Patent Application
20110276216
Not applicable.
Portions of this patent application contain materials that are subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document, or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
A conventional cruise control system may use the vehicle brakes or transmission to slow a vehicle as it moves down hill, which thereby dissipates energy and keeps the vehicle speed from going above the set point. This operation consumes and dissipates energy to slow the vehicle down. Automobiles suffer loss of fuel economy when the cruise control is used.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 20040084237, “Vehicle Cruise Control System” dated May 6, 2004, show some background on a vehicle cruise control system with an upper set speed and a lower set speed.
“Measurement of the road gradient using an inclinometer mounted on a moving vehicle,” S. Mangan et al., 2002 IEEE International Symposium on Computer Aided Control System Design Proceedings, pp. 80-85, mentions automatic cruise control and provides some background on challenges of road gradient measurement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,645 “Cruise controller for vehicles” Jan. 14, 1997 mentions various sensors.
It would be desirable to improve cruise control systems for full driver convenience, as well as fuel economy, reliability, simplicity, and low cost. These represent some of the problematic areas and desirable features in a cruise control.
It would be desirable to improve cruise control systems for gasoline or diesel powered internal combustion engine vehicles and also for hybrid gas/electric or electric only vehicles such as sedans, pickup trucks, trailer trucks, SUVs (sport utility vehicles), cross-overs, vans, RVs (recreation vehicles), motorcycles and other vehicles (where unaccompanied references herein to “car” or “vehicle” refers to any of them). It would be desirable to improve cruise control systems for vehicles with frictional brakes, such as drum brakes and/or disc brakes, as well as vehicles with regenerative braking
Moreover, in this era of concern about automotive fuel economy, energy conservation greenhouse gas emissions, and green and eco-friendly technologies, improved cruise controls that can increase fuel economy for millions of vehicles and can conveniently be used by millions of drivers are of vital public, economic and commercial importance.
It would be desirable to address some or all of the various above-mentioned problems and issues, among others.
Generally, a form of the invention involves a cruise control that includes an input for speed-related data, a hill angle sensor, and a cruise controller having a throttling control output and control conditions responsive to both the speed-related data and to the hill angle sensor to determine whether to increase or decrease a throttling control output or leave the throttling control output unchanged.
Generally, a cruise control process form of the invention involves executing control conditions responsive to both speed-related data and to a hill angle to determine whether to increase or decrease a throttling control output or leave the throttling control output unchanged.
Generally, another form of the invention involves an automotive vehicle that includes a torque producing assembly, wheels coupled to receive torque from said torque producing assembly, a braking assembly coupled with one or more of the wheels, a vehicle speed sensor, a hill angle sensor, and a cruise controller operable to control torque production by the torque producing assembly and said cruise controller having control conditions responsive to both speed-related data from said vehicle speed sensor and to hill angle-related data from said hill angle sensor to determine whether to increase or decrease wheel speed or leave the wheel speed unchanged and whether to activate said braking assembly.
Other cruise control apparatus and processes and automotive vehicles are disclosed and claimed.
Corresponding numerals or letter symbols in different Figures indicate corresponding parts except where the context indicates otherwise.
To solve the above-mentioned problems and others, various embodiments realize remarkable cruise control processes and cruise control structures. Some benefits and advantages of the embodiments include fuel economy, high performance, driver convenience, reliability, low cost, applicability to a wide variety of vehicles, and compatibility with many different engine types and braking technologies.
Conventional cruise control simply applies control directed to the set point and targeted to keep the vehicle 100 moving at a constant speed regardless of throttle position and incline. Such control may use the vehicle brakes or transmission to slow the car as it moves down hill in
By contrast, a category of embodiments involve a fuel economy optimized automotive cruise control, which employs any of various process embodiments or methods that automatically can keep a vehicle moving at the same average speed over a long distance while optimizing throttle position and fuel usage.
