical patent/MX2022000924A/en
Publication of WO2021014466A1 publication Critical patent/WO2021014466A1/en

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
    • F02D41/02—Circuit arrangements for generating control signals
    • F02D41/04—Introducing corrections for particular operating conditions
    • F02D41/045—Detection of accelerating or decelerating state
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60L—PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL; MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES
    • B60L15/00—Methods, circuits, or devices for controlling the traction-motor speed of electrically-propelled vehicles
    • B60L15/20—Methods, circuits, or devices for controlling the traction-motor speed of electrically-propelled vehicles for control of the vehicle or its driving motor to achieve a desired performance, e.g. speed, torque, programmed variation of speed
    • B60L15/2045—Methods, circuits, or devices for controlling the traction-motor speed of electrically-propelled vehicles for control of the vehicle or its driving motor to achieve a desired performance, e.g. speed, torque, programmed variation of speed for optimising the use of energy
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W30/00—Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units, or advanced driver assistance systems for ensuring comfort, stability and safety or drive control systems for propelling or retarding the vehicle
    • B60W30/18—Propelling the vehicle
    • B60W30/188—Controlling power parameters of the driveline, e.g. determining the required power
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W50/00—Details of control systems for road vehicle drive control not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. process diagnostic or vehicle driver interfaces
    • B60W50/08—Interaction between the driver and the control system
    • B60W50/087—Interaction between the driver and the control system where the control system corrects or modifies a request from the driver
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D11/00—Arrangements for, or adaptations to, non-automatic engine control initiation means, e.g. operator initiated
    • F02D11/06—Arrangements for, or adaptations to, non-automatic engine control initiation means, e.g. operator initiated characterised by non-mechanical control linkages, e.g. fluid control linkages or by control linkages with power drive or assistance
    • F02D11/10—Arrangements for, or adaptations to, non-automatic engine control initiation means, e.g. operator initiated characterised by non-mechanical control linkages, e.g. fluid control linkages or by control linkages with power drive or assistance of the electric type
    • F02D11/105—Arrangements for, or adaptations to, non-automatic engine control initiation means, e.g. operator initiated characterised by non-mechanical control linkages, e.g. fluid control linkages or by control linkages with power drive or assistance of the electric type characterised by the function converting demand to actuation, e.g. a map indicating relations between an accelerator pedal position and throttle valve opening or target engine torque
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D29/00—Controlling engines, such controlling being peculiar to the devices driven thereby, the devices being other than parts or accessories essential to engine operation, e.g. controlling of engines by signals external thereto
    • F02D29/02—Controlling engines, such controlling being peculiar to the devices driven thereby, the devices being other than parts or accessories essential to engine operation, e.g. controlling of engines by signals external thereto peculiar to engines driving vehicles; peculiar to engines driving variable pitch propellers
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
    • F02D41/02—Circuit arrangements for generating control signals
    • F02D41/021—Introducing corrections for particular conditions exterior to the engine
    • F02D41/0215—Introducing corrections for particular conditions exterior to the engine in relation with elements of the transmission
    • F02D41/0225—Introducing corrections for particular conditions exterior to the engine in relation with elements of the transmission in relation with the gear ratio or shift lever position
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
    • F02D41/02—Circuit arrangements for generating control signals
    • F02D41/04—Introducing corrections for particular operating conditions
    • F02D41/10—Introducing corrections for particular operating conditions for acceleration
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
    • F02D41/02—Circuit arrangements for generating control signals
    • F02D41/14—Introducing closed-loop corrections
    • F02D41/1401—Introducing closed-loop corrections characterised by the control or regulation method
    • F02D41/1406—Introducing closed-loop corrections characterised by the control or regulation method with use of a optimisation method, e.g. iteration
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60L—PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL; MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES
    • B60L2250/00—Driver interactions
    • B60L2250/26—Driver interactions by pedal actuation
    • B60L2250/28—Accelerator pedal thresholds
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W50/00—Details of control systems for road vehicle drive control not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. process diagnostic or vehicle driver interfaces
    • B60W2050/0001—Details of the control system
    • B60W2050/0002—Automatic control, details of type of controller or control system architecture
    • B60W2050/0008—Feedback, closed loop systems or details of feedback error signal
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W2520/00—Input parameters relating to overall vehicle dynamics
    • B60W2520/10—Longitudinal speed
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W2520/00—Input parameters relating to overall vehicle dynamics
    • B60W2520/10—Longitudinal speed
    • B60W2520/105—Longitudinal acceleration
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W2540/00—Input parameters relating to occupants
    • B60W2540/10—Accelerator pedal position
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W2540/00—Input parameters relating to occupants
    • B60W2540/12—Brake pedal position
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W2710/00—Output or target parameters relating to a particular sub-units
    • B60W2710/06—Combustion engines, Gas turbines
    • B60W2710/0666—Engine torque
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W2710/00—Output or target parameters relating to a particular sub-units
    • B60W2710/08—Electric propulsion units
    • B60W2710/083—Torque
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
    • F02D41/02—Circuit arrangements for generating control signals
    • F02D41/14—Introducing closed-loop corrections
    • F02D41/1401—Introducing closed-loop corrections characterised by the control or regulation method
    • F02D2041/1412—Introducing closed-loop corrections characterised by the control or regulation method using a predictive controller
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D2200/00—Input parameters for engine control
    • F02D2200/02—Input parameters for engine control the parameters being related to the engine
    • F02D2200/10—Parameters related to the engine output, e.g. engine torque or engine speed
    • F02D2200/1002—Output torque
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D2200/00—Input parameters for engine control
    • F02D2200/50—Input parameters for engine control said parameters being related to the vehicle or its components
    • F02D2200/501—Vehicle speed
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D2200/00—Input parameters for engine control
    • F02D2200/60—Input parameters for engine control said parameters being related to the driver demands or status
    • F02D2200/602—Pedal position
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D2200/00—Input parameters for engine control
    • F02D2200/60—Input parameters for engine control said parameters being related to the driver demands or status
    • F02D2200/604—Engine control mode selected by driver, e.g. to manually start particle filter regeneration or to select driving style
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D2200/00—Input parameters for engine control
    • F02D2200/60—Input parameters for engine control said parameters being related to the driver demands or status
    • F02D2200/606—Driving style, e.g. sporty or economic driving
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T10/00—Road transport of goods or passengers
    • Y02T10/10—Internal combustion engine [ICE] based vehicles
    • Y02T10/40—Engine management systems
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T10/00—Road transport of goods or passengers
    • Y02T10/60—Other road transportation technologies with climate change mitigation effect
    • Y02T10/64—Electric machine technologies in electromobility
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T10/00—Road transport of goods or passengers
    • Y02T10/60—Other road transportation technologies with climate change mitigation effect
    • Y02T10/72—Electric energy management in electromobility
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T10/00—Road transport of goods or passengers
    • Y02T10/80—Technologies aiming to reduce greenhouse gasses emissions common to all road transportation technologies
    • Y02T10/84—Data processing systems or methods, management, administration

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a system for improving the performance of vehicle and more particularly relates to improving mileage or travel distance of a vehicle for a given amount of fuel or battery charge.
