Vehicle control apparatus and method
AssigneesHyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation
InventorJung Min Cha
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle control apparatus includes a location acquisition device that provides information on road gradients on at least one route to a destination, a sensor that obtains driving information of a towing vehicle to which a towed vehicle is connected, and a controller which is configured for determining a towable weight for each of routes found for the destination based on the information on the road gradients, determines a weight of the towed vehicle based on the driving information, compares the towable weight with the weight, and determines at least one of whether it is possible to tow the towed vehicle, a towable route, a towable weight corresponding to the towable route, or any combination thereof based on a result of the comparing.
Claims20
A vehicle control apparatus comprising:
- a location acquisition device configured to provide information on road gradients along at least one route to a destination;
- a sensor configured to obtain driving information of a towing vehicle to which a towed vehicle is connected;
- a controller operatively connected to the location acquisition device and the sensor and configured to determine a towable weight for each of routes found for the destination based on the information on the road gradients, determine a weight of the towed vehicle based on the driving information, compare the towable weight with the weight, and determine at least one of whether it is possible to tow the towed vehicle, a towable route, a towable weight corresponding to the towable route, or any combination thereof based on a result of the comparing;
- and
- a communication device configured to perform communication with a user terminal,
- wherein thorough the communication device, the towing vehicle receives destination address information from the user terminal, based on that the destination is input in the user terminal and transmission of the destination is input in the user terminal,
- wherein the towable weight for each of routes found for the destination includes a first towable weight determined based on a first route found based on a minimum distance to the destination, a second towable weight determined based on a second route found based on minimum time required to reach the destination, and a third towable weight determined based on a third route found based on a minimum cost required to reach the destination.
A vehicle control method, comprising:
- determining, by a controller, a towable weight for each of routes found for a destination based on information on road gradients on at least one route to the destination;
- determining, by the controller, a weight of a towed vehicle based on driving information;
- comparing, by the controller, the towable weight with the weight, and determining, by the controller, at least one of whether it is possible to tow the towed vehicle, a towable route, a towable weight corresponding to the towable route, or any combination thereof based on a result of the comparing;
- performing, by a communication device, communication with a user terminal;
- and
- transmitting, by the user terminal, destination address information to the towing vehicle thorough the communication device, when the destination is input in the user terminal and transmission of the destination is input in the user terminal,
- wherein the towable weight for each of routes found for the destination includes a first towable weight determined based on a first route found based on a minimum distance to the destination, a second towable weight determined based on a second route found based on minimum time required to reach the destination, and a third towable weight determined based on a third route found based on a minimum cost required to reach the destination.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.