Drive train management for a motor vehicle

Apparatus for continuously managing the operation of the drive train of a motor vehicle having an engine responsive to an engine control signal and a CVT transmission responsive to a transmission control signal, comprising:

• an engine speed sensor providing engine speed signals;
• and operator control sensor providing signals representing desired power output;
• an engine control unit for providing engine control signals in response to supplied power output signals;
• a transmission control unit for providing transmission control signals in response to supplied engine speed control signals;
• and a processor, responsive to said engine speed signals and said desired power output signals, including a control program and a database providing composite drive train performances quality characteristics as a function of engine power output and engine speed, said composite drive train performance quality characteristics being calculated form a combination of a plurality of weighted and normalized component performance characteristics for each value of power output and engine speed, each weighted and normalized component performance characteristic being computed from a component performance characteristic using a separate normalization function and being multiplied by a weighting function, said control program continuously computing said power output signals and engine speed signals with the objective of achieving said desire power output by control of engine speed and power output in a manner which represents optimum operation with respect to said composite performance quality characteristics.

A method for continuously managing the operation of the drive train of a motor vehicle having an engine and a CVT transmission comprising:

• sensing engine speed;
• sensing operator control representing desired power output;
• providing data representing a drive train composite performance quality characteristic as a function of power output and engine speed, said composited performance quality characteristic being calculated from a combination of a plurality of weighted component performance characteristics for each value of power output and engine speed, each weighted component performance characteristic being computed from a component performance characteristic multiplied by a time-dependent weighting function;
• computing incremental changes in engine speed and power output with the objective of achieving said desired power output by control of engine speed and power output in a manner which represents optimum operation with respect to said composite performance quality characteristics for the changed engine speed and power output;
• and
• controlling said engine and said transmission to implement said computed changes in engine speed and power output.

A method for continuously managing the operation of the drive train of a motor vehicle having an engine and a CVT transmission comprising:

• sensing engine speed;
• sensing operator control representing desired power output;
• providing data representing a drive train composite performance quality characteristic as a function of power output and engine speed, said composited performance quality characteristic being calculated from a combination of a plurality of weighted component performance characteristics for each value of power output and engine speed, each weighted component characteristic being computed from a component performance characteristic multiplied by a weighting function;
• establishing a maximum possible incremental adjustment capability of the power output per predetermined time cycle and a maximum possible incremental engine speed adjustment capability per time cycle by a driving test;
• computing incremental changes in engine speed and power output with the objective of achieving said desired power output by control of engine speed and power output in a manner which represents optimum operation with respect to said composite performance quality characteristic for the changed engine speed and power output, wherein said incremental changes are constrained to be less than said maximum possible incremental adjustments;
• and
• controlling said engine and said transmission to implement said computed changes in engine speed and power output.