  • Vehicle performance in terms of Mileage is an important factor in vehicle which is a maximum distance travelled by a vehicle for a given amount of fuel or battery charge. Higher is a mileage, longer is a distance travelled by the vehicle without refuelling or recharging battery, lower is a running cost of the vehicle. Hence mileage of the vehicle is an important factor for any vehicle, higher is better.
  • Mileage of any vehicle depends upon various factors such as road condition, load, riding style and system efficiency.
  • Road condition, riding style and load on the vehicle are variable factors and cannot be maintained constant which affect vehicle efficiency.
  • the roads with high gradient reduces the mileage of the vehicle.
  • higher load and rough riding style has negative impact on the mileage of the vehicle.
  • None of the method is very effective to maximise the mileage.
  • the prior art systems do not consider the variation caused by these variable factors and hence they are not very effective.
  • few systems which actively control the vehicle speed are very complex and costly as these system deploy too many sensors and considers multiple parameters including parameters of battery and motor.
  • an object of the present invention is to provide an effective system for improving vehicle mileage which is less complex and less costly.
  • the present invention provides a system for improving vehicle performance comprising:
  • a prime mover for providing required power to drive the vehicle
  • control unit in connection with the prime mover; wherein the control unit is configured to control the prime mover demand based on an estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and driver demand.
  • the control unit is configured to compute an error between the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and an expected vehicle reaction; and to minimise the error by controlling the prime mover demand.
  • Vehicle acceleration may be one of the estimated/ measured vehicle reactions. Jerks, Oscillations, delays in vehicle reactions, wheel slips are the other types of estimators used individually or in combination.
  • Driver demand is selected from a group of parameters including accelerator pedal position, brake pedal position, vehicle mode selector, current gear ration and clutch position or a combination thereof.
  • Expected vehicle reactions is decided/ selected based on an ideal map data.
  • the ideal map data representative of driving behaviour is stored in the control unit and is derived from the driver demand and estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and provides an optimum expected vehicle reaction for a given driver demand to obtain best possible vehicle performance.
  • the control unit is configured to provide at least a visual and/or auditory indication to alert the driver on suboptimal drive behaviour based on the ideal map data.
  • the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction is an acceleration of the vehicle and the driver demand is an accelerator pedal position (APP) wherein; the control unit is configured to control the power delivered by the prime mover to control acceleration of the vehicle wherein; the control unit is configured to control the acceleration of the vehicle within a pre-defined optimum range of accelerator pedal position (APP).
  • APP accelerator pedal position
  • the control unit of a vehicle may be any controller within vehicle including vehicle control unit (VCU), Engine Control Unit (ECU), Engine Management System (EMS) or any other suitable controller within vehicle. Alternatively, the controller may be provided as a separate external unit.
  • the control unit comprises an acceleration control unit configured to receive value of at least one vehicle parameter including percent of accelerator pedal position (APP); brake pedal position, predefined maximum and minimum prime mover torque, current vehicle speed/ acceleration; the acceleration control unit further configured to process the received values to calculate the desired prime mover torque based on ideal map data.
  • the prime mover delivers the calculated torque as per received signal from acceleration control unit in order to achieve ideal desired acceleration.
  • the acceleration control unit comprises a memory stored with values of ideal map data and further comprises various modules including a desired acceleration lookup module, and a torque calculation module wherein; the desired acceleration lookup module is configured to identify the desired acceleration based on ideal map data and current accelerator pedal position, and the torque calculation module configured to calculate desired torque based on the desired acceleration.
  • the torque calculated by the torque calculation module is further delivered by the prime mover.
  • the acceleration control unit is further provided with a feedback controller configured to compare the current vehicle acceleration with the desired acceleration in a continuous close loop and initiate a corrective action in order to minimise any error there between. Based on any error identified, the feedback control module calculates the torque required to reduce the error between desired and actual acceleration. The torque calculated by the feedback controller and the torque calculation module are combined to provide final desired torque, which is delivered by the prime mover.
  • the ideal map data stored in acceleration control unit is having values of various vehicle acceleration levels against different percentages of accelerator pedal opening.
  • the ideal map data is developed by driving a vehicle at different acceleration levels with different APP values.
  • At least one parameter is kept constant while collecting the data for example, a constant load is considered to be acting on vehicle, preferably load of driver plus three passengers, no sharp upward or downward road gradient and ideal riding style of vehicle etc.
  • An optimum range of accelerator pedal position (APP) is pre-defined in the control unit.
  • the optimum range of APP is range of percentage of accelerator pedal opening in which maximum vehicle mileage may be obtained.
  • the acceleration pedal position corresponds to opening of the acceleration pedal, which indicates the amount of desired power or torque required by the rider to drive the vehicle.
  • the optimum range of APP is derived by driving the vehicle at different acceleration levels with different APP values under above-mentioned ideal condition and observing the mileage of the vehicle at each condition.
  • the control unit is configured to control the acceleration of the vehicle only if brake is not applied or if the desired prime mover torque is within the range of maximum and minimum torque that can be delivered by the prime mover.
  • the vehicle may be an electric or hybrid vehicle and the prime mover is an electric motor powered by battery in the form of energy source.
  • the vehicle may also be a fuel-operated vehicle and the prime mover is a fuel-operated engine, for ex IC engine.
  • gear ratio may also be adjusted in order to generate the required torque. If the total desired prime mover torque is greater than maximum torque that can be delivered by prime mover then the maximum torque is delivered by the prime mover or if the total prime mover torque is less than the minimum torque that can be delivered by prime mover then the minimum torque is delivered by the prime mover.
  • the control unit is configured to control acceleration of the vehicle purely on the basis of the ideal map data if the accelerator pedal opening is not within the pre-defined optimum range i.e. without applying any controlling strategy. Alternatively, the acceleration is not controlled if the accelerator pedal opening is not within the pre-defined optimum range.
  • the vehicle is provided with indication means to indicate that the acceleration pedal opening is not within the pre-defined optimum range.
  • the indication means is a visual indication provided on a dashboard of the vehicle in the form of light.
