Patent Application
20230260343
The present disclosure relates to a method for determining a recommended load for a vehicle to be operated along a predefined route.
The invention is applicable on various types of vehicles configured to carry a load. For instance, it is advantageously applicable on trucks or on working machines within the fields of industrial construction machines or construction equipment, such as wheel loaders, articulated haulers, excavators, forwarders and backhoe loaders, etc. Although the description of the invention will focus on working machines, the invention is not restricted to this particular vehicle, but may also be used for other types of vehicles that are configured to carry a load.
Working machines in the form of articulated haulers, wheel loaders, trucks, forwarders and dumpers are frequently used for loading and transporting of material loads at construction sites, in forestry, in mining, and the like. A load-receiving container of a hauler or dump truck may, for instance, be loaded with unprocessed material, at a loading location, transport the material to another location and dump the material (in)to a material processing device.
Working machines are often operated at sites where the roads are rough. This may, for instance, be roads inside tunnels (for example in mines) or at open sites. Loaded vehicles passing on such rough roads have specific weights. In confined area applications, such as transportation in mines and the like, vehicles traverse the same route over and over again. The ground surface inside tunnels may be uneven and the vehicle tires may therefore be subjected to uneven loads, which may in some cases result in tire overload even if the maximum vehicle load has not been breached. In particular, the road topography may affect how the weight of a loaded vehicle is distributed on individual tires. At certain sections of the road, one of the tires of the vehicle may need to support a considerably larger portion of the weight compared to the other tires. This means that even though the vehicle is loaded within the recommended maximum vehicle load, in certain instances, the weight on an individual tire may become larger than what it has been dimensioned to resist. This, in turn, results in that the tire becomes more rapidly worn out than expected To this end, it has been known to use special reinforced tires for loaded vehicles operating on such rough roads.
US 2020/0041297 A1 discloses a method for determining a route for a vehicle based on an estimation of the weight of the vehicle. A tire monitoring unit senses tire deformations. The weight of the vehicle is estimated based on the sensing and at least one route among two or more routes is selected, based on such estimated weight of the vehicle. For example, in case of a heavily loaded vehicle, a route may be selected with no or only a little winding, or with no or only small uphills/downhills. However, the method disclosed in US 2020/0041297 A1 does not provide a solution to the above mentioned problem relating to the risk of overloading individual tires on rough roads, leading to prematurely worn out tires.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a method which at least partly mitigates the above mentioned drawbacks and provides an improvement over the prior art. This and other objects, which will become apparent in the following discussion, are accomplished by a method as defined in the accompanying independent claim. Some non-limiting exemplary embodiments are presented in the dependent claims.
The inventor has realized that the road topography data for a predefined route that is frequently travelled by a vehicle, such as a working machine at a construction site, in a mine, etc. may advantageously be used to determine the maximum load of the vehicle for said predefined route. In particular, the inventor has realized that depending on the topography different tires of the vehicle will be subject to different forces. For example, if there are more and/or larger rocks that need to be driven over on one side of the predefined route, the tires on that side of the vehicle will be affected differently than the tires on the other side. A maximum load may therefore suitably be recommended such that the wear rate of all tires are within acceptable levels. Similarly, when driving through a curve, the inner and outer wheels will be subjected to different loads. Thus, if the predefined route has more curves towards on direction (for example, more left curves than right curves) then this will also affect the tires on the two sides differently.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided method for determining a recommended maximum load for a vehicle to be operated along a predefined route, comprising:
By the provision of a method which uses information about the topography of the road for determining a maximum allowable tire load for each individual tire, which in turn is used for determining a recommended maximum load of the vehicle, an effective and well-founded recommendation may be given. Since tires of working machines and the like are subjected to large loads, they normally need to be replaced after a certain time period due to the wear of the tire. Different sites and contractors may have different requirements with respect to how long time or what distance a tire should be able to handle before it is considered to be worn to such a state that it needs to be replaced. By using the suggested method of the present disclosure, a maximum load for the vehicle may be recommended which takes the individual tires into account as they may be subjected to individual wear rates when repeatedly moving along the predefined route. By determining for each tire a respective maximum allowable tire load which is considered to allow sufficient long usage of each tire, a maximum load for the vehicle can be calculated and recommended, wherein said recommended maximum load for the vehicle is selected such that if the vehicle is not subjected to a higher load than said recommended maximum load then the risk of the tires becoming subjected to individual tire loads that exceed the respective determined maximum allowable tire loads will be very low. As a result, the risk of premature wear of any individual tire will also be very low. In this connection, “wear rate” may be considered as the time it takes for, or the travelled distance it takes for, a new tire on a vehicle to reach such a state that it is considered in need of replacement. In other words, it can be seen as a measure of how soon a tire needs to be replaced.
