# US 2014/0156126 A1 · Vehicle control system

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- Number: US 2014/0156126 A1
- Document ID: US20140156126A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/994,504
- Filed: 2011-12-15
- Published: 2014-06-05
- Earliest claimed: 2010-12-15
- Assignees: Jaguar Land Rover Limited
- Inventors: Thuy-Yung Tran; Edward Hoare; Nigel Clarke
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140156126A1

## CPC

- B60G 17/019: characterised by the type of sensor or the arrangement thereof {(B60G17/01941 takes precedence)}
- B60C 1/00: Tyres characterised by the chemical composition or the physical arrangement or mixture of the composition
- B60G 17/0165: to an external condition, e.g. rough road surface, side wind
- B60G 17/01908: {Acceleration or inclination sensors (characterised by the use of gyroscopes B60G21/08)}
- B60Q 1/00: Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor (for lighting vehicle interior B60Q3/00)
- B60R 99/00: Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
- B60W 40/06: Road conditions
- B60W 40/076: Slope angle of the road
- B60W 50/14: Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
- F02D 11/105: {characterised by the function converting demand to actuation, e.g. a map indicating relations between an accelerator pedal position and throttle valve opening or target engine torque}
- G01F 23/14: by measurement of pressure
- G01F 23/18: Indicating, recording or alarm devices actuated electrically
- G01F 23/24: by measuring variations of resistance of resistors due to contact with conductor fluid
- G01F 23/242: {Mounting arrangements for electrodes}
- G01F 23/263: by measuring variations in capacitance of capacitors
- G01F 23/265: {for discrete levels}
- G01F 23/28: by measuring the variations of parameters of electromagnetic or acoustic waves applied directly to the liquid or fluent solid material
- G01F 23/2965: Measuring attenuation of transmitted waves
- G01F 23/80: Arrangements for signal processing
- G01F 23/804: {containing circuits handling parameters other than liquid level}
- G01K 13/00: Thermometers specially adapted for specific purposes
- G01S 15/02: using reflection of acoustic waves (G01S15/66 takes precedence)
- G01S 15/87: Combinations of sonar systems
- G01S 15/931: of land vehicles
- G06F 7/00: Methods or arrangements for processing data by operating upon the order or content of the data handled (logic circuits H03K19/00)
- G10K 13/00: Cones, diaphragms, or the like, for emitting or receiving sound in general (for electromechanical transducers H04R7/00)
- B60G 2300/07: Off-road vehicles
- B60G 2400/80: Exterior conditions
- B60G 2400/843: Humidity; Rainfall
- B60G 2500/30: Height or ground clearance
- B60G 2800/914: Height Control System
- B60K 35/28: characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
- B60K 35/60: Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles (arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10)
- B60K 2360/16: Type of output information
- B60W 2050/146: {Display means}
- B60W 2420/54: Audio sensitive means, e.g. ultrasound
- B60W 2520/16: Pitch
- B60W 2520/18: Roll
- B60W 2552/00: Input parameters relating to infrastructure
- B60W 2552/15: Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction
- B60W 2552/35: Road bumpiness, e.g. potholes
- G01F 23/00: Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm
- G01F 23/296: Acoustic waves
- G01S 2015/932: {for parking operations}
- G01S 2015/938: {in the bumper area}
- Y02T 10/84: Data processing systems or methods, management, administration
- Y10S 367/908: Material level detection, e.g. liquid level
- Y10S 903/93: Conjoint control of different elements
- B60G: VEHICLE SUSPENSION ARRANGEMENTS (air-cushion vehicles B60V; {cycle suspensions B62K25/00})
- B60C: VEHICLE TYRES; TYRE INFLATION; TYRE CHANGING; CONNECTING VALVES TO INFLATABLE ELASTIC BODIES IN GENERAL; DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS RELATED TO TYRES
- B60Q: ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60R: VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
- F02D: CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES (vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed B60K31/00; conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function, road vehicle drive control systems for purposes other than the control of a single sub-unit B60W)
- G01F: MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
- G01K: MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (radiation pyrometry G01J5/00)
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G10K: SOUND-PRODUCING DEVICES; METHODS OR DEVICES FOR PROTECTING AGAINST, OR FOR DAMPING, NOISE OR OTHER ACOUSTIC WAVES IN GENERAL; ACOUSTICS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B60K: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
- Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
- Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