  • the indication means comprises at least three different ways of indication to indicate three different conditions of accelerator pedal opening comprising; acceleration pedal opening is well within pre-defined optimum range, the acceleration pedal opening is about to go beyond or below the pre-defined optimum range and the accelerator pedal opening is not within pre-defined optimum range.
  • the indication means is also configured to indicate whether desired power is within pre-set threshold limit of power that is delivered by the prime mover.
  • the indication means may be additionally equipped with an audio alarm to indicate different conditions of APP.
  • the present system may be applied to any electric, hybrid or fuel operated vehicle including two-wheeled, three wheeled and four- wheeled vehicle wherein; the prime mover which may be an electric motor or engine produces controlled torque according to pre-stored control strategy which controls the acceleration of the vehicle thereby helping in improving mileage of the vehicle. Therefore, the present invention is also applicable to any vehicle including two-wheeled, three wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle.
  • a method of improving vehicle performance comprising steps of receiving values of current vehicle acceleration and accelerator pedal position by a control unit; comparing the received current vehicle acceleration with pre-defined desired vehicle acceleration for the received accelerator pedal position using an ideal map data; calculating the torque required to be produced by a prime mover to achieve the desired acceleration using the ideal map data; and controlling power produced by the prime mover in order to deliver the calculated torque.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates the block diagram of acceleration control unit according the preferred embodiment of present invention
  • FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of various steps involved in control strategy according to the preferred embodiment of present invention
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of acceleration control unit with its sub-modules according to the preferred embodiment of present invention.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart describing a major steps involved in controlling acceleration by the acceleration control unit according to the preferred embodiment of present invention.
  • the present invention provides a system for improving vehicle performance comprising a prime mover for providing required power to drive the vehicle; a control unit in connection with the prime mover; wherein the control unit is configured to control the prime mover demand based on an estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and driver demand.
  • the control unit is configured to compute an error between the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and an expected vehicle reaction; and to minimise the error by controlling the prime mover demand.
  • the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction is selected from a group of parameters including a vehicle acceleration, jerks, oscillations, delays in vehicle reactions, wheel slips or a combination thereof.
  • the wheel slip is detected using ABS control unit.
  • the driver demand is selected from a group of parameters including an accelerator pedal position, brake pedal position, vehicle mode selector, current gear ratio clutch position or a combination thereof.
  • the expected vehicle reactions is decided/selected based on an ideal map data.
  • the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction is an acceleration of the vehicle and the driver demand is an accelerator pedal position (APP) wherein; the control unit is configured to control the power delivered by the prime mover to control acceleration of the vehicle. Desired acceleration is considered as expected vehicle reaction, which is decided/ selected from on the ideal map data based on a current vehicle acceleration and APP.
  • APP accelerator pedal position
  • the control unit of a vehicle may be any controller within vehicle including vehicle control unit (VCU), Engine Control Unit (ECU), Engine Management System (EMS) or any other suitable controller within vehicle.
  • the acceleration control unit 101 is a microprocessor device in communication with various vehicle components to receive plurality of inputs including but not limiting to vehicle speed sensor 150 to receive running vehicle speed/ acceleration, accelerator pedal position (APP) sensor 1 10 to receive accelerator pedal position, maximum and minimum prime mover torque value (130, 140), brake pedal position sensor 120 to identify brake position etc.
  • vehicle speed sensor 150 to receive running vehicle speed/ acceleration
  • APP accelerator pedal position
  • APP maximum and minimum prime mover torque value
  • brake pedal position sensor 120 to identify brake position etc.
  • the acceleration control unit 101 is configured to process the received input as per pre determined control strategy to provide an output command, which is a best-desired prime mover torque to be delivered.
  • the acceleration control unit 101 is in connection with the prime mover 170 for delivering the output command of calculated torque and the prime mover 170 is configured to receive the output command and deliver the calculated torque. Therefore, the prime mover torque is controlled in order to control the acceleration of the vehicle, which helps to obtain maximum vehicle mileage.
  • the control strategy, which is used by the acceleration control unit 101 is further explained herein below with the help of drawings.
  • Acceleration of vehicle depends on various factors such as road condition i.e. upward or downward gradient, load on the vehicle, present vehicle speed, riding style, accelerator pedal position etc. All these parameters are variable parameters and changes according to running condition. In order to collect the ideal values and minimise the effect of these variable parameters certain conditions may be assumed constant for example, according to one of the embodiment of the present invention a constant load is considered on the vehicle for example load of driver plus three passengers is considered. Similarly, the road condition is considered to be a normal driving road without much upward or downward gradient. Further, the riding style is assumed to be ideal. Thereby the vehicle acceleration is independent of the vehicle loading condition, riding style and gradient condition of the road. Under such ideal conditions a data is collected of vehicle acceleration against various values of percentage of accelerator pedal opening.
  • road condition i.e. upward or downward gradient
  • load on the vehicle for example load of driver plus three passengers is considered.
  • the road condition is considered to be a normal driving road without much upward or downward gradient.
  • the riding style is assumed to be ideal. Thereby the vehicle acceleration is independent of
  • the ideal data is collected by driving the vehicle at different acceleration levels and plotting the graph of different acceleration levels against time, which gives a graph for acceleration.
  • the required optimum torque at each acceleration level is derived therefrom.
  • the control strategy is based on an ideal map data. This data is stored in the control unit of the vehicle.
  • acceleration of vehicle is controlled. Acceleration is governed by torque generated by prime mover. For each APP desired acceleration value is derived from ideal map data from which desired prime mover torque is calculated by acceleration control unit and sent to prime mover.
  • the acceleration control unit is configured to control the acceleration of the vehicle according to the values stored in the ideal map data. Vehicle mileage is calculated at each acceleration level.
  • An optimum range of accelerator pedal opening (APP) is pre-defined in the control unit.
  • the optimum range of APP is range of percentage of accelerator pedal opening in which maximum vehicle mileage may be obtained.
  • the optimum range of APP is derived by driving the vehicle at different speed/ acceleration levels with different APP values under above-mentioned ideal condition and observing the mileage of the vehicle at each condition.
  • FIG. 2 illustrating flowchart illustrating various checks to be done the control unit before applying the control strategy.
  • the control strategy is reset. For example, when the brake is applied the vehicle speed starts reducing in such scenarios the vehicle is run according to actual values or according to ideal map data. Similarly, in case the desired vehicle torque is greater than maximum torque that can be delivered by the prime mover or less than minimum torque that can be delivered by the prime mover, then the vehicle is run according to actual values or ideal map data. Therefore, all these conditions are verified and the vehicle is controlled only if vehicle brake is not applied and the desired more torque is between the minimum and maximum values of torque that can be delivered by prime mover.