The road topography data may be acquired in various different ways. It may for instance be acquired by driving the vehicle equipped with means that can sense, capture, or otherwise obtain information about the topography of the road along said predefined route. Thus, in at least some exemplary embodiments, a vehicle may be driven along the predefined route to acquire the road topography data. It should be noted, however, that it does not need to be the same vehicle as the one for which you want to determine a recommended maximum load. Thus, in at least some exemplary embodiments, a test vehicle may be used for acquiring the road topography data, and that acquired data can then be used for recommending a maximum load for other vehicles that will operate along the predefined route. However, in some exemplary embodiments the vehicle for which you want to recommend a maximum load may also be the vehicle used for acquiring the road topography data. These different possibilities are at least partly reflected in some of the following exemplary embodiments.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment, the step of acquiring road topography data comprises:
This is advantageous as the tires will follow the road along the predefined route substantially in the same way each time. Thus, by looking at the deformation of the tire it is possible to create a picture of the varying roughness of the different sections of the road. Suitably if it is another vehicle that is used for acquiring the tire deformation data, than the vehicle for which a maximum load is to be recommended, then such another vehicle may suitably be of the same type and have the same type of tires as the vehicle that is to receive a recommended maximum load. This will increase the accuracy of the recommendation, as the tires of the vehicles are then more likely to follow substantially the same track.
The acquiring of tire deformation data may be achieved in various different ways. For instance, the tire deformation may be monitored by means of cameras or the tire deformations may be detected by means of deformation sensors. The latter example is reflected in the following exemplary embodiment.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment, the tires of said vehicle or said another vehicle are provided with tire sensors configured to register deformation of the individual tires when said vehicle or said another vehicle travels along said predefined route,
wherein said step of acquiring tire deformation data comprises:
This is advantageous as such deformation sensors may undergo the corresponding deformation as the tires, whereby accurate tire deformation data is obtainable, which can then be calculated to road topography data that will be satisfactory.
It should be understood that the tires that are provided with tire sensors may be integrated tire sensors that were incorporated into the rubber of the tires when the tires were manufactured, or they may have been applied to the tire after the tires have been manufactured. This is at least partly reflected in the following exemplary embodiment.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment, prior to said step of acquiring road topography data for said predefined route:
By having the tire sensors distributed around the tire, more measurement points may be obtained and the derived road topography data will be even more accurate. The more tire sensors that are provided the more measuring points will be obtained as the tire rolls along the road of the predefined route.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment, the tire sensors are configured to register tire deformation in a plurality of directions, such as the longitudinal, lateral and vertical directions of the respective tire. This may be achieved by individual tire sensors sensing strain in different directions, or by means of an array of differently arranged/positioned tire sensors. By sensing the deformation in a plurality of directions, an even more accurate representation of the topography may be obtainable.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment, said step of determining a respective maximum allowable tire load comprises:
Thus, in addition to determining the maximum allowable tire load for each individual tire based on the acquired road topography data (i.e. based on the surface variations of the ground on which the tires will roll), the determination of the maximum allowable tire load may also take into account the tire deformation data. For instance, two left wheels on separate axles of a vehicle, one arranged behind the other, may travel along substantially same path. If the tires of these wheels are provided with tire deformation sensors, the tire deformation data from both of the tires will contribute to obtaining a good representation of the road topography. However, depending on the location of the two wheel axles, one of the two tires may be subjected to more load than the other one. Therefore, the by taking into account individual deformation data of each tire, an improved determination of maximum allowable load for each individual tire may be obtained.