## Abstract

A vehicle having a wading sensor may include a control unit adapted to implement an alternative or modified vehicle control strategy during wading. The wading strategy may change many vehicle functions, alone or in combination, and may be further responsive to depth of wading.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A control system for a vehicle having a sensor adapted to indicate wading above a pre-determined depth of water, said control system being adapted to implement one or more control strategies upon detection of wading by said sensor, said control strategies being selected from the group comprising:
change of traction mode;
change of throttle mapping;
change of gear selection mode;
change of high/low range mode;
activate headlights;
select higher air intake path;
adapt tire pressures to wading;
change steering response/feel;
change differential control;
change torque-vectoring control;
change hybrid vehicle drive mode;
activate heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC);
delay regeneration of exhaust particle filter;
partially flood a pre-determined portion of the vehicle;
unlock door locks;
open sun roof;
activate hydraulic lock sensor of engine; and
deactivate fuel saving mode

### Claim 2

(canceled)

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A control system according to claim 1 adapted to be manually enabled and disabled by the driver.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A control system according to claim 1 adapted to be automatically enabled and disabled.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

A control system according to claim 4 arranged to automatically resume a standard control strategy upon failure to detect wading by said sensor.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

A control system according to claim 1 comprising a plurality of sensors adapted to indicate wading above a pre-determined depth of water operable individually or in combination to detect wading, wherein said control system is adapted to implement a control strategy selected in, dependence on several of said sensors indicating wading.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

A control system according to claim 1 arranged to implement said one or more control strategies immediately upon detection of wading.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

A control system according to claim 1 arranged to implement said one or more control strategies after a pre-determined time delay.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

A control system according to claim 8, wherein the time delay is dependent upon the strategy to be implemented.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

A control system according to claim 1 arranged to implement said one or more control strategies progressively.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

A control system according to claim 10, wherein a rate of change of progressive implementation of one or more control strategies is dependent upon the control strategy to be implemented.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

A control system according to claim 1 comprising a wading depth sensor, said control system being responsive to said wading depth sensor to implement said one or more control strategies dependent upon depth of wading.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

A control system according to claim 12 arranged to vary a control strategy according to step changes in depth of wading.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

A control system according to claim 1, wherein said control strategies are defined in a read only memory.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

A control system according to claim 1, wherein the control system implements a control strategy which is dependent upon the mode of operation of the vehicle.

### Claim 16

A control system for a vehicle having a wading sensor adapted to indicate wading above a pre-determined depth of water, said control system being adapted to implement one or more vehicle control strategies upon detection of wading by said sensor, said strategies being selected from:
activate hydraulic lock sensor of engine, and
de-activate engine fuel saving mode.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

A vehicle having a control system according to claim 1.

### Claim 18

A vehicle comprising a control system and having a sensor adapted to indicate wading above a predetermined depth of water, the control system being adapted to implement a change in one or more vehicle control strategies upon detection of wading by said sensor.

### Claim 19

A method for a vehicle comprising determining that the vehicle is wading and implementing one or more control strategies in response to determining that the vehicle is wading, said control strategies being selected from:
change of traction mode;
change of throttle mapping;
change of gear selection mode;
change of high/low range mode;
activate headlights;
select higher air intake path;
adapt tire pressures to wading;
change steering response/feel;
change differential control;
change torque-vectoring control;
change hybrid vehicle drive mode;
activate heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC);
delay regeneration of exhaust particle filter;
partially flood a pre-determined portion of the vehicle;
unlock door locks;
open sun roof;
activate hydraulic lock sensor of engine, and
de-activate engine fuel saving mode.

### Claim 20

(canceled)

### Claim 21 (depends on 18)

A method according to claim 18 wherein determining that the vehicle is wading comprises receiving data from a sensor adapted to detect a wading condition of the vehicle.

### Claim 22 (depends on 19)

A method according to claim 19, comprising receiving data from a sensor adapted to detect a wading condition of the vehicle, determining that the vehicle is not wading in dependence on said data, and resuming, automatically, a standard or different control strategy.

### Claim 22

(canceled)