Control system for an automotive vehicle having apparatus for predicting the driving environment of the vehicle

A control system for an automotive vehicle, comprising:

• a plurality of local control channels for controlling operation of one of a driving System and a suspension system of the automotive vehicle on the basis of driving indexes corresponding to said plurality of local control channels each being independent of each other;
• a plurality of driving-operations detecting means for detecting driver's driving operations and outputting first signals indicative of the driving operations respectively;
• a plurality of state detecting means for detecting driving states, wherein said driving states comprise at least one of vehicle speed and coolant temperature of the automotive vehicle that change in response to the driving operations and outputting second signals indicative of the states respectively;
• trigger signal generation means, in response to a change in at least one of said first and second signals exceeding a predetermined value, generating a trigger signal;
• sampling means, responsive to said trigger signal, for sampling at least one of said first and second signals to obtain a predetermined number of time-series sampling signal values;
• and
• driving environment index predicting means for predicting a driving environment index on the basis of a dynamic pattern of said time-series sampling signal values received from said sampling means,
• wherein said predicted driving environment index is provided to at least one of said local control channels to control the local control channel and to control the associated vehicle operation.

A control system for an automotive vehicle, comprising:

• a plurality of sub-systems for controlling operation of one of a driving system and a suspension system of the automotive vehicle on the basis of driving indexes corresponding to said plurality of subsystems each being independent of each other;
• a plurality of driving-operations detecting means for detecting driver's driving operations and outputting first signals indicative of the driving operations respectively;
• a plurality of state detecting means for detecting driving states, wherein said driving states comprise at least one of vehicle speed and coolant temperature of the automotive vehicle that change in response to the driving operations and outputting second signals indicative o the states respectively;
• trigger signal generation means for, in response to change in at least one of said first and second signals exceeding a predetermined value, generating a trigger signal;
• sampling means, responsive to said trigger signal, for sampling at least one of said first and second signals to obtain a predetermined number of time-series sampling signal values;
• and
• driving environment index predicting means for predicting a driving environment index on the basis of a dynamic pattern of said time-series sampling signal values received from said sampling means,
• wherein said predicted driving environment index is provided to at least one of said subsystems to control the sub-system and to control the associated vehicle operation.