  • a desired acceleration lookup module 310 determines the desired acceleration after referring to ideal map data based on received parameters including vehicle speed and/or acceleration and Accelerator Pedal opening (APP).
  • APP Accelerator Pedal opening
  • a torque calculation module 330 calculates the desired torque required to be produced by the prime mover in order to achieve the desired acceleration.
  • a feedback controller 340 monitor and compare the actual acceleration with desired ideal acceleration and generates a corrective action in order to minimise any error there between in a continuous loop till the error becomes zero.
  • the feedback controller 340 provides output command as a corrective output torque.
  • Final desired prime mover torque is calculated at torque calculating module 350, which is sum of torque calculated by torque calculation module 330 and feedback controller 340.
  • the prime mover is operated to deliver the calculated torque.
  • Prime-mover desired torque calculation is done with a fixed assume mass as explained above for example, the fixed assumed mass is considered to be a load of driver plus three passengers.
  • the fixed mass considered may vary based on vehicle type, size, capacity etc.
  • the desired torque is calculated by following formula.
  • Prime Mover Tor quei is torque required to overcome the vehicle drag losses and gear ratio is of the power train of vehicle.
  • This calculated torque is then provided to the control unit, which gives appropriate command to prime mover in order to generate the required torque.
  • the power/ current supplied by battery is adjusted such that prime mover generates the required torque
  • quantity of fuel/ airflow is suitably adjusted.
  • gear ratio may also be adjusted in order to generate the required torque. If the total desired prime mover torque is greater than maximum torque that can be delivered by prime mover then the maximum torque is delivered by the prime mover or if the total prime mover torque is less than the minimum torque that can be delivered by prime mover then the minimum torque is delivered by the prime mover.
  • tell-tale indication which is nominally green colour in drive mode
  • tell tale indication which is nominally green in drive mode
  • Green signal indicates that the vehicle is being driven in an economic zone as per control strategy while green signal is turned into amber as soon as vehicle acceleration/ desired power is noticed to be going beyond economic zone.
  • the acceleration is not within economic zone the light is turned to blink into amber colour.
  • the vehicle acceleration is controlled up to some percent of APP for example 80% as the driver goes beyond 80% the acceleration is controlled according to ideal map data or according to the actual values. However; this condition can impact the overall mileage of the vehicle hence indication is provided to indicate this situation to driver.
  • the threshold level is not only limited to APP but also power delivered by prime mover.
  • the power provided to the prime mover is considered rather than only torque.
  • Power is derived from torque and RPM produced by prime mover shaft. If the power is above threshold level then the lights starts operating to indicate risk.
  • the acceleration control unit receives various parameters including APP, brake pedal position, Current Speed/ acceleration etc. If the APP valve is within pre-set optimum limit then the acceleration control unit further calculates the desired torque using ideal map data as explained herein above.
  • the desired torque is calculated at step 410 based on ideal map data is communicated to the prime mover to deliver the same at step 415.
  • a current vehicle acceleration is received/ obtained by the acceleration control unit at step 420.
  • a target acceleration is identified for received vehicle parameters mainly based on APP or ideal map data and is compared with the current acceleration at step 430.
  • a feedback torque is calculated by a feedback control module at step 440.
  • the feedback torque is then combined with the previously calculated desired torque to calculate the final desired motor torque at step 445, which is further delivered by the prime mover.
  • the acceleration control unit then again obtains the vehicle acceleration as in step 420 and repeat the above steps until the error between actual acceleration and target acceleration becomes zero.
  • Above methodology is applicable only when the APP is within predefine optimum range. Once the APP goes outside the optimum range, the vehicle acceleration or torque is equal to the actual value or equal to the ideal values of map data. Additionally, the predefined conditions are also checked before controlling the acceleration as explained above with reference to FIG.2.
  • the present system may be applied to any electric, hybrid or fuel operated vehicle wherein the prime mover, which may be an electric motor or engine, produces controlled torque according to pre-stored control strategy, which controls the acceleration of the vehicle thereby helping in improving mileage of the vehicle. Therefore, the present invention is also applicable to any vehicle including two wheeled, three-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle including electric or hybrid vehicles.

Abstract

A system for improving vehicle performance comprising a prime mover for providing required power to drive the vehicle; a control unit in connection with the prime mover; wherein the control unit is configured to control the prime mover demand based on an estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and driver demand wherein; the control unit is configured to compute an error between the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and an expected vehicle reaction; and to minimise the error by controlling the prime mover demand.

Description

SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING VEHICLE PERFORMANCE
FIELD OF INVENTION:
[001 ] The present invention relates to a system for improving the performance of vehicle and more particularly relates to improving mileage or travel distance of a vehicle for a given amount of fuel or battery charge.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED INVENTION
[002] This invention takes priority from an earlier filed provisional patent application no. 201921029382 filed on July 22, 2019; which is incorporated herein as reference
BACKGROUND:
[003] Vehicle performance in terms of Mileage is an important factor in vehicle which is a maximum distance travelled by a vehicle for a given amount of fuel or battery charge. Higher is a mileage, longer is a distance travelled by the vehicle without refuelling or recharging battery, lower is a running cost of the vehicle. Hence mileage of the vehicle is an important factor for any vehicle, higher is better.
[004] Every manufacturer tries to improve the vehicle mileage through various means. In case of fuel operated vehicles the mileage is maximised through various design changes related to engine and its associated components such as valve timing, ignition timing, twin spark, Controlling fuel rate, Electronic carburettor, etc. Electronically controlled systems are also available with utilizes various sensors to sense number of vehicle parameters and controls the fuelling rate of the vehicle in order to maximise the mileage of the vehicle.
[005] Similarly, in case of electric vehicles (EV) as well efforts are being made to maximise the mileage of the vehicle that is possible in a single charge. This will help in reducing the frequent charging required for EV which is one of the major concern currently. One of the prior art system work based on state of charge (SOC) of the battery, internal resistance, temperature within battery to determine battery efficiency which is further used to operate the vehicle in economic speed mileage. One of the disadvantage in SOC based system is that it results in different drive feel of the vehicle as SOC of the vehicle drops. Similarly, few prior art system calculates motor efficiency along with or without battery efficiency and determines the economic speed zone for driving a vehicle. However, these systems do not actively control the vehicle speed to ensure economic driving.