In
This Economy mode cruise control also is applicable to and may, but need not necessarily, be modified to work with not only a conventional gasoline or diesel engine vehicle but also a hybrid gas/electric vehicle; a methane or propane LPG injected vehicle; or battery or fuel cell powered electric vehicle. The Economy mode benefits a gasoline-only or diesel-only engine vehicle by using the vehicle mass as a high-efficiency energy store. The Economy mode actually also benefits a hybrid gas/electric, methane or propane or electric-only vehicle by using the vehicle mass as such a high-efficiency energy store instead of or in addition to the battery as the energy store in such vehicles. The Economy mode of the enhanced cruise control vehicular system stores energy in the down hill portion of the road in the form of additional vehicle speed/momentum/kinetic energy analogous to the manner that a hybrid/electric vehicle stores energy in a battery/capacitor when the vehicle slows down or stops. The Economy mode embodiments complement the fuel saving technology in a hybrid vehicle and reduce load on the charge/discharge hardware in the vehicle. The automotive vehicle 100 thus has some torque producing assembly, wheels coupled to receive torque from the torque producing assembly, and a braking assembly coupled with one or more of the wheels. “Throttle” and “throttling” herein refer to any structure and process to vary the amount or rate of energy, power, torque and/or angular velocity delivered by energy-delivering apparatus such as an engine or electrical energy source.
The system with Economy mode herein is beneficially used in an analogous manner on a vehicle with regenerative braking as on a vehicle with frictional brakes. Regenerative braking converts automotive kinetic energy into electrical energy and then into battery chemical energy and then reverses both those conversions later to recover kinetic energy.
Some embodiments and/or threshold parameters for Economy mode best benefit cars with frictional drum brakes or disc brakes, and other embodiments and/or threshold parameters for Economy mode best benefit a vehicle with regenerative braking. However, using Economy mode takes advantage of potential energy in the form of greater speed (momentum) of the mass of the car and is more efficient than slowing the vehicle by regenerative braking that converts and stores the kinetic energy in a battery instead. In other words, the conversion efficiency of direct conversion of kinetic energy to gravitational potential energy using Economy mode herein is greater than the conversion efficiency of regenerative braking. In regenerative braking, compared to Economy mode, the regenerative conversion efficiency is diminished by dissipative energy losses involved at all steps in converting the automotive kinetic energy into electrical energy and then converting into battery chemical energy and then reversing both those conversions later to recover the kinetic energy.
Some embodiments of fuel economy optimized automotive cruise control herein have at least two user-selectable modes: 1) a Normal mode as in
[L:H]=[Setpoint−δ:Setpoint+ε]. (1)
In
CRUISE ON/ON/OFF
ECO/NORMAL/<blank> (2)
If desired, a dedicated extra Mode button is suitably provided along with a Cruise Off/On button in some embodiments. Having a button as above that cycles through Normal, Economy, and Off in response to successive manual button-pushes inexpensively has no extra button to switch between Normal mode and Economy mode. The system controller suitably uses and monitors such a single button or lever on the steering wheel or on a cruise control stick and switches between the following modes with each manual button-push or lever-press. OFF->ON NORMAL MODE->ON ECONOMY MODE. The current selected mode is indicated by an indicator light in the vehicle instrument cluster via an informational display (LCD/LED) on dashboard 110, or on steering wheel 140, or on a center console display, or on a transparent organic film semiconductor display on the windshield of vehicle 100 or elsewhere.
Some embodiments alternatively or additionally provide a mode such as a Minimum Speed mode to set a range low end and leave the range high end indefinite. Another mode herein called an Anti-Tailgate mode responds to forward closing distance and rear closing distance.
On steering wheel 140, any other suitable driver-usable cruise control buttons are provided, such as Reset, Accelerate, Coast, and/or any other suitable buttons.
In
Even when the average speed is controlled to be the same in Normal mode and Economy mode, the remarkable fuel economy optimized automotive cruise control nevertheless confers fuel economy in Economy mode relative to the fuel consumption in Normal mode. Put another way, allowing the variability and variance of the cruise controlled vehicle speed to be established relative to range limits confers a reduction in fuel consumption. The Economy mode of the cruise control takes advantage of the vehicle momentum and potential energy as it goes down a hill by allowing the vehicle to go somewhat or slightly above the set point. This allows the vehicle to build up additional kinetic energy that can be used by the vehicle as it moves up the next hill.
On roads that have several short distance up hill and down portions the Economy mode takes full advantage, allowing the vehicle speed to increase above the set point and vary within the controlled range and thereby build up kinetic energy on down hill portions and letting the vehicle expend that energy on the up hill portions. The Economy mode also allows the vehicle to drop below the set point and vary within the controlled range on up hill portions. Compared to Normal mode, the Economy mode prevents the vehicle from immediately using more fuel just to keep an exact constant speed every time an up hill portion of road is encountered.
