Control system and method of controlling a driveline

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10828984-B2
Application number	US-201816174971-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 30, 2018
Priority date	Nov 19, 2014
Publication date	Nov 10, 2020
Grant date	Nov 10, 2020

Abstract

Some embodiments of the present invention provide a control system configured to control a driveline of a motor vehicle to operate in a selected one of a plurality of configurations, the system being configured to receive a signal indicative of a location of the vehicle, the system being configured to cause the driveline to operate in a configuration selected in dependence at least in part on the signal indicative of the location of the vehicle.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A control system configured to control a driveline of a motor vehicle to operate in a first configuration in which the driveline is configured such that a first group of one or more wheels and in addition a second group of one or more wheels are arranged to be driven or a second configuration in which the first group of one or more wheels and not the second group are arranged to be driven, the control system comprising:
receiver means operable to receive a location signal indicative of a location of the vehicle,
means to determine a predicted path of travel of the vehicle using the location signal,
means to predict an amount of lateral acceleration that will be experienced by the vehicle in dependence at least in part on the predicted path of travel of the vehicle,
a comparator operable to compare the predicted amount of lateral acceleration with a threshold lateral acceleration value, and
a controller operable to cause the driveline to operate in either the first or the second configuration in dependence at least in part on whether the predicted amount of lateral acceleration exceeds the threshold lateral acceleration value,
wherein the first or the second group of one or more wheels comprises a plurality of wheels, the system being configured to set a predetermined amount of locking torque between at least two wheels of at least one of the first group and the second group in dependence at least in part on the predicted amount of lateral acceleration.

2. The control system according to claim 1 wherein if the predicted amount of lateral acceleration exceeds the threshold lateral acceleration value the controller causes the driveline to operate in the first configuration and if the predicted amount of lateral acceleration is below the threshold lateral acceleration value the controller causes the driveline to operate in the second configuration.

3. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the means to determine the predicted path of travel of the vehicle is configured to determine whether a bend exists in the predicted path of travel of the vehicle, and the controller is configured to cause the driveline to operate in a predetermined one of the first or second configuration in dependence at least in part on whether a bend exists in the predicted path of travel.

4. The control system according to claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to cause the driveline to operate in a predetermined one of the first or second configuration in dependence at least in part on whether a bend is detected having a radius of curvature less than a predetermined value.

5. A control system configured to control a driveline of a motor vehicle to operate in a first configuration in which the driveline is configured such that a first group of one or more wheels and in addition a second group of one or more wheels are arranged to be driven or a second configuration in which the first group of one or more wheels and not the second group are arranged to be driven, the control system comprising:
receiver means operable to receive a location signal indicative of a location of the vehicle;
means to determine whether a bend exists in a predicted path of travel of the vehicle, the predicted path of travel of the vehicle being determined using the location signal;
means to determine the radius of the bend;
a comparator operable to determine whether the radius of the bend has a curvature less than a predetermined value; and
a controller operable to cause the driveline to operate in either the first or the second configuration in dependence at least in part on whether the radius of the bend has a curvature less than the predetermined value,
wherein the control system is configured to predict an amount of lateral acceleration that will be experienced by the vehicle in dependence at least in part on the predicted path of travel of the vehicle,
the controller being configured to cause the driveline to operate in a predetermined one of the first or second configuration in dependence at least in part on the predicted amount of lateral acceleration, and
wherein the first or second group of one or more wheels comprises a plurality of wheels,
the system being configured to set a predetermined amount of locking torque between at least two wheels of at least one of the first group and the second group in dependence at least in part on the predicted amount of lateral acceleration.

6. The control system according to claim 5 wherein if the predicted amount of lateral acceleration exceeds a threshold value the controller causes the driveline to operate in the first configuration and if the predicted amount of lateral acceleration is below the threshold value the controller causes the driveline to operate in the second configuration.

7. The control system according to claim 1 configured to set a predetermined amount of locking torque between at least one wheel of the first group and at least one wheel of the second group in dependence at least in part on the predicted amount of lateral acceleration.

8. The control system according to claim 1 configured to determine the amount of lateral acceleration that will be experienced at least in part in dependence on a radius of curvature of the predicted path of travel.

9. The control system according to claim 1 wherein the threshold lateral acceleration value is determined at least in part in dependence on at least one selected from amongst vehicle speed, one or more characteristics of a road wheel of the vehicle and data in respect of one or more environmental conditions.

10. The control system according to claim 5 wherein the predetermined value is dependent at least in part on a speed of travel of the vehicle.

11. The control system according to claim 5 configured to set an amount of locking torque between selected ones of the wheels, at least in part in dependence on whether a bend exists in the predicted path of travel.

12. The control system according to claim 5 wherein the controller is configured to cause the driveline to operate in a predetermined one of the first or second configuration in dependence at least in part on whether a bend exists in the predicted path of travel when the vehicle is operating on-road.

13. The control system according to claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to cause the driveline to operate in the first configuration if the signal indicative of location indicates the vehicle is operating off-road and to cause the driveline to operate in the second configuration if the signal indicative of location indicates the vehicle is operating on-road.

14. The control system according to claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to cause the driveline to operate in a configuration selected at least in part in further dependence on a signal indicative of a selected driving mode in which the vehicle is operating, the driving mode being selected from a plurality of driving modes.

15. The control system according to claim 14 wherein the signal indicative of the selected driving mode in which the vehicle is operating corresponds to a state of a manual driving mode selector input device or a signal indicative of the selected driving mode selected automatically by automatic driving mode selection means.

16. The control system according to claim 14 having a subsystem controller for initiating control of at least one vehicle subsystem in a selected one of a plurality of subsystem configuration modes, the subsystem configuration mode being selected in dependence on the selected driving mode.

17. The contr

Assignees

• Jaguar Land Rover Ltd

Inventors

• Burt Sam
• Harries Christopher
• Clarke Richard

Classifications

• B60W30/182

  Selecting between different operative modes, e.g. comfort and performance modes · CPC title

• B60W2552/05

  Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads · CPC title

• B60W10/184

  with wheel brakes · CPC title

• B60W2720/14

  Yaw · CPC title

• B60W2720/406

  between left and right wheel · CPC title