[006] Mileage of any vehicle depends upon various factors such as road condition, load, riding style and system efficiency. Road condition, riding style and load on the vehicle are variable factors and cannot be maintained constant which affect vehicle efficiency. The roads with high gradient reduces the mileage of the vehicle. Similarly, higher load and rough riding style has negative impact on the mileage of the vehicle. Hence, even though various methods are used for maximizing the mileage of the vehicle, due to these variable factors none of the method is very effective to maximise the mileage. The prior art systems do not consider the variation caused by these variable factors and hence they are not very effective. Also, few systems which actively control the vehicle speed are very complex and costly as these system deploy too many sensors and considers multiple parameters including parameters of battery and motor.
[007] Hence there is a need to provide an effective vehicle mileage improving system which is less complex and less costly.
[008] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an effective system for improving vehicle mileage which is less complex and less costly.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION:
[009] With the above mentioned objects in view, the present invention provides a system for improving vehicle performance comprising:
a prime mover for providing required power to drive the vehicle;
a control unit in connection with the prime mover; wherein the control unit is configured to control the prime mover demand based on an estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and driver demand.
[010] The control unit is configured to compute an error between the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and an expected vehicle reaction; and to minimise the error by controlling the prime mover demand. [01 1 ] Vehicle acceleration may be one of the estimated/ measured vehicle reactions. Jerks, Oscillations, delays in vehicle reactions, wheel slips are the other types of estimators used individually or in combination.
[012] Driver demand is selected from a group of parameters including accelerator pedal position, brake pedal position, vehicle mode selector, current gear ration and clutch position or a combination thereof.
[013] Expected vehicle reactions is decided/ selected based on an ideal map data.
[014] The ideal map data representative of driving behaviour is stored in the control unit and is derived from the driver demand and estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and provides an optimum expected vehicle reaction for a given driver demand to obtain best possible vehicle performance.
[015] The control unit is configured to provide at least a visual and/or auditory indication to alert the driver on suboptimal drive behaviour based on the ideal map data.
[016] According to one of the embodiment of present invention, the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction is an acceleration of the vehicle and the driver demand is an accelerator pedal position (APP) wherein; the control unit is configured to control the power delivered by the prime mover to control acceleration of the vehicle wherein; the control unit is configured to control the acceleration of the vehicle within a pre-defined optimum range of accelerator pedal position (APP).
[017] The control unit of a vehicle may be any controller within vehicle including vehicle control unit (VCU), Engine Control Unit (ECU), Engine Management System (EMS) or any other suitable controller within vehicle. Alternatively, the controller may be provided as a separate external unit. The control unit comprises an acceleration control unit configured to receive value of at least one vehicle parameter including percent of accelerator pedal position (APP); brake pedal position, predefined maximum and minimum prime mover torque, current vehicle speed/ acceleration; the acceleration control unit further configured to process the received values to calculate the desired prime mover torque based on ideal map data. The prime mover delivers the calculated torque as per received signal from acceleration control unit in order to achieve ideal desired acceleration.
[018] The acceleration control unit comprises a memory stored with values of ideal map data and further comprises various modules including a desired acceleration lookup module, and a torque calculation module wherein; the desired acceleration lookup module is configured to identify the desired acceleration based on ideal map data and current accelerator pedal position, and the torque calculation module configured to calculate desired torque based on the desired acceleration. The torque calculated by the torque calculation module is further delivered by the prime mover.
[019] The acceleration control unit is further provided with a feedback controller configured to compare the current vehicle acceleration with the desired acceleration in a continuous close loop and initiate a corrective action in order to minimise any error there between. Based on any error identified, the feedback control module calculates the torque required to reduce the error between desired and actual acceleration. The torque calculated by the feedback controller and the torque calculation module are combined to provide final desired torque, which is delivered by the prime mover.
[020] The ideal map data stored in acceleration control unit is having values of various vehicle acceleration levels against different percentages of accelerator pedal opening. The ideal map data is developed by driving a vehicle at different acceleration levels with different APP values. At least one parameter is kept constant while collecting the data for example, a constant load is considered to be acting on vehicle, preferably load of driver plus three passengers, no sharp upward or downward road gradient and ideal riding style of vehicle etc. An optimum range of accelerator pedal position (APP) is pre-defined in the control unit. The optimum range of APP is range of percentage of accelerator pedal opening in which maximum vehicle mileage may be obtained. The acceleration pedal position corresponds to opening of the acceleration pedal, which indicates the amount of desired power or torque required by the rider to drive the vehicle. The optimum range of APP is derived by driving the vehicle at different acceleration levels with different APP values under above-mentioned ideal condition and observing the mileage of the vehicle at each condition. [021 ] The control unit is configured to control the acceleration of the vehicle only if brake is not applied or if the desired prime mover torque is within the range of maximum and minimum torque that can be delivered by the prime mover. According to one of the embodiment, the vehicle may be an electric or hybrid vehicle and the prime mover is an electric motor powered by battery in the form of energy source. According to another aspect of present invention, the vehicle may also be a fuel-operated vehicle and the prime mover is a fuel-operated engine, for ex IC engine. In case of electric motor as prime mover the power/ current supplied by battery is adjusted in order to control the torque generation, whereas in case of fuel-operated prime movers, quantity of fuel/ airflow is suitably adjusted. In addition to above, gear ratio may also be adjusted in order to generate the required torque. If the total desired prime mover torque is greater than maximum torque that can be delivered by prime mover then the maximum torque is delivered by the prime mover or if the total prime mover torque is less than the minimum torque that can be delivered by prime mover then the minimum torque is delivered by the prime mover.
[022] The control unit is configured to control acceleration of the vehicle purely on the basis of the ideal map data if the accelerator pedal opening is not within the pre-defined optimum range i.e. without applying any controlling strategy. Alternatively, the acceleration is not controlled if the accelerator pedal opening is not within the pre-defined optimum range.
[023] The vehicle is provided with indication means to indicate that the acceleration pedal opening is not within the pre-defined optimum range. Preferably, the indication means is a visual indication provided on a dashboard of the vehicle in the form of light. The indication means comprises at least three different ways of indication to indicate three different conditions of accelerator pedal opening comprising; acceleration pedal opening is well within pre-defined optimum range, the acceleration pedal opening is about to go beyond or below the pre-defined optimum range and the accelerator pedal opening is not within pre-defined optimum range. The indication means is also configured to indicate whether desired power is within pre-set threshold limit of power that is delivered by the prime mover. The indication means may be additionally equipped with an audio alarm to indicate different conditions of APP.
[024] In another aspect of present invention, the present system may be applied to any electric, hybrid or fuel operated vehicle including two-wheeled, three wheeled and four- wheeled vehicle wherein; the prime mover which may be an electric motor or engine produces controlled torque according to pre-stored control strategy which controls the acceleration of the vehicle thereby helping in improving mileage of the vehicle. Therefore, the present invention is also applicable to any vehicle including two-wheeled, three wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle.