The remarkable Economy mode herein stores energy as kinetic energy in the mass of the vehicle, and fuel is saved when the vehicle is going down a descending incline and gravity speeds up the vehicle somewhat above the set point. Subsequently, this kinetic energy is used in lieu of fuel to keep the vehicle moving in the cruise control range if the road is level thereafter, or is instead converted into potential energy as the vehicle slows somewhat and ascends along a subsequent incline. By using the substantial mass of the vehicle as an energy storage element and no-extra-cost reservoir, fuel is saved in Economy mode relative to Normal mode, even given the same average vehicle speed over time.
A Hill Angle Sensor 230, has a physical, mechanical or solid state sensor, such as any of a tilt sensor, an inclinometer, clinometer, declinometer, slope sensor, gradient sensor, or pitch sensor or the like, to provide a fast-acting indication of probable effect on speed due to the terrain without waiting for a differencing operation on data from the wheel speed sensor 220. Hill Angle Sensor 230 in some embodiments is realized by a “sensorless” arrangement, such as one in which engine torque and kinematic variables sensed by pre-existing sensors in the vehicle architecture are processed by software to generate a hill angle or monotonic function thereof. Accordingly, the term “hill angle sensor” should be understood to include a variety of technologies for it. Notice that the information most likely pertinent to the cruise control is vehicle pitch data pertaining to the component of terrain altitude gradient vector ∇h parallel to the velocity vector v of the vehicle that for cruise control purposes is generally oriented the same as the rear-to-forward central or longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Mathematically, such Hill Angle Sensor 230 data of interest is basically related to the pitch angle θ of the vehicle or to some monotonic function of the ratio of the vertical component of velocity (with up and down +/−sign included) divided by the horizontal component of velocity.
θ=arctan [vv/vh]
Some sensors may provide additional information such as tilt or roll in a direction transverse to the vehicle such as due to banking of a highway. While some embodiments may employ use transverse tilt or roll angle for cruise control itself in connection with curve-handling or anti-skid or anti-rollover support, others of the described cruise control embodiments operate independently of transverse tilt and roll angle and are so arranged. Also, such anti-skid and anti-rollover support are provided elsewhere in the vehicle if and as desired.
Appropriate damping in the Hill Angle Sensor 230 prevents error effects from speed bumps, washboard pavement speed warnings, road cracks or potholes. Some forms of Hill Angle Sensor 230 have a suspended ball-shaped mass in oil, a magnetically-sensitive suspended mass, a miniature gimbal-mounted gyroscope, an electrical, magnetic or optical sensor, or other suitable construction which may be accompanied by electronic processing and statistical filtering. Use of such Hill Angle Sensor 230 beneficially substitutes for a fuel flow sensor for high reliability since fuel flow and acceleration may not be very highly correlated. Also, structures for communication between a fuel flow sensor and the cruise controller 210 are eliminated, which reduces costs in the system. Instead, Hill Angle Sensor 230 is directly coupled to the cruise controller 210. Note also that some embodiments have no accelerometer used at all or instead speed change data is only conditionally used in conjunction with Hill Angle Sensor 230. The reason for this is to avoid cancelling controls due to the external information from Hill Angle Sensor 230 that could be cancelled by an accelerometer affected by internally-produced engine speed changes themselves.
In
If check mode 410 detected two button-pushes instead, the process goes from check mode 410 to Economy mode 435 and executes Economy mode process 440. Pressing the brake pedal (or clutch pedal if any) initiates a transition from any point in loop 440 to OFF state 425 of the cruise control process. In process 440, a step 445 checks
If Speed is less than Setpoint, but Speed is not less than range low end L=Setpoint−δ, then operations go to a step 455 to check the Hill Angle Sensor 230. If a condition designated “Down Hill” is detected at step 455, then operations loop back to Check Speed step 445. If a condition designated “Up Hill” is detected at step 455, then operations instead go to a step 465 and apply a predetermined throttle increase called a Small Speed Pulse herein, and then loop back to Check Speed step 445. Some embodiments proportion the predetermined throttle increase, such as by increasing a number or length of the Small Speed Pulse more aggressively for a steeper up-hill slope. This
Further in
On the other hand, if Speed at step 445 were less than range low end L=Setpoint−δ, then operations instead go to a step 480 to check the Hill Angle Sensor 230. If a condition designated “Down Hill” is detected at step 480, then operations loop back to Check Speed step 445. If a condition designated “Up Hill” is instead detected at step 480, then operations go from step 480 to a step 485 and apply a predetermined throttle increase called a Speed Increase Pulse herein, and then loop back to Check Speed step 445. This Speed Increase Pulse is arranged to have a larger effect on throttle control than the Small Speed Pulse of step 465. Some embodiments proportion the predetermined throttle increase or number or length of the Speed Increase Pulse at step 485 more aggressively for a steeper up-hill slope.
