Method for managing a platoon of trucks on the basis of information relating to the tires with which the trucks of said platoon are equipped

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11450212-B2
Application number	US-201816772622-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2018
Priority date	Dec 22, 2017
Publication date	Sep 20, 2022
Grant date	Sep 20, 2022

Abstract

The method for organizing a group of several separate vehicles in a platoon includes an identification step (a) in order to identify the candidate vehicles that are to form the platoonp The method also includes an acquisition step (b) in order to acquire, for each candidate vehicle, at least one parameter associated with a tire of the candidate vehicle, such as the wet grip index of the tire tyre, referred to as the “tire parameter”. Subsequently, based on the tire parameter, a processing step (c) for determining the rank attributed to the particular candidate vehicle in the platoon and/or the inter-vehicle distance which, at a given speed, must separate the candidate vehicle in question from the vehicle immediately in front in the platoon.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for organizing a group of several separate vehicles into a platoon, within which said vehicles are ordered into a line, and within which each vehicle following at least one other vehicle in said platoon is capable of automatically adjusting its individual driving behavior as a function of the driving behavior of one or more vehicles in the platoon that precede said vehicle in said line, said method including the following steps:
an identification step (a), during which the vehicles intended to form the platoon, known as “candidate vehicles” are identified, each of said candidate vehicles being provided with at least one axle that comprises at least one tire providing contact between said candidate vehicle and the ground,
an acquisition step (b), during which, for each candidate vehicle, at least one parameter is acquired that is linked to said at least one tire providing the contact between said candidate vehicle and the ground, known as the “tire parameter”, the tire parameter being a grip index that quantifies the capacity of the tire in question to grip the ground during braking, and wherein an axle load that is exerted on each tire that contacts the ground is evaluated, and wherein an overall weighted grip index (G_vehic) is calculated based on the grip indices of all of the tires in contact with the ground and on the axle loads that are exerted on those tires,
a processing step (c), during which, on the basis of said overall weighted grip index, the rank is determined that is attributed to the candidate vehicle in question in the platoon and/or the inter-vehicle distance is determined that must separate, at a given speed, the candidate vehicle in question from the vehicle that immediately precedes said candidate vehicle in the platoon, and
controlling each vehicle of the platoon such that the vehicles are in their corresponding proper rank that is determined and/or such that they have the determined separation between themselves and their adjacent preceding vehicle.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the grip index in question corresponds to a wet grip index.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the wet grip index is defined by European Regulation (EU) No 228/2011 if the candidate vehicle is a passenger vehicle, or by ISO 15222 if the candidate vehicle is a truck or a van.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the grip index corresponds to a wet grip index value that is deduced from a standardized wet grip class that is shown on the identification labelling of the tire.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the wet grip class that is shown on the identification is in accordance with European Regulation (EC) No. 1222/2009.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the load exerted on each axle, respectively on each tire, is evaluated on the basis of a weighing operation, or on the basis of an item of load information that is made available on a computer network of the vehicle by an on-board system on the vehicle.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicles are ordered in the platoon in increasing order of their overall weighted grip index.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein for each candidate vehicle, a characteristic stopping distance is evaluated, as a function of a target travelling speed and the grip index of said vehicle, respectively as a function of a target travelling speed and the overall weighted grip index (G_vehic), and the characteristic stopping distances of the candidate vehicles that must follow each other in the platoon are compared two by two in order to determine, for each candidate vehicle, the minimum inter-vehicle distance that must separate, at the speed in question, said candidate vehicle in question from the vehicle that immediately precedes it in the platoon.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in order to organize the platoon, a wear intensity of the at least one tire in question is taken into account.

10. The method according to claim 9 wherein the grip index corresponds to a wet grip index value of the tire in question, and this wet grip index is corrected by applying to it a correction factor that decreases, according to a predetermined law, when the wear intensity of the tire increases.

11. A system for managing a platoon of vehicles suitable for organizing a platoon of several separate vehicles, each provided with at least one axle that comprises at least one tire providing contact between said vehicle and the ground, said system comprising the following electronic processing units:
an identification unit that identifies and lists the vehicles intended to form the platoon, known as “candidate vehicles”,
a characterization unit that collects, for each candidate vehicle, at least one parameter linked to said at least one tire providing the contact between said candidate vehicle and the ground, known as the “tire parameter”, the tire parameter being a grip index that quantifies the capacity of the tire in question to grip the ground during braking, the characterization unit further evaluating an axle load that is exerted on each tire that contacts the ground and calculating an overall weighted grip index (G_vehic) based on the grip indices of all of the tires in contact with the ground and on the axle loads that are exerted on those tires,
an ordering unit that determines, on the basis of said tire parameter, a rank that it assigns to the candidate vehicle in question in the platoon and/or an inter-vehicle distance setpoint that sets the distance that must separate, at a given speed, the candidate vehicle in question from the vehicle that immediately precedes it in the platoon, and
at least one control unit that controls the vehicles of the platoon such that the vehicles are in their corresponding proper rank that is determined and/or such that they have the determined separation between themselves and their adjacent preceding vehicle.

12. The system for managing a platoon of vehicles according to claim 11 , wherein the grip index is a wet grip index that represents the wet grip class of the at least one tire in question.

13. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the tire parameter is obtained by remote transmission on the basis of an item of information transmitted by a transponder implanted in the tire in question.

Assignees

• Michelin & Cie

Inventors

• Domprobst Frederic
• Fangeat Nicolas
• Ledoux Thomas

Classifications

• B60W2554/802

  Longitudinal distance · CPC title

• B60W40/064

  Degree of grip · CPC title

• G08G1/22 Primary

  Platooning, i.e. convoy of communicating vehicles · CPC title

• B60W2530/20

  Tyre data · CPC title

• G05D2201/0213

  Physics · mapped topic