[025] A method of improving vehicle performance comprising steps of receiving values of current vehicle acceleration and accelerator pedal position by a control unit; comparing the received current vehicle acceleration with pre-defined desired vehicle acceleration for the received accelerator pedal position using an ideal map data; calculating the torque required to be produced by a prime mover to achieve the desired acceleration using the ideal map data; and controlling power produced by the prime mover in order to deliver the calculated torque.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[026] The electric vehicle of the present invention may be more fully understood from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
[027] FIG. 1 illustrates the block diagram of acceleration control unit according the preferred embodiment of present invention;
[028] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of various steps involved in control strategy according to the preferred embodiment of present invention;
[029] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of acceleration control unit with its sub-modules according to the preferred embodiment of present invention; and
[030] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart describing a major steps involved in controlling acceleration by the acceleration control unit according to the preferred embodiment of present invention.
DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
[031 ] A preferred embodiment will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The preferred embodiment does not limit the scope and ambit of the disclosure. The description provided is purely by way of example and illustration. [032] The present invention provides a system for improving vehicle performance comprising a prime mover for providing required power to drive the vehicle; a control unit in connection with the prime mover; wherein the control unit is configured to control the prime mover demand based on an estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and driver demand. The control unit is configured to compute an error between the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and an expected vehicle reaction; and to minimise the error by controlling the prime mover demand.
[033] The estimated/ measured vehicle reaction is selected from a group of parameters including a vehicle acceleration, jerks, oscillations, delays in vehicle reactions, wheel slips or a combination thereof. The wheel slip is detected using ABS control unit. The driver demand is selected from a group of parameters including an accelerator pedal position, brake pedal position, vehicle mode selector, current gear ratio clutch position or a combination thereof. The expected vehicle reactions is decided/selected based on an ideal map data.
[034] According to a preferred embodiment of present invention, the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction is an acceleration of the vehicle and the driver demand is an accelerator pedal position (APP) wherein; the control unit is configured to control the power delivered by the prime mover to control acceleration of the vehicle. Desired acceleration is considered as expected vehicle reaction, which is decided/ selected from on the ideal map data based on a current vehicle acceleration and APP. This embodiment of present invention is explained herein below in detail. However, the patent is in no way limited only to this embodiment.
[035] Referring now to FIG. 1 , illustrating an acceleration control unit 101 , which is a part of control unit of vehicle. The control unit of a vehicle may be any controller within vehicle including vehicle control unit (VCU), Engine Control Unit (ECU), Engine Management System (EMS) or any other suitable controller within vehicle. The acceleration control unit 101 is a microprocessor device in communication with various vehicle components to receive plurality of inputs including but not limiting to vehicle speed sensor 150 to receive running vehicle speed/ acceleration, accelerator pedal position (APP) sensor 1 10 to receive accelerator pedal position, maximum and minimum prime mover torque value (130, 140), brake pedal position sensor 120 to identify brake position etc. The acceleration control unit 101 is configured to process the received input as per pre determined control strategy to provide an output command, which is a best-desired prime mover torque to be delivered. The acceleration control unit 101 is in connection with the prime mover 170 for delivering the output command of calculated torque and the prime mover 170 is configured to receive the output command and deliver the calculated torque. Therefore, the prime mover torque is controlled in order to control the acceleration of the vehicle, which helps to obtain maximum vehicle mileage. The control strategy, which is used by the acceleration control unit 101 , is further explained herein below with the help of drawings.
[036] Acceleration of vehicle depends on various factors such as road condition i.e. upward or downward gradient, load on the vehicle, present vehicle speed, riding style, accelerator pedal position etc. All these parameters are variable parameters and changes according to running condition. In order to collect the ideal values and minimise the effect of these variable parameters certain conditions may be assumed constant for example, according to one of the embodiment of the present invention a constant load is considered on the vehicle for example load of driver plus three passengers is considered. Similarly, the road condition is considered to be a normal driving road without much upward or downward gradient. Further, the riding style is assumed to be ideal. Thereby the vehicle acceleration is independent of the vehicle loading condition, riding style and gradient condition of the road. Under such ideal conditions a data is collected of vehicle acceleration against various values of percentage of accelerator pedal opening. The ideal data is collected by driving the vehicle at different acceleration levels and plotting the graph of different acceleration levels against time, which gives a graph for acceleration. The required optimum torque at each acceleration level is derived therefrom. This forms the ideal map data from which a desired acceleration lookup table is generated using known mathematical methods and vehicle dynamics equation. The control strategy is based on an ideal map data. This data is stored in the control unit of the vehicle.
[037] In order to obtain a higher mileage for vehicle, acceleration of vehicle is controlled. Acceleration is governed by torque generated by prime mover. For each APP desired acceleration value is derived from ideal map data from which desired prime mover torque is calculated by acceleration control unit and sent to prime mover. The acceleration control unit is configured to control the acceleration of the vehicle according to the values stored in the ideal map data. Vehicle mileage is calculated at each acceleration level. An optimum range of accelerator pedal opening (APP) is pre-defined in the control unit. The optimum range of APP is range of percentage of accelerator pedal opening in which maximum vehicle mileage may be obtained. The optimum range of APP is derived by driving the vehicle at different speed/ acceleration levels with different APP values under above-mentioned ideal condition and observing the mileage of the vehicle at each condition. Therefore, whenever the accelerator pedal opening is within the optimum range then vehicle acceleration is governed according to the proposed control strategy and in rest of the conditions the vehicle is run purely based on ideal map data. For example, the vehicle mileage is observed to be maximum between 20% to 80% accelerator pedal openings then this is pre-defined as optimum range. Therefore, as far as the percentage of accelerator pedal opening is within 20% to 80% the prime mover torque is governed by the acceleration control unit 101 , rest in other conditions the vehicle is run according to the ideal map data or by the actual values and not controlled . For example, at initial pick up from rest when vehicle acceleration is lesser or in case of overtaking other vehicle, higher acceleration is required. In such scenarios APP value generally does not stay with the optimum range of 20% to 80%, the vehicle is run directly according to ideal map data, and no other control strategy is applied. Magnitude of a torque is always less than or equal to ideal torque map values.
[038] As illustrated in FIG. 2 illustrating flowchart illustrating various checks to be done the control unit before applying the control strategy. Specifically in certain scenarios, the control strategy is reset. For example, when the brake is applied the vehicle speed starts reducing in such scenarios the vehicle is run according to actual values or according to ideal map data. Similarly, in case the desired vehicle torque is greater than maximum torque that can be delivered by the prime mover or less than minimum torque that can be delivered by the prime mover, then the vehicle is run according to actual values or ideal map data. Therefore, all these conditions are verified and the vehicle is controlled only if vehicle brake is not applied and the desired more torque is between the minimum and maximum values of torque that can be delivered by prime mover.