In
Parameters of pulse amplitude, pulse rate, pulse width, number of pulses, or otherwise are suitably configured and used in various embodiments of the circuitry and software to vary and establish Slow Pulse, Speed Increase, Coast Down Pulse, and Small Speed Pulse. Control Equations (3)-(6) define and control the parameters of each of the pulse controls: Slow Pulse, Speed Increase, Coast Down Pulse, and Small Speed Pulse. The exact control parameter values are made vehicle-specific. One, some, or all of the three PID control feedback components proportional, integral, derivative is or are suitably employed in an error-minimizing feedback loop to control the vehicle speed and drive-to-zero its departure from Setpoint (Normal mode). In Economy mode, the feedback loop is arranged to take moderate measures to reduce departure from Setpoint if in the specified range, else to take more aggressive measures to bring Speed into the specified range if Speed is outside, or has overstepped and departed from, the specified range.
In one example, the control parameters for use in
Coast Down Pulse:
New Throttle Position=Current Throttle Position−2% (3)
Slow Pulse:
New Throttle Position=Current Throttle Position−5% (4)
Brake application for 2 sec at brake position 10 subject to anti-skid brake technology or features.
Small Speed Pulse:
New Throttle Position=Current Throttle Position+2% (5)
for a duration of 2 seconds, then return to previous throttle position.
Speed Increase:
New Throttle Position=Current Throttle Position+5% (6)
A throttle position sensor may be coupled to cruise controller 210 in some embodiments for cruise controller 210 to perform the calculations and issue a throttle control signal to throttle control 250. Other embodiments dispense with such coupling by pre-establishing the pulses to have a length or value adapted to the type of throttle controller to substantially accomplish Equations (3)-(6). Cumulative pulse control as discussed hereinabove makes the pulse control even more effective.
Defining Up Hill and Down Hill can be useful because, if the Hill angle is slightly downhill (negative) but still insufficient to overcome the automobile motor slowing down of its own accord, some embodiments can be arranged to recognize that that inclination is not Down Hill for purposes of Economy mode. Thus, an embodiment having binary Up Hill and Down Hill outputs might be configured to recognize a small negative Hill angle as Up Hill for purposes of Economy mode, or for another car to recognize a small uphill (positive) Hill angle as Down Hill. Thus data from actual testing of a vehicle model on which the Economy mode cruise control is being implemented is useful to determine the exact hill angle parameters that are entered in a parameter memory or in software code to determine the conditions that activate particular Up Hill or Down Hill outputs from each particular step 450, 455 or 480. Also, an embodiment with Hill Angle Sensor 230 that has an intermediate Level output may have flow lines relating to Level emanating from steps 450, 455, and 480 variously arranged for different vehicle types than shown in
Up Hill=Any angle A greater than a threshold ThU such as 2 degrees as the vehicle is traveling up an incline as in
Down Hill=Any angle less than ThD such as −2 deg as the vehicle is traveling down an incline as in
Level: The flow diagram of FIGS. 9A/9B shows a flow including control operations employing a middle range output designated “Level” that recognizes when the car is going neither Up Hill or Down Hill in
In TABLE 2, on a rolling wind-free topography, the Normal mode operation has per unit incremental fuel consumption that is 1.0 on the level, less than 1.0 on downhill and more than 1.0 on uphill, and the speed is again substantially uniform at 55 mph here due to cruise control Normal mode. Therefore the average speed is 55 mph too. On downhill, the deceleration of the vehicle is dissipated into heat of braking and transmission loss in case of a non-hybrid, and partially dissipated if hybrid. Accordingly, considerable fuel is expended on uphill to maintain the speed at 55 mph. Note that Normal mode in
In TABLE 3, on the same rolling, wind-free topography, the Economy mode operation is qualitatively different in that the speed varies in a controlled manner over a range 50-60 mph bounding the Setpoint. The average speed is still 55, but the speeds in individual sections of the road can vary over a +/−5 mph range. On downhill, the deceleration of the vehicle is more largely and desirably converted into kinetic energy using Economy mode and therefore its energy is far less dissipated into heat of braking and transmission in case of non-hybrid and less dissipated in the case of a hybrid. Accordingly, less fuel is expended on uphill (entries C and E in TABLE 3 are less than in TABLE 2) to maintain the speed because the kinetic energy from downhill motion assists the uphill motion. Note that Economy mode in
In FIGS. 9A/9B, an embodiment further has 1) Speed sensing tests 462 and 467, 2) Small Speed Pulse response to Downhill at step 480, 3) three-way hill angle sensing, 4) dynamic adjustment of range ends in step 445, 5) prospective analysis by sensor(s) 270 at step 490, 6) forward closing distance sensing 510 and 7) Anti-tailgating 520.