The wear rate of individual tires may suitably be calculated or estimated by means of empirical studies or models/algorithms based on different load scenarios. Such estimations/calculations may e.g. be stored in a database for subsequent use when it is desired to determine a maximum allowable tire load. Thus, in order to reduce the risk of premature wear of the tires, i.e. wanting to make sure that the tires should be able to operate without a need for replacement for a certain number of travels along the route (or a certain number of operating hours or operating miles, etc.), then the results of such calculations/estimations may be used to determine the maximum load for each tire. This is at least partly reflected in the following exemplary embodiment.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment, said step of determining a respective maximum allowable tire load comprises:
Since large forces can be expected to result in more wear, it can thus be determined that if the vehicle is to travel on a road with large roughness where large forces on the tires are expected, the tire wear data will indicate faster ware rate than if compared to ware data that has been acquired from smoother roads. In this way, by categorizing different topographies, different wear rates or ranges of wear rates may be estimated. Suitably, the tier wear data may also take into account the frequency of the applied forces. The more repetitions of a certain force applied to a tire along the road, the more will the wear be. Other parameters may also be used for creating a database or a matrix with different topographical characteristics of the road. In this way the database may comprise a multitude of different combinations of frequency/force patterns which may provide different wear rates.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment, said step of determining a respective maximum allowable tire load comprises:
Thus, this takes into account that the tires of different tire manufacturers (or different tire models from the same manufacturer) may behave differently and have different wear rates. Therefore, it may be advantageous to have the tire identification data stored in a database, e.g. in a look-up table, etc.. Based on the knowledge of which type of tire is mounted on the vehicle and based on information about the road topography, a maximum allowable tire load can be calculated by a suitably algorithm, or via a database in which different tire types have been tested for different types of topographies, similarly to the previous discussion. For example, the number of holes in the ground in different size ranges, may be used to estimate how many and how large impact each tire will be subjected to, and depending on the type of tire that is mounted on the vehicle, the maximum allowable load can be determined accordingly.
As already mentioned previously in this disclosure, using tire deformation sensors is not the only way to acquire the road topography data, but other ways of implementing the method of the present disclosure are also conceivable. This is at least partly reflected in the following exemplary embodiment.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment, the step of acquiring road topography data comprises:
It should be understood that although using an optical camera or a detector for scanning the road may be used instead of using tire deformation sensors, it is conceivable to provide a vehicle with both scanning equipment and with tire deformation sensors, to further increases the accuracy of the road topography determination. In other exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable to use one vehicle equipped with optical camera or detector for scanning the road, while another vehicle has tire sensors. In this way road topography data may be acquired by two vehicles by different procedures, and may if desired be compared/combined to further improve the accuracy of the method of this disclosure.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising program code means for performing the steps of the method of the first aspect, including any embodiment thereof, when said program is run on a computer. The advantages of the computer program of the second aspect are largely analogous to the advantages of the method of the first aspect, including any embodiment thereof.
According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium carrying a computer program comprising program code means for performing the steps of the method of the first aspect, including any embodiment thereof, when said program product is run on a computer. The advantages of the computer readable medium of the third aspect are largely analogous to the advantages of the method of the first aspect, including any embodiment thereof.
According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a control unit for determining a recommended load for a vehicle to be operated along a predefined route, the control unit being configured to perform the steps of the method of the first aspect, including any embodiment thereof. The advantages of the control unit of the fourth aspect are largely analogous to the advantages of the method of the first aspect, including any embodiment, thereof.
According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a vehicle, comprising:
The advantages of the vehicle of the fifth aspect are largely analogous to the advantages of the control unit of the fourth aspect and the method of the first aspect, including any embodiments thereof.
According to at least one exemplary embodiment of the method of the first aspect, said vehicle for which a recommended load is to be determined is a first vehicle, wherein the method comprises using a second vehicle configured according to the vehicle of the fifth aspect for acquiring said road topography data based on the generated tire deformation data. Thus, in a fleet of vehicles, there may suitably be a plurality of first vehicles for which a recommended load is to be determined, while it may suffice to have one second vehicle for acquiring the actual road topography data that will be used in the determinations for the plurality of first vehicles. This principle of having one test vehicle in the fleet may also be used if the “second vehicle” is equipped with the previously discussed scanning equipment (such as an optical camera or Lidar/radar, etc.) instead of or in addition to the tire sensors.
Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to “a/an/the element, apparatus, component, arrangement, device, means, step, etc.” are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, arrangement, device, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated. Further features of, and advantages with, the present invention will become apparent when studying the appended claims and the following description. The skilled person realizes that different features of the present invention may be combined to create embodiments other than those described in the following, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
With reference to the appended drawings, below follows a more detailed description of embodiments of the invention cited as examples.
In the drawings:
The invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain aspects of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments and aspects set forth herein; rather, the embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein and illustrated in the drawings; rather, the skilled person will recognize that many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the description.
The vehicle 10 may be in the form of a working machine for use in one or more industrial applications, such as in quarries, mines, forestry, etc. In the illustrated example, the vehicle is provided with two pairs of wheels, however in other embodiments there may be more pairs of wheels, such as three pairs or four pairs etc. At least one of the pairs of wheels may be controlled to turn the vehicle 10.
Starting with
The road 22 on which the tires of the vehicle 20 roll is seldom an even road in places such as quarries, mines, construction sites etc. and on such rough roads the tires will be subjected to different forces along the road, as previously explained in this disclosure. Due to the repetitive nature of the work, at least some of the forces will be substantially repeated when the vehicle 20 travels multiple times along the predefined route.
As schematically indicated in
Once said information has been acquired, it can be used for recommending a maximum load for a fleet of vehicles that will be used at the worksite and that will repeatedly travel along the predefined route from point A to B. Thus, as illustrated in
From the above, it should be understood that the inventive method of recommending a maximum load for a vehicle may be achieved regardless of how the information about the topography is acquired, and that
As previously discuss, wherein the step S1 may, for instance, comprise:
With reference back to
Similarly, as discussed previously, the step S1 may, for instance, comprise:
With reference back to
As illustrated in
Thus, the tire sensors 24 illustrated on the vehicle 20 in
According to at least one exemplary embodiment (of either one of methods 100 and 200), step S2 (i.e. determining a respective maximum allowable tire load) may comprise:
From the above it can be understood that in accordance with at least some exemplary embodiments, the methods of the present disclosure may comprise predicting a tire wear rate of the individual tires based on the recommended maximum load of the vehicle. Conversely, according to at least some exemplary embodiments, the recommended maximum load may be based on a predicted wear rate of the individual tires. This is at least partly reflected in the below exemplary embodiment.
Thus, according to at least one exemplary embodiment, said step S2 (i.e. determining a respective maximum allowable tire load) may comprises:
This idea of basing the maximum allowable tire load on stored tire wear data can be further discussed with the simple example shown in
When a vehicle drives on a rough road having bumps and/or depressions, the tires will be repeatedly subjected to different forces. By analysing how the presence of such bumps and/or depressions, such as the number and the size, a good estimation is obtained of the roughness of the ground on which the vehicle has travelled and thus the forces that have affected the tires of the vehicle. A good predictability can be made when it comes to wear and tear, and thus the period for maintenance/replacement of the individual tire. Thus, by making empirical studies extensive databases may be created, which may include empirically determined and collected wear data for tires of different types.
As understood from above, different types of tires from different manufacturers, or different models from the same manufacturer may have different plots, i.e. have different wear rates. Therefore, according to at least one exemplary embodiment (e.g. of the method 100 in
Particularly, the processing circuitry 910 is configured to cause the control unit 50 to perform a set of operations, or steps, such as the method discussed in connection to FIG. and/or
The storage medium 930 may also comprise persistent storage, which, for example may be any single one or combination of magnetic memory, optical memory, solid state memory or even remotely mounted memory.
The control unit may 50 further comprise an interface 920 for communications with at least one external device such as the tire sensors, optical camera, detector, database etc. discussed herein. As such, the interface 920 may comprise one or more transmitters and receivers, comprising analogue and digital components and a suitable number of ports for wireline or wireless communication.
The processing circuitry 910 controls the general operation of the control unit 50, e.g. by sending data and control signals to the interface 920 and the storage medium 930, by receiving data and reports from the interface 920, and by retrieving data and instructions form the storage medium 930. Other components, as well as the related functionality, of the control unit 50 are omitted in order not to obscure the concepts presented herein.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22157156.5 | Feb 2022 | EP | regional |
