Brake application detection
AssigneeHarley-Davidson Motor Company
InventorTim Monahan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for detecting a brake event of a vehicle. One system includes an electronic control unit configured to receive a plurality of vehicle signal inputs, wherein the plurality of vehicle signal inputs includes an engine torque, and estimate a wheel torque of a rear wheel of the vehicle based on one or more of the plurality of vehicle signal inputs. The electronic control unit is also configured to determine a difference between the estimated wheel torque and the engine torque, and, in response to the difference being negative and a fault being detected in a brake switch associated with a brake of the rear wheel, activating a brake light of the vehicle.
Claims20
A system for detecting a brake event of a vehicle, the system comprising:
- an electronic control unit configured to:
- receive a plurality of vehicle signal inputs, wherein the plurality of vehicle signal inputs includes an engine torque,
- estimate a wheel torque of a rear wheel of the vehicle based on one or more of the plurality of vehicle signal inputs,
- determine a negative difference between the estimated wheel torque and the engine torque representing that a braking torque is being applied to the rear wheel, and
- in response to the negative difference and a fault being detected in a brake switch associated with a brake of the rear wheel, activate a brake light of the vehicle.
A method of detecting a brake event of a vehicle, the method comprising:
- receiving, with an electronic control unit, a plurality of vehicle signal inputs, wherein the plurality of vehicle signal inputs includes an engine torque;
- estimating, with the electronic control unit, a wheel torque of a rear wheel of the vehicle based on one or more of the plurality of vehicle signal inputs;
- determining, with the electronic control unit, a negative difference between the estimated wheel torque and the engine torque representing that a braking torque is being applied to the rear wheel;
- in response to the negative difference and a fault being detected in a brake switch associated with a brake of the rear wheel, activating, with the electronic control unit, a brake light of the vehicle.
Non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more electronic processors, perform a set of functions, the set of functions comprising:
- receiving a plurality of vehicle signal inputs associated with a vehicle, wherein the plurality of vehicle signal inputs includes an engine torque;
- estimating a wheel torque of a rear wheel of the vehicle based on one or more of the plurality of vehicle signal inputs, wherein estimating the wheel torque includes calculating a wheel slip between the rear wheel and a front wheel of the vehicle, wherein calculating the wheel slip between the rear wheel and the front wheel includes:
- determining a ratio based on a difference between a rear wheel rotation rate and a front wheel rotation rate,
- multiplying the ratio by a nominal front wheel radius to determine a rear wheel radius,
- converting the rear wheel rotation rate and the front wheel rotation rate to a front wheel velocity and a rear wheel velocity based on the nominal front wheel radius and the rear wheel radius, respectively, and
- monitoring a difference between the front wheel velocity and the rear wheel velocity to determine the wheel slip;
- determining a negative difference between the estimated wheel torque and the engine torque representing that a braking torque is being applied to the rear wheel;
- and
- in response to the negative difference and a fault being detected in a brake switch associated with a brake of the rear wheel, activating a brake light of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.