Speed Sensing: As noted here, some control functions 462 and 467 are based on speed sensing, i.e. increase or decrease of Speed from wheel speed sensor 220. Suppose, for instance, that vehicle speed is in-range and well above the setpoint (e.g., Setpoint+4) and the car is going Up Hill at step 450 but Speed is nevertheless increasing (Speed Change 462 detects positive (+)). This condition might occur due to a tail wind or engine parameters. Then an additional decision step 462 detects this condition and branches to apply Coast Down Pulse 460 before looping back to Check Speed 445. Conversely, suppose the vehicle speed is in-range and well below the setpoint (e.g., Setpoint−4) and the car is level or going Down Hill at step 455, but the Speed is nevertheless decreasing (Speed Change 467 detects negative (−)). A head wind or different engine parameters might be responsible if this condition occurs. An additional decision step 467 detects this condition and branches to apply Small Speed Pulse 465 before looping back to Check Speed 445. If neither the condition of step 462 nor 467 is met, operations simply loop back directly to Check Speed 445. Since the simple loop back would amount to a delay of action anyway, a small delay in performing step 462 or 467 is acceptable if involved in this particular path. Some embodiments having step 462 or 467 or analogous control employ an electronic combination of MEMS (micro-electromechanical system) accelerometer and gyroscope with statistically-filtered corrections to provide tilt with acceleration and vibration filtered out. Some embodiments also supplement wheel speed sensor data and inclinometer tilt data with accelerometer data on at least the component of the acceleration vector parallel to vehicle velocity.
Small Speed Pulse Response: In another part of
Three-Way Hill Angle Sensing: Step 480 is adapted to handle a three-way Up/Level/Down Hill Angle Sensor 230 output so that if Up Hill or Level is active, then step 485 applies a Speed Increase. If Level or Down Hill is active in step 450, then step 450 applies Coast Down Pulse step 460. If Level or Down Hill is active in step 455, then operations go to speed sensing step 462 in
In FIGS. 9A/9B generally, the exact system flows and formulas are suitably adapted if desired to optimally control different vehicle types, engine and transmission characteristics and vehicle weights. The flow diagrams are used to describe some embodiments of the system among others.
Dynamic Adjustment of Range Ends: To maintain the average speed in Economy mode in FIGS. 9A/9B, some embodiments dynamically adjust the range ends L and H for Economy mode as a function of the long term topography experienced or predicted by the vehicle. For instance, if the topography is generally downhill, then the range high end H is dynamically adjusted closer to the Setpoint, because otherwise the Economy mode would permit the vehicle to operate at the higher speed H on average. Conversely, if the topography is generally uphill, then the range low end L is dynamically adjusted closer to the Setpoint, because otherwise the Economy mode would permit the vehicle to operate at the lower speed L on average. The flow steps to dynamically adjust the range ends L and H for Economy mode are suitably provided as dynamic reconfiguration steps included in the Check Speed 445 block in
Prospective Analysis: In
In
Forward Closing Distance Sensing: Further in FIGS. 9A/9B, suppose one's car is closing in distance too close in front to the car ahead or the car behind is closing distance too close to the rear of one's car. Conventional cruise control may involve such issues for drivers. The greater amount of speed variation in the Economy mode also leads to some treatment herein of the subject of closing distance.
