Remote control of a brake controller for a towed vehicle
AssigneeHorizon Global Americas Inc.
InventorChandrakumar D. Kulkarni
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This disclosure relates to remote control of a brake controller for a towed vehicle. An example communication system includes a controller management application operating on a mobile device and a brake controller that includes a wireless network controller to communicatively couple to the mobile device. The controller management application manages a plurality of profiles. Each profile includes characteristics of a corresponding towed vehicle. The controller management application receives a selection of one of the plurality of profiles, and determines braking characteristics based on the selected one of the plurality of profiles. The brake controller controls a braking signal to brakes of the towed vehicle according to the braking characteristics.
Claims20
A communication system comprising:
- a controller management application configured to:
- manage a plurality of profiles, each profile comprising characteristics of a corresponding towed vehicle;
- receive a selection of one of the plurality of profiles;
- and
- determine braking characteristics based on the selected one of the plurality of profiles to create a transfer function;
- and
- a brake controller that controls a braking signal to brakes of the towed vehicle according to the transfer function;
- wherein the controller management application is configured to display, in real time, a representation of the braking signal received from the brake controller, a boost setting, and a gain setting,
- wherein the transfer function is automatically refined over time based on operating data obtained by the brake controller and saved in association with the selected one of the plurality of profiles for use in subsequent operations.
A method comprising:
- managing, via a controller management application operating on a mobile device, a plurality of profiles, each profile comprising characteristics of a corresponding towed vehicle;
- receiving, via the controller management application, a selection of one of the plurality of profiles;
- determining, via the controller management application, braking characteristics based on the selected one of the plurality of profiles to create a transfer function;
- directing, via a brake controller comprising a wireless network controller communicatively coupled with the mobile device, a braking signal to brakes of the towed vehicle determined based on the transfer function;
- sending, via the brake controller, the braking signal to the controller management application;
- and
- displaying in real time, via the controller management application, a representation of the braking signal and a boost setting,
- wherein the transfer function is automatically refined over time based on operating data obtained by the brake controller and saved in association with the selected one of the plurality of profiles for use in subsequent operations.
A communication system comprising:
- a controller management application operating on a mobile device, the controller management application configured to:
- manage a profile comprising characteristics of a towed vehicle;
- and
- determine braking characteristics based on the profile to determine a transfer function;
- and
- a brake controller that controls a braking signal to brakes of the towed vehicle according to the transfer function, the brake controller including a wireless network controller to communicatively couple to the mobile device,
- wherein the controller management application is configured to display a representation of the braking signal received from the brake controller and a boost setting, and
- wherein the transfer function is automatically refined over time based on operating data obtained by the brake controller and saved in association with the selected one of the plurality of profiles for use in subsequent operations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.