Heavy-duty vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12384339-B2
Application number	US-202318499711-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2023
Priority date	Nov 11, 2022
Publication date	Aug 12, 2025
Grant date	Aug 12, 2025

Abstract

A heavy-duty vehicle has a first set of metallic brakes and a second set of non-metallic brakes having lower weight than the metallic brakes. A processor device is configured to acquire prediction data indicative of an upcoming brake event that is expected to occur along a road on which the vehicle is travelling; determine, based on the prediction data, an expected value of kinetic energy that will be absorbed during said upcoming brake event; select, based on said determined expected value of kinetic energy, which one of the first and second sets of brakes that is to be activated to absorb kinetic energy during said upcoming brake event; and control the selected set of brakes to be activated during said brake event, wherein the other set of brakes remains inactivated during said brake event.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A heavy-duty vehicle, comprising:
a first set of brakes,
a second set of brakes,
wherein the brakes of the first set are metallic brakes,
wherein the brakes of the second set are non-metallic brakes, wherein each non-metallic brake of the second set has a lower weight than each metallic brake of the first set,
a processor device which is configured to:
acquire prediction data indicative of an upcoming brake event that is expected to occur along a road on which the vehicle is travelling,
determine, based on the prediction data, an expected value of kinetic energy that will be absorbed during said upcoming brake event,
select, based on said determined expected value of kinetic energy, which one of the first and second sets of brakes that is to be activated to absorb kinetic energy during said upcoming brake event, and
control the selected set of brakes to be activated during said brake event, wherein the other set of brakes remains inactivated during said brake event.

2. The heavy-duty vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the metallic brakes are steel brakes, wherein the non-metallic brakes are carbon brakes.

3. The heavy-duty vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first set of brakes are provided on a first set of wheels, wherein the second set of brakes are provided on a second set of wheels.

4. The heavy-duty vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor device is configured to compare said determined expected value of kinetic energy with a predetermined energy threshold value, wherein upon determination by the processor device that said determined expected value is higher than the predetermined energy threshold value, then the processor device selects the second set of brakes, and upon determination by the processor device that said determined expected value is lower than the predetermined energy threshold value then the processor device selects the first set of brakes.

5. The heavy-duty vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said prediction data comprises stored historical driving data representing previous brake actions, wherein the processor device is configured to access said stored historical data, and based on said stored historical data, determine said expected value of kinetic energy that will be absorbed during said upcoming brake event.

6. The heavy-duty vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said prediction data comprises information about the topography of an upcoming road segment, wherein the processor device is configured to determine said expected value of kinetic energy based on said information about the topography.

7. The heavy-duty vehicle of claim 6 , wherein said information about the topography comprises information about a length and/or a grade of an upcoming downhill slope.

8. The heavy-duty vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor device is configured to determine said expected value of kinetic energy based on one or more of the following parameters:
an expected time duration of the upcoming brake event,
an expected distance that will be travelled by the vehicle during the upcoming brake event,
a grade of the road segment at which the upcoming brake event is expected to occur, the current vehicle speed.

9. The heavy-duty vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said determining, by the processor device, of the expected value of kinetic energy, comprises determining how much brake power that needs to be applied during the upcoming brake event to maintain the current vehicle speed.

10. The heavy-duty vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said upcoming brake event is a first brake event, wherein the said prediction data is also indicative of a plurality of subsequent brake events that are expected to occur along a road on which the vehicle is travelling, wherein the processor device is configured to:
determine, based on the prediction data, for each one of said plurality of subsequent brake events, a respective expected value of kinetic energy that will be absorbed during that subsequent brake event,
select for each one of said subsequent brake events, based on said determined respective expected value of kinetic energy, which one of the first and second sets of brakes that is to be activated to absorb kinetic energy during that subsequent brake event, and
control the selected set of brakes to be activated during that subsequent brake event, wherein the other set of brakes remains inactivated during that subsequent brake event.

11. A computer system comprising a processor device configured to:
acquire prediction data indicative of an upcoming brake event that is expected to occur along a road on which a heavy-duty vehicle is travelling,
determine, based on the prediction data, an expected value of kinetic energy that will be absorbed during said upcoming brake event,
select, based on said determined expected value of kinetic energy, which one of a first set of brakes and a second set of brakes of the heavy-duty vehicle that is to be activated to absorb kinetic energy during said upcoming brake event, wherein the brakes of the first set are metallic brakes and the brakes of the second set are non-metallic brakes, and
control the selected set of brakes to be activated during said brake event, wherein the other set of brakes remains inactivated during said brake event.

12. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
acquiring, by a processor device of a computer system, prediction data indicative of an upcoming brake event that is expected to occur along a road on which a heavy-duty vehicle is travelling,
determining, by the processor device, based on the prediction data, an expected value of kinetic energy that will be absorbed during said upcoming brake event,
selecting, by the processor device, based on said determined expected value of kinetic energy, which one of a first set of brakes and a second set of brakes of the heavy-duty vehicle that is to be activated to absorb kinetic energy during said upcoming brake event, wherein the brakes of the first set are metallic brakes and the brakes of the second set are non-metallic brakes, and
controlling, by the processor device, the selected set of brakes to be activated during said brake event, wherein the other set of brakes remains inactivated during said brake event.

13. A computer program product comprising program code for performing, when executed by the processor device, the method of claim 12 .

14. A control system comprising one or more control units configured to perform the method of claim 12 .

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor device, cause the processor device to perform the method of claim 12 .

Assignees

• Volvo Truck Corp

Inventors

• Stjernberg Oscar
• Wilhelmsson Martin

Classifications

• B60T2210/20

  Road shapes · CPC title

• B60T8/172

  Determining control parameters used in the regulation, e.g. by calculations involving measured or detected parameters {(B60T8/17551 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B60T8/245 Primary

  Longitudinal vehicle inclination · CPC title

• B60T8/1708 Primary

  for lorries or tractor-trailer combinations · CPC title