The present invention relates to a method and a device for determining a characteristic value of a wheel brake.
In modern control systems for brake systems, brake-specific characteristic values are often used. One essential characteristic value is the proportionality constant between the braking torque exerted on the wheel brake, i.e., the braking force applied, and the braking pressure established. This variable is used, for example, with the known vehicle dynamics control systems. Such a control system is described in the publication, SAE paper 950759 “VDC—the Vehicle Dynamics Control System of Bosch” by Anton van Zanten, Reiner Erhardt and Georg Pfaff. The setpoint braking torques for a wheel determined by the control system described there are converted into setpoint pressure values by using a proportionality factor CP, where proportionality factor CP describes the brake-specific correlation between the braking torque and the brake pressure. Furthermore, the brake characteristic values are also used in the hydraulic model to determine the brake pressures from the control signals for the valves, so that the characteristic values have an effect on the accuracy of the control. The characteristic values play a role in determination of the wheel performance (e.g., in methods of calculating slip, etc.) and variables derived therefrom.
The same thing also applies to electrically controlled brake systems in which the braking force applied to the wheel, i.e., the braking torque, is adjusted by an electronic regulator as a function of the degree of operation of an operating element, in particular a brake pedal, operable by the driver. One example of this is German Patent Application 196 48 936 A1, where the brake characteristic values are also analyzed in controlling the wheel brakes.
It has been found that the brake characteristic values of wheel brakes are not constant but instead vary as a function of temperature, the age of the brakes, and the condition of the brake disk. The reason for the change is that these circumstances result in a change in the coefficient of friction between the brake shoe and the brake disk or drum and thus influence the relationship between the brake pressure and the braking force applied, i.e., the braking torque. If brake characteristic values were assumed to be constant, this would result in inaccuracies, which are unwanted in some applications, in the calculations using these characteristic values or it would result in an incorrect appraisal of wheel performance.
Therefore, German Patent Application 196 48 936 A1 cited above describes a procedure with the help of which the brake characteristic value and/or values are adapted to the changes. On the basis of the equilibrium of forces of the vehicle in the longitudinal direction, a correlation is derived there according to which the prevailing brake characteristic value is determined on the basis of the brake pressure and the deceleration of the vehicle. With the method proposed there, the brake characteristic values may be determined only for an axle.
The determination of the brake characteristic value as a function of wheel slip and additional wheel-specific variables provides an adaptation of the brake parameter, with the help of which continuous adaptation to the respective driving situation and to ambient influences is possible. This permits a more accurate evaluation of wheel performance and improves the quality of the estimation of the brake pressure, in addition to improving the regulation and/or control.
It is especially advantageous that the brake parameter is determined for each wheel only on the basis of wheel-specific variables. Therefore wheel-specific change are determined, resulting in a further improvement in the accuracy of the control.
Additional advantages are derived from the following description and the dependent patent claims.
The present invention is explained in greater detail below on the basis of the embodiments illustrated in the drawing.
Examples of the control functions executed by control unit 10 through programs implemented in microcomputer 14 are known from the related art cited in the preamble. In the case of braking force and/or braking torque calculations based on the brake pressure determined and conversely, the brake characteristic values of the individual wheel brakes are analyzed when converting setpoint torque values or setpoint force values to brake pressure setpoint values and/or in calculations of the estimate of wheel performance. These factors are determined by the design of each brake and are composed of the effective contact areas of the brake shoes on the brake disks, the distance from the center of each brake shoe to the brake disk, the distance from the center of each brake shoe to the center of the wheel, and the coefficient of friction between each brake shoe and the brake disk. These variables are not usually available and/or they are subject to changes. If typical values for the brake characteristic value are assumed as constant, the accuracy of calculations performed on the basis of this brake characteristic value is not adequate for some applications. It has been found that during phases in which the pressure in the wheel brake is known, it is possible to estimate the coefficient of friction on the brake and thus to estimate the brake parameter. The pressure in the wheel brake is known when it measured directly or when the driver brakes without regulating intervention. In this case, the wheel brake pressure is equal to the measured admission pressure, because the pressure values input by the driver into the hydraulic brake system are transmitted to the wheel brakes without any influence. If this is the case, then the brake characteristic value may be determined individually for each wheel as a function of wheel-specific variables. The following formula has proven suitable:
CP=(λ*FN*RRAD*CLAM)/PRAD+MMOT/PRAD
where λ denotes the wheel slip, FN is the tire contact force, which may be measured or estimated, for example, PRAD is the dynamic wheel radius, which may be assumed to be constant, CLAM is the proportionality factor between the slip and the coefficient of friction, which may also be assumed to be constant, PRAD is the wheel brake pressure, which in the present operating state corresponds to the measured admission pressure, and MMOT is the driving torque of the engine, which is transferred to the wheel in question. For a non-driven wheel, the additive term is therefore eliminated without a replacement.
If a condition prevails under which the brake characteristic value may be estimated while braking, the individual brake characteristic values are calculated according to the formula given above. To counteract interference with the signals used, the calculated value is then also low-pass filtered using a very large time constant. This eliminates extreme values in the adaptation.
If the operating state as described above is not available for adaptation of the brake characteristic value, the previously calculated value is retained.
The above formula is derived on the basis of the equilibrium of torques on the wheel. In another embodiment, an equation derived from the equilibrium of forces is used. These equations differ only by a brake-specific constant.
In the preferred embodiment, the procedure described above is implemented as a program in microcomputer 14 of control unit 10. Such a program is diagramed in
After starting the program part, the required variables are input for each wheel in a first step 100, i.e., wheel slip λRADi, admission pressure PVOR, tire contact force Fni and, if available, brake pressure PRADi (measured, or calculated by using the hydraulic model). Then in step 102, a check is performed to determine whether the admission pressure is 0, i.e., the driver is not braking and a regulator which might be present is not active, i.e., no braking intervention is being implemented. If this is the case, then according to step 104, previous brake characteristic value CP(n−1) is retained. Then in step 106, the brake characteristic value thus determined is filtered through a low-pass filter and output in step 108. This program is repeated in the next interval. If step 102 has shown that a braking operation is underway, then in step 110, brake characteristic value CP(n) is calculated on the basis of the formula given above. This is followed by step 106.
In the diagram according to
By using the corresponding variables, the procedure described above is also used with pneumatic wheel brakes or brakes using an electric motor for application of braking force. Instead of the brake pressure, an electric current quantity is then used, for example, because this represents the control variable triggering the application of braking force.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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100 11 270 | Mar 2000 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/DE01/00357 | 1/31/2001 | WO | 00 | 4/22/2003 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO01/66393 | 9/13/2001 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5312170 | Erban et al. | May 1994 | A |
Number | Date | Country |
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39 09 588 | Sep 1990 | DE |
3909588 | Sep 1990 | DE |
196 48 936 | May 1998 | DE |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20030163236 A1 | Aug 2003 | US |