[039] Referring to FIG. 3 illustrating block diagram of various control sub-modules as a part of acceleration control module 101 . Upon receiving plurality of inputs as explained above, a desired acceleration lookup module 310 determines the desired acceleration after referring to ideal map data based on received parameters including vehicle speed and/or acceleration and Accelerator Pedal opening (APP). Once the desired Acceleration is determined, a torque calculation module 330 calculates the desired torque required to be produced by the prime mover in order to achieve the desired acceleration. A feedback controller 340 monitor and compare the actual acceleration with desired ideal acceleration and generates a corrective action in order to minimise any error there between in a continuous loop till the error becomes zero. The feedback controller 340 provides output command as a corrective output torque. Final desired prime mover torque is calculated at torque calculating module 350, which is sum of torque calculated by torque calculation module 330 and feedback controller 340. The prime mover is operated to deliver the calculated torque.
[040] Prime-mover desired torque calculation is done with a fixed assume mass as explained above for example, the fixed assumed mass is considered to be a load of driver plus three passengers. The fixed mass considered may vary based on vehicle type, size, capacity etc. The desired torque is calculated by following formula.
a. Tdesired = ( Mass * a + Fr + 0.5 * b * V 2) * r
In above formula,“a” is desired acceleration determined from ideal map value,“Fr” is rolling resistance in newton for assumed mass “b” is aerodynamic drag loss coefficient which is also assumed to be constant and“v” is a present vehicle speed “r” is a rolling radius of wheel. Once the desired torque is calculated, actual torque required to be produced by prime mover is calculated by,
Figure imgf000012_0001
Wherein, the Prime Mover Torquei is torque required to overcome the vehicle drag losses and gear ratio is of the power train of vehicle.
[041 ] During lightly loaded condition of the vehicle, the desired torque computation might be very high & the speed might overshoot. Similarly, during heavily loaded condition of the vehicle the desired acceleration might not be achieved at all. For the above reason the feedback controller 340 is added. The feedback controller 340 compares the present vehicle acceleration against the desired vehicle acceleration & calculates the prime mover torque2 required to reduce the error between the above quantities. The function and components of feedback controller is explained in applicant’s another patent application having application number 201621039983 dated 23rd November 2016 the contents of which are brought herein by reference. [042] The final torque is calculated as Total desired prime mover Torque = prime mover_Torque1 + prime mover_Torque2. This calculated torque is then provided to the control unit, which gives appropriate command to prime mover in order to generate the required torque. In case of electric motor as prime mover the power/ current supplied by battery is adjusted such that prime mover generates the required torque, whereas in case of fuel operated prime movers, quantity of fuel/ airflow is suitably adjusted. In addition to above, gear ratio may also be adjusted in order to generate the required torque. If the total desired prime mover torque is greater than maximum torque that can be delivered by prime mover then the maximum torque is delivered by the prime mover or if the total prime mover torque is less than the minimum torque that can be delivered by prime mover then the minimum torque is delivered by the prime mover.
[043] In case, the driver wants full acceleration for example during over taking then the driver may open the accelerator pedal fully. When the APP goes above 80% the acceleration is controlled according to ideal map data or according to the actual values.
[044] When driver demand power is more than threshold 1 or accelerator pedal opening is greater than the threshold 2, then tell-tale indication, which is nominally green colour in drive mode, is made to made solid amber colour. Similarly, when driver demand power is more than threshold 3 or accelerator pedal opening is greater than threshold 4, then tell tale indication, which is nominally green in drive mode, is made to blink in amber colour. Green signal indicates that the vehicle is being driven in an economic zone as per control strategy while green signal is turned into amber as soon as vehicle acceleration/ desired power is noticed to be going beyond economic zone. When the acceleration is not within economic zone the light is turned to blink into amber colour. The vehicle acceleration is controlled up to some percent of APP for example 80% as the driver goes beyond 80% the acceleration is controlled according to ideal map data or according to the actual values. However; this condition can impact the overall mileage of the vehicle hence indication is provided to indicate this situation to driver.
[045] This concept is now explain with the help of an example herein below. According to an ideal map data an economic zone/ optimum range is defined for a vehicle, which is from 20% to 80% of APP. Therefore, vehicle acceleration is control in order to force the vehicle to be driven in economic zone in order to get maximum mileage. However, during initial or highly accelerated condition APP may not be within the economic zone defined above. In such scenario, vehicle acceleration is controlled as per ideal map data. In order to indicate this situation to the driver a green light is turned to a solid amber colour as the vehicle starts appropriating an upper threshold level of 80% APP. For example APP with 60% to 80%. As soon as the vehicle exceeds to upper threshold of 80% the indication, starts blinking with amber colour. It may additionally be provided with audible alarm. Indication helps driver to identify situations wherein the vehicle is not driven according to the control strategy.
[046] According to another embodiment of present invention the threshold level is not only limited to APP but also power delivered by prime mover. For giving a visual indication the power provided to the prime mover is considered rather than only torque. Power is derived from torque and RPM produced by prime mover shaft. If the power is above threshold level then the lights starts operating to indicate risk.
[047] Referring to FIG. 4 illustrating a flow chart of major steps involved in controlling the acceleration of the vehicle which is performed by the acceleration control unit. At step 405, the acceleration control unit receives various parameters including APP, brake pedal position, Current Speed/ acceleration etc. If the APP valve is within pre-set optimum limit then the acceleration control unit further calculates the desired torque using ideal map data as explained herein above. The desired torque is calculated at step 410 based on ideal map data is communicated to the prime mover to deliver the same at step 415. Once the desired torque is delivered by the prime mover, a current vehicle acceleration is received/ obtained by the acceleration control unit at step 420. A target acceleration is identified for received vehicle parameters mainly based on APP or ideal map data and is compared with the current acceleration at step 430. If any error is identified there between, then a feedback torque is calculated by a feedback control module at step 440. The feedback torque is then combined with the previously calculated desired torque to calculate the final desired motor torque at step 445, which is further delivered by the prime mover. The acceleration control unit then again obtains the vehicle acceleration as in step 420 and repeat the above steps until the error between actual acceleration and target acceleration becomes zero. Above methodology is applicable only when the APP is within predefine optimum range. Once the APP goes outside the optimum range, the vehicle acceleration or torque is equal to the actual value or equal to the ideal values of map data. Additionally, the predefined conditions are also checked before controlling the acceleration as explained above with reference to FIG.2. [048] In another aspect of present invention, the present system may be applied to any electric, hybrid or fuel operated vehicle wherein the prime mover, which may be an electric motor or engine, produces controlled torque according to pre-stored control strategy, which controls the acceleration of the vehicle thereby helping in improving mileage of the vehicle. Therefore, the present invention is also applicable to any vehicle including two wheeled, three-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle including electric or hybrid vehicles.
