Systems and methods for controlling deceleration fuel shut off in response to detection of an external object or location

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11268466-B2
Application number	US-201916586782-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2019
Priority date	Sep 27, 2019
Publication date	Mar 8, 2022
Grant date	Mar 8, 2022

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for controlling deceleration fuel shut off (DFSO) in response to an external object or location, such as a target vehicle. In one example, a method may include, while operating an engine in DFSO, determining a rate of change of a range to the target vehicle, and commanding an exit from the DFSO based on the range rate of change. By exiting the DFSO based on the range rate of change, torque lash experienced by a driver may be correspondingly reduced as compared to exiting the DFSO based upon, for example, one or more powertrain operating conditions.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
while operating an engine in deceleration fuel shut off (DFSO):
determining a rate of change of a range to a target vehicle; and
commanding an exit from the DFSO based on the range rate of change, wherein commanding the exit from the DFSO based on the range rate of change includes:
predicting an adjustment of one or more of an engine load and an engine speed in response to the range rate of change; and
commanding the exit from the DFSO prior to the predicted adjustment of the one or more of the engine load and the engine speed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the range rate of change is positive; and
the predicted adjustment is an increase in the one or more of the engine load and the engine speed.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the range rate of change is negative; and
the predicted adjustment is a decrease in the one or more of the engine load and the engine speed.

4. A method for an engine in a vehicle, the method comprising:
operating the engine in deceleration fuel shut off (DFSO);
detecting a target location external to the vehicle;
determining whether one or more highway conditions are met, the one or more highway conditions including an increase in a vehicle speed, an increase in an ambient temperature, and an increase in a wind resistance; and
advancing an exit from the DFSO based on the detected target location and in response to the one or more highway conditions being met.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein detecting the target location includes:
receiving an indication of the target location being within a distance threshold of the vehicle from one or more networks, lidar sensors, radar sensors, sonar sensors, acoustic sensors, and onboard cameras; and
identifying the target location based on the received indication.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the detected target location corresponds to an additional vehicle located ahead of the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein advancing the exit from the DFSO includes:
determining a rate of change of a range to the additional vehicle;
predicting receipt of one of a torque request and a braking request based on the range rate of change; and
advancing the exit from the DFSO prior to the predicted receipt of the one of the torque request and the braking request.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein
the range rate of change is positive for a threshold duration; and
the predicted receipt includes the torque request being received at a time after the threshold duration.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein
the range rate of change is negative for a threshold duration; and
the predicted receipt includes the braking request being received at a time after the threshold duration.

10. The method of claim 4 , wherein the detected target location corresponds to an altered speed zone located ahead of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein advancing the exit from the DFSO based on the target location includes:
predicting an acceleration event of the vehicle based on the altered speed zone; and
advancing the exit from the DFSO prior to the predicted acceleration event.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein
the altered speed zone has a higher speed limit than a current speed zone; and
the predicted acceleration event includes the vehicle accelerating upon reaching the altered speed zone.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein
the altered speed zone has a lower speed limit than the current speed zone; and
the predicted acceleration event includes the vehicle accelerating after both of reaching the altered speed zone and decelerating in response to the altered speed zone.

14. A system for a vehicle, comprising:
an engine configured to operate in deceleration fuel shut off (DFSO);
one or more forward-facing sensors configured to receive signals indicative of a target vehicle located ahead of the vehicle; and
a controller storing instructions in non-transitory memory, the instructions executable by a processor to:
receive the signals from the one or more forward-facing sensors;
detect the target vehicle by processing the received signals;
determine a rate of change of a distance to the target vehicle, including estimating the distance to the target vehicle over a duration and determining the rate of change as a function of the distance and the duration; and
responsive to each of a magnitude of the rate of change being higher than a threshold and the DFSO being initiated, exit the DFSO early.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more forward-facing sensors include one or more lidar sensors, radar sensors, sonar sensors, acoustic sensors, and onboard cameras.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions are executable to:
responsive to each of the magnitude of the rate of change and the DFSO not yet being initiated, prevent the engine from operating in the DFSO.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein exiting the DFSO early includes:
exiting the DFSO before one or more DFSO exit conditions have been met, the one or more DFSO exit conditions including an engine speed exceeding an engine speed threshold and an engine load exceeding an engine load threshold.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Makled Daniel A
• Mcquillen Michael
• Affeldt Matthew
• Surnilla Gopichandra

Classifications

• F02D41/021 Primary

  Introducing corrections for particular conditions exterior to the engine (conjoint control of vehicle sub-units for propelling the vehicle B60W30/18) · CPC title

• B60W20/10

  Controlling the power contribution of each of the prime movers to meet required power demand · CPC title

• B60W10/06 Primary

  including control of combustion engines · CPC title

• G08G1/161

  Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication · CPC title

• B60W30/16

  Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle · CPC title