In
In
Anti-Tailgating: A further anti-tailgating decision step 520 is provided between step 510 (No) and Check Speed step 445 so that the cruise controller is conditionally responsive to a rear distance sensor to speed up unless the response to the forward distance sensor to slow down is active. In this way, Anti-Tailgating decision step 520 is subordinated to Forward Closing Distance Sensing step 510 in the case the vehicle is close to vehicles both ahead and behind (or perhaps is in dense fog). In a further subordination aspect, step 520 checks whether a Slow Pulse has just been issued or whether the condition for Slow Pulse in step 510 would be met using a conservatively lower threshold (e.g. 10% less). If so (No), operations proceed from step 520 (No) to Check Speed 445 to avoid issuing a Speed Increase immediately after the Slow Pulse and to avoid pumping the brakes and accelerator alternately. Otherwise, if Slow Pulse has not just been issued, Anti-Tailgating decision step 520 checks whether the rear sensor 270R data indicate that the vehicle behind is closing in on the driver's vehicle at a high-enough rate (negative rate of change of rear separation distance exceeding a rate threshold) or has reached a rear separation distance that is close enough to be exceeded by a distance threshold. Some embodiments make the rate threshold approximately proportional to rear separation distance, or compare a constant threshold to a ratio of negative rate of change of rear separation distance divided by rear separation distance. If the threshold is exceeded (Yes) in step 520, then operations branch to step 485 to apply a Speed Increase pulse. Some embodiments proportion the Speed Increase to the ratio of this paragraph. If the threshold is not exceeded (No) in step 520, then operations go back to Check Speed 445.
In
Some vehicle embodiments are provided with automatic driving structures and in addition to or in lieu of the steering wheel 140, such as voice control, camera responsive driver control or otherwise. Likewise, the illustrated cruise control buttons herein may be supplemented with or replaced by voice control, and/or camera responsive controls for the driver to use. Further, dynamic forms of cruise control actuation and configuration that respond to sensor information about road conditions are also suitably provided as described elsewhere herein. Some remote control highway systems may take over the steering and acceleration and braking operations or constrain them within remote control parameters. Some embodiments of the cruise control are adapted to coordinate with such remote control highway systems and respond to driver options compatible with them.
Various embodiments of process and structure are provided in one or more integrated circuit chips, multichip modules (MCMs), device to device (D2D) technology, printed wiring media and printed circuit boards, vehicles and platforms.
ASPECTS (See explanatory notes at end of this section)
1A. The cruise control claimed in claim 1 further comprising a wheel speed sensor coupled to said cruise controller via said input for speed-related data.
1A1. The cruise control claimed in claim 1A further comprising a throttle controller and said cruise controller is operable to one-way signal for throttle increase and decrease to said throttle controller and complete a control loop through said wheel speed sensor.
1B. The cruise control claimed in claim 1 wherein said cruise controller is operable to generate the throttling control output to substantially maintain an average speed by dynamically adjusting range ends of a speed range.
1C. The cruise control claimed in claim 1 wherein said cruise controller is responsive to the speed-related data in a cruise control mode to supply the throttling control output as a speed forcing-function toward a setpoint and also constraining speed from digressing below a lower endpoint lower than said set point.
1D. The cruise control claimed in claim 1 wherein said cruise controller is operable to substantially maintain an average speed by range end adjustment of a speed range.
1E. The cruise control claimed in claim 1 further comprising a cruise control actuator coupled to said cruise controller to establish driver-selectable cruise control modes, and a display responsive to said cruise controller to display a current cruise control mode.
1E1. The cruise control claimed in claim 1E wherein said display is responsive to said cruise controller to substantially display a mode as Economy or Normal when a cruise control function is active.
1F. The cruise control claimed in claim 1 wherein said cruise controller has a mode that responds to forward closing distance and rear closing distance.
1G. The cruise control claimed in claim 1 wherein said cruise controller is operable to proportion the throttle control output in relation to steepness of a slope as detected by said hill angle sensor.