[049] Although the invention has been described with regard to its embodiments, specific embodiments, and various examples, which constitute the best mode presently known to the inventors, it should be understood that various changes and modifications as would be obvious to one having the ordinary skill in this art may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole. All changes that come with meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

WE CLAIM:
1 . A system for improving vehicle performance comprising:
a prime mover for providing required power to drive the vehicle;
a control unit in connection with the prime mover; wherein the control unit is configured to control the prime mover demand based on an estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and driver demand.
2. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured
to compute an error between the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and an expected vehicle reaction; and
to minimise the error by controlling the prime mover demand.
3. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction is selected from a group of parameters including a vehicle acceleration, jerks, oscillations, delays in vehicle reactions, wheel slips or a combination thereof.
4. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the driver demand is selected from a group of parameters including an accelerator pedal position, brake pedal position, vehicle mode selector, current gear ratio clutch position or a combination thereof.
5. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 2, wherein the expected vehicle reactions is decided/selected based on an ideal map data.
6. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the estimated/ measured vehicle reaction is an acceleration of the vehicle and the driver demand is an accelerator pedal position (APP) wherein; the control unit is configured to control the power delivered by the prime mover to control acceleration of the vehicle.
7. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 5, wherein the ideal map data representative of driving behaviour is stored in the control unit and is derived from the driver demand and estimated/ measured vehicle reaction and provides an optimum expected vehicle reaction for a given driver demand to obtain best possible vehicle performance.
8. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 7, wherein the control unit is configured to provide at least a visual and/or auditory indication to alert the driver on suboptimal drive behaviour based on the ideal map data.
9. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 6 wherein; the control unit comprises an acceleration control unit configured
to receive value of at least one vehicle parameter including accelerator pedal position (APP); brake pedal position, predefined maximum and minimum prime mover torque, current vehicle speed and/or acceleration;
to process the received values to calculate the desired prime mover torque based on an ideal map data; and
to control the prime mover according to the calculated torque.
10. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 9, wherein the acceleration control unit comprises plurality of modules including a desired acceleration lookup module and a torque calculation module wherein; the desired acceleration lookup module is configured to identify desired acceleration as expected vehicle reaction based on ideal map data using current vehicle speed and/or acceleration and acceleration pedal opening;
the torque calculation module is configured to calculate desired torque based on the desired acceleration; and
the control unit controls the prime mover to deliver the calculated torque.
1 1. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 10, wherein the acceleration control unit comprises a feedback controller configured to
identify error between the current vehicle acceleration and the desired vehicle acceleration in a continuous close loop;
calculate the corrective output torque to be delivered by prime mover; and combine the corrective output torque with the torque calculated by torque calculation module to provide final desired torque, which is delivered by the prime mover to reduce the error between desired and actual vehicle acceleration.
12. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 9, wherein the ideal map data stored in the control unit comprises values of optimum vehicle acceleration against different percentages of accelerator pedal opening for plurality of vehicle acceleration levels wherein; values are derived by driving a vehicle at different acceleration levels with different APP values by keeping at least one parameter constant including a load acting on vehicle, road gradient and riding style of vehicle.
13. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 9, wherein the control unit controls the torque produced by the prime mover either by
controlling the electric power supplied to the prime mover including controlling of voltage/current; or by
adjusting the gear ratio of a transmission system of vehicle; or by both, and
wherein the amount of electric power to be supplied to the prime mover and gear ratio to be adjusted for the desired prime mover torque is calculated by the control unit.
14. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 6, wherein the acceleration of the vehicle is controlled within a pre-defined optimum range of accelerator pedal position (APP).
15. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 14, wherein the control unit is configured to not control the acceleration of the vehicle or control the acceleration of the vehicle purely based on the ideal map data if the accelerator pedal opening is not within the pre-defined optimum range.
16. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 14, wherein the vehicle is provided with an indication means to indicate that the acceleration pedal opening is not within the pre-defined optimum range wherein; the indication means is configured to indicate at least three different conditions of accelerator pedal opening comprising; acceleration pedal opening is well within pre-defined optimum range, the acceleration pedal opening is about to go beyond or below the pre-defined optimum range and the accelerator pedal opening is not within the pre-defined optimum range.
17. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 9, wherein the control unit is configured to indicate the desired torque of prime mover is within pre-set threshold limit of torque that is delivered by the prime mover.
18. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 9, wherein the control unit is configured to control the acceleration of the vehicle only if brake is not applied or if the desired prime mover torque is within the range of maximum and minimum torque that is delivered by the prime mover.
19. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 9, wherein the control unit is configured
to instruct prime mover to deliver the maximum torque that is delivered by the prime mover, if the desired prime mover torque is greater than maximum torque that is delivered by prime mover; and
to instruct prime mover to deliver the minimum torque that is delivered by the prime mover, if the desired prime mover torque is less than the minimum torque that is delivered by prime mover.
20. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in any of the claim above, wherein the control unit of a vehicle is any controller within vehicle including vehicle control unit (VCU) or Engine Control Unit (ECU) or Engine Management System (EMS) or provided as a separate external unit.
21 . The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in any of the claim above, wherein the vehicle is an electric or hybrid or fuel operated vehicle including two wheeled, three wheeled and four-wheeled vehicle wherein; the prime mover is an electric motor or engine or both.
22. The system for improving vehicle performance as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the vehicle is a fuel-operated vehicle and the prime mover is a fuel-operated engine wherein; the control unit is configured to control the torque generated by engine through controlling quantity of fuel/ airflow supplied to engine or by adjusting a gear ratio or by both.
23. A method of improving vehicle performance comprising steps of:
receiving values of current vehicle acceleration and accelerator pedal position by a control unit; comparing the received current vehicle acceleration with pre-defined desired vehicle acceleration for the received accelerator pedal position using an ideal map data; calculating the torque required to be produced by a prime mover to achieve the desired acceleration using the ideal map data; and controlling power produced by the prime mover in order to deliver the calculated torque.
PCT/IN2020/050629 2019-07-22 2020-07-21 System for improving vehicle performance WO2021014466A1 (en)

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AR119437A1 (en) 2021-12-15

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