EP0982173A2
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EP
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Method for determination of an optimum vehicle cruise separation distance
Assignee: Eaton Corp
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Filing: 1999-08-13
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2019-08-13
Abstract
Abstract A system and method for determination of a minimum separation distance when a vehicle is operating in a cruise control mode where the velocity and deceleration capability and reaction time of a host vehicle is used in conjunction with the velocity and an assumed deceleration capability of a lead vehicle to calculate a minimum separation distance. The deceleration capability of the host vehicle is estimated based on the condition of the service brakes, the braking capabilities of the transmission/engine and the braking capability of a retarder.
Inventors
- 👤 Arden Marcus Mcconnell
- 👤 Thomas Arthur Gee
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 10:33
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60W; B60W30/00; B60W30/14; B60W30/16; B60K; B60K31/00; B60K31/0008; B60W2754/00; B60W2754/10; B60W2754/30; B60Y; B60Y2200/00; B60Y2200/10; B60Y2200/14; F; F16; F16H; F16H61/00; F16H61/70; F16H61/702; G; G01; G01S; G01S13/00; G01S13/88; G01S13/93; G01S13/931; G01S2013/93185; G01S2013/9325
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
172 words
A method for determining the minimum separation distance
between a lead vehicle and a host vehicle when the host vehicle is operating
in a cruise control mode, the method comprising: determining a maximum vehicle deceleration capability by determining
a vehicle road load value based on a difference between a
vehicle driving force and a product of vehicle mass and
acceleration; determining a vehicle service braking capability; determining the potential effect of operation of a vehicle transmission
in the deceleration of the vehicle; determining the potential effect of a retarder in the deceleration of the
vehicle; determining the velocity of the lead vehicle; determining the velocity of the host vehicle; calculating a minimum separation distance according to; where d represents the minimum separation distance, V 1 represents the velocity of the host vehicle, V 2 represents the
velocity of the lead vehicle, a 1 represents the deceleration
capability of the host vehicle, a 2 represents the deceleration
capability of the lead vehicle and t r represents the response
time of the host vehicle.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
97 words
A system for determining and controlling the minimum
separation distance between a lead vehicle and a host vehicle when the host
vehicle is operating in a cruise control mode, the system comprising: a sensor for determining an inter-vehicle separation distance between
a lead vehicle and a host vehicle; control logic in communication with the sensor for controlling the
magnitude of the separation distance by accelerating and
decelerating the host vehicle relative to the lead vehicle to
maintain a minimum separation distance based on the
maximum deceleration rate and a lead vehicle velocity and a
host vehicle velocity.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
36 words
The system of claim 2, wherein the control logic is operative to
predict a value of vehicle road load based on a predetermined number of
previously determined values of road load utilizing a divided difference
technique.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 2, wherein the control logic is operative to
predict a vehicle road load value based on a predetermined number of
previously determined vehicle road load values.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 2, wherein the control logic determines a
maximum vehicle braking capability based on the condition of the vehicle's
service braking system.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system of claim 2, wherein the control logic utilizes at least
the response time and velocity of the host vehicle to determine the minimum
separation distance.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
74 words
The system of claim 2, wherein said control logic determines
said minimum separation distance according to: where d represents the minimum separation distance. V 1 represents the
velocity of the host vehicle, V 2 represents the velocity of the lead vehicle, a 1 represents the maximum deceleration rate of the host vehicle, a 2 represents
the maximum deceleration rate of the lead vehicle and t r represents the
response time of the host vehicle.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 7, wherein said control logic determines
said maximum deceleration rate based on a maximum service braking
capability and a maximum transmission braking capability and a maximum
retarder braking capability.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
57 words
The system of claim 2, wherein the vehicle includes an engine
and at least one tire and wherein said control logic determines the value of
the current vehicle road load by subtracting a product of the mass of the
vehicle and vehicle road speed from vehicle driving force delivered to at least
one tire from said engine.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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