# US 2014/0156222 A1 · Estimation of weight for a vehicle > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0156222 A1 - Document ID: US20140156222A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/008,218 - Filed: 2012-03-26 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2011-04-01 - Assignees: Scania CV AB - Inventors: Fredrik Roos - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140156222A1 ## CPC - G01G 19/086: {wherein the vehicle mass is dynamically estimated} - B60T 8/172: Determining control parameters used in the regulation, e.g. by calculations involving measured or detected parameters {(B60T8/17551 takes precedence)} - B60T 2250/02: Vehicle mass - B60W 40/13: Load or weight - B60W 2050/0051: {combined with averaging} - B60W 2510/0657: Engine torque - B60W 2552/15: Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction - B60W 2556/50: of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data - G01G: WEIGHING (sorting by weighing B07C5/16) - B60T: VEHICLE BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF; BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF, IN GENERAL (electrodynamic brake systems for vehicle, in general B60L; brakes per se, i.e. devices where braking effect occurs, including ultimate brake actuators, F16D); ARRANGEMENT OF BRAKING ELEMENTS ON VEHICLES IN GENERAL; PORTABLE DEVICES FOR PREVENTING UNWANTED MOVEMENT OF VEHICLES; VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS TO FACILITATE COOLING OF BRAKES - 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 ## Abstract A method and a system for estimating a weight mv for a vehicle on the basis of at least two forces which act upon the vehicle, the forces are a motive force FT and at least one further force, and topographical information for a relevant section of road. The estimation is performed when the at least two forces are dominated by the motive force FT. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for estimating a weight mv for a vehicle comprising: measuring at least two forces which act upon the vehicle, the two forces comprising a motive force FT of the vehicle and at least one further force, the estimation is based on a further force relating to topographical information for a relevant section of a road on which the vehicle is moving, wherein the at least one further force comprises at least one of several forces FG related to gravitation, and the estimation takes into account said at least one or several forces FG related to gravitation and the estimation is performed when the at least two forces are dominated by the motive force FT. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) A method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one further force further comprises at least one selected from a force FR related to rolling resistance and a force FA related to air resistance on the movement of the vehicle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) A method according to claim 1, further comprising determining if the motive force FT is dominant relative to the at least one further force if torque M extracted at the time from an engine for the vehicle exceeds a predetermined proportion of a maximum torque MMax of the engine. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) A method according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined proportion is an adjustable value which is altered so that the estimation is performed a suitable number of times per run of the vehicle. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) A method according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined proportion is 90% of the maximum torque MMax of the engine. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) A method according to claim 1, wherein the motive force FT is dominant relative to the at least one further force when the motive force FT is at least a predetermined number of times greater than the at least one further force. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) A method according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined number of times is an adjustable value which is altered so that the estimation is performed a suitable number of times per run of the vehicle. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) A method according to claim 6, wherein the number of times is three. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) A method according to claim 1, wherein the estimation is based on at least selecting an effect of the at least two forces on the vehicle over a period of time t0-te which has a length within a selected time range; a change in speed of the vehicle over the time period t0-te; and a change in altitude of the vehicle over the period t0-te. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) A method according to claim 9, in which the time period t0-te corresponds to a distance x0-xe which is travelled over the time period t0-te and has a length within a permissible distance range. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) A method according to claim 9, further comprising determining the change in altitude based on a gradient a of a relevant section of road. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) A method according to claim 11, further comprising the road gradient a based on at least one of topographical map information of a road of a vehicle on which the vehicle is travelling in combination with positioning information of the vehicle on the road; and an accelerometer for measuring acceleration of the vehicle. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) A method according to claim 9, further comprising determining the change in altitude based on altitude information obtained from topographical map information of a road of a vehicle on which the vehicle is travelling in combination with positioning information of the vehicle on the road. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) A method according to claim 9, further comprising determining the change in altitude based on a change in atmospheric pressure where the vehicle is travelling over the predetermined period t0-te. ### Claim 15 (depends on 9) A method according to claim 9, further comprising determining an effect of the at least two forces on the vehicle over the time period t0-te by at least one of a plurality of calculation methods selected from: integrating the effect on the vehicle of the at least two forces over the time period t0-te; summing an effect of the at least two forces over discrete values corresponding to the time period t0-te; integrating the effect of the at least two forces over a travel distance x0-xe of the vehicle corresponding to the time period t0-te; and summing the effect of the at least two forces over discrete values for a distance x0-xe of travel of the vehicle corresponding to the time period t0-te. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) A method according to claim 1, further comprising making at least two separate estimates of the weight of the vehicle mv to determine an averaged weight mm. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) A method according to claim 1, further comprising classifying the estimation to indicate reliability of the estimation. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) A computer program which comprises non-transitory program code and which, when the code is executed in a computer, causes the computer to apply the method according to claim 1. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) A computer programme product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium and a computer programme according to claim 18, wherein the program is contained in said computer-readable medium. ### Claim 20 A system for estimating a weight mv for a vehicle on the basis of at least two forces which act upon the vehicle, the forces comprising a motive force FT and at least one further force; wherein the system is configured to base the estimation on topographical information for a selected relevant section of a road of travel of the vehicle; wherein the at least one further force comprises at least one force FG related to gravitation; and the system comprises a device configured for comparing the motive force FT and the at least one further force and the system is further configured, when the system is performing the estimation, to take into account the at least one or several forces FG related to gravitation and the system performs the estimation when the at least two forces are dominated by the motive force FT. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) A system according to claim 20, in which the device configured for comprising is configured for determining that the motive force FT dominates the at least two forces if the motive force is considerably greater than the at least one further force.