Vehicle Mass Detection System
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsFelix Nedorezov, Hong Jiang, Matthew John Shelton, Daniel Colvin, Zhengyu Dai, Roger Lyle Huffmaster
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle system and a method for calculating a vehicle mass is provided. In at least one embodiment, the system and the method measure current consumed by an electric machine of the vehicle to calculate vehicle mass. A controller of the vehicle uses the calculated mass to control operation of the vehicle, for example a four wheel drive, transmission, stability control, or brake system of the vehicle. A GPS and tire speed sensor system may be incorporated to detect the presence of a towed object, for example a trailer, and to further adjust operation of the vehicle.
Claims17
A method of controlling a vehicle including an electric machine based on vehicle mass, the method comprising:
- while a speed of the electric machine is changing, measuring current consumed by the electric machine at two different instances of time;
- calculating a mass of the vehicle based on the measured currents;
- and
- controlling operation of the vehicle according to the calculated mass.
The method of 5, wherein the stored data further comprises data corresponding to a number of tire revolutions for the distance traveled at a plurality of vehicle masses.
A vehicle comprising:
- an electric machine;
- a driveline;
- a traction battery;
- and
- at least one controller programmed to command the electric machine to apply a braking torque to the driveline of the vehicle based on a mass of the vehicle such that when the electric machine is outputting a propulsive torque to the driveline, a magnitude of current from the electric machine to the traction battery varies according to the mass of the vehicle and when the electric machine is not outputting a propulsive torque to the driveline, the magnitude of the current remains generally constant.
A vehicle system comprising:
- an electric machine;
- and
- at least one controller programmed to control operation of the vehicle based on current consumed by the electric machine at different instances of time while the vehicle is accelerating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.