1H. The cruise control claimed in claim 1 wherein said cruise controller is operable to cumulatively adjust the throttle control output to handle different degrees of steepness of a slope.
1J. The cruise control claimed in claim 1 further comprising a distance sensor, and said cruise controller is operable in response to said distance sensor to adjust the throttle control output based on closer or farther vehicular proximity.
1J1. The cruise control claimed in claim 1J wherein said cruise controller has a range for controlling speed and is operable based on proximity to restrain speed to a smaller range.
1J2. The cruise control claimed in claim 1J wherein said cruise controller is operable in case of closer proximity to adjust the throttle control output as a function both of separation distance and a rate of change of separation distance
2A. The cruise control claimed in claim 2 further comprising a braking controller responsive to said cruise controller to brake if the speed increases above a high end of the defined range.
2B. The cruise control claimed in claim 2 wherein said cruise controller is operable to adjust the throttling control if the speed decreases below a low end of the defined range to bring speed at least up to that low end.
9A. The cruise control claimed in claim 9 wherein said cruise controller is responsive to a Down Hill condition of input from said hill angle sensor to execute a third level of control including braking control to keep speed in that range when the speed is outside that range.
14A. The cruise control claimed in claim 14 wherein said cruise controller is operable so that if Speed exceeds the range high end, then generate the throttle control output for a more intensive throttle decrease.
14A1. The cruise control claimed in claim 14A wherein said cruise controller is operable further on a hill angle condition involving Down Hill so that if speed exceeds the range high end, to signal an application of brake subject to anti-skid braking
21A. The cruise control process claimed in claim 21 further comprising one-way signaling for throttle increase and decrease and completing a control loop through wheel speed.
21B. The cruise control process claimed in claim 21 further comprising a forward distance sensor, wherein said cruise controller is responsive to the speed-related data in a cruise control mode to adjust the throttling control output to slow down in response to said forward distance sensor.
21B1. The cruise control process claimed in claim 21B further comprising a rear distance sensor, and said cruise controller is responsive to said rear distance sensor to speed up unless the response to said forward distance sensor to slow down is active.
21C. The cruise control process claimed in claim 21 further comprising a rear distance sensor, and said cruise controller is conditionally responsive to said rear distance sensor to adjust the throttling control output to speed up.
21D. The cruise control process claimed in claim 21 further comprising using a satellite positioning circuit to bypass application of brake.
21E. The cruise control process claimed in claim 21 further comprising operating if vehicle speed is in-range and above a setpoint and said hill angle represents Up Hill but speed is nevertheless increasing, then applying a throttle decrease.
21F. The cruise control process claimed in claim 21 further comprising operating if vehicle speed is in-range and below a setpoint and said hill angle represents Level or Down Hill but the speed is nevertheless decreasing, then applying a throttle increase.
Notes: Aspects are description paragraphs that might be offered as claims in patent prosecution. The above dependently-written Aspects have leading digits and may have internal dependency designations to indicate the claims or aspects to which they pertain. The leading digits and alphanumerics indicate the position in the ordering of claims at which they might be situated if offered as claims in prosecution.
A few preferred embodiments have been described in detail hereinabove. It is to be understood that the scope of the invention comprehends embodiments different from those described, as well as described embodiments, yet within the inventive scope. Microprocessor and microcomputer are synonymous herein. Processing circuitry comprehends digital, analog and mixed signal (digital/analog) integrated circuits, ASIC circuits, PALs, PLAs, decoders, memories, non-software based processors, microcontrollers and other circuitry, and digital computers including microprocessors and microcomputers of any architecture, or combinations thereof. Internal and external couplings and connections can be ohmic, capacitive, inductive, photonic, and direct or indirect via intervening circuits or otherwise as desirable. Implementation is contemplated in discrete components or fully integrated circuits in any materials family and combinations thereof. Various embodiments of the invention employ hardware, software or firmware. Process diagrams and block diagrams herein are both representative of flows and/or structures for operations of any embodiments whether of hardware, software, or firmware, and processes of manufacture thereof.
While this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention may be made. The terms “including”, “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in the detailed description and/or the claims to denote non-exhaustive inclusion in a manner similar to the term “comprising”. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims and their equivalents cover any such embodiments, modifications, and embodiments as fall within the true scope of the invention.
