Vehicle dynamics control in electric drive vehicles
AssigneeWrightspeed, Inc.
InventorsIan Wright, Ryan Cash
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of the invention are directed toward a geared traction drive system configured to drive a wheel of a vehicle, comprising: a driveshaft for transmitting power to the wheel; an electric drive motor for driving the driveshaft, the electric drive motor configured to receive signals from a vehicle dynamic control system to command a required speed; a gear reduction component for reducing the speed of the motor by a predetermined factor to a lower speed suitable for driving the wheel; and a drive electronics component that works with the electric drive motor to drive the wheel to the speed commanded by the vehicle dynamic control system.
Claims41
A vehicle dynamics control system, comprising:
- a first motor electrically coupled to a first drive electronics module, the first motor coupled to a first wheel, and a second motor electrically coupled to a second electronics module, the second motor coupled to a second wheel;
- and
- a main control processor, the main control processor configured to control the electric motors by transmitting speed commands to the drive electronics modules, wherein the transmitted speed commands are determined by:
- receiving vehicle speed and direction data from at least one sensor,
- receiving driver data from at least one driver input sensor,
- generating first and second required wheel speeds from the driver data and the vehicle speed and direction data,
- calculating first and second optimum wheel speeds, the calculated optimum wheel speeds being the speed at which each wheel can be driven to so as to not exceed a slip rate which achieves an optimal slip,
- determining a first and second commanded wheel speed by limiting the first and second required wheel speeds to the optimum wheel speeds, and
- transmitting the first and second commanded wheel speeds to the first and second drive electronics modules.
A method for controlling vehicle dynamics, comprising:
- receiving vehicle speed and direction data from at least one sensor on a vehicle;
- receiving driver data from at least one driver input sensor;
- generating, by at least one computer, a first and a second required wheel speed from the driver data and the vehicle speed and direction data;
- calculating, by at least one computer, a first and a second optimum wheel speed, the calculated optimum wheel speed being the speed at which respectively a first and a second wheel can be driven to so as to not exceed a slip rate which achieves an optimal slip over a surface;
- determining, by at least computer, a first and a second commanded wheel speed by limiting the first and the second required wheel speed to respectively the first and the second calculated optimum wheel speed;
- transmitting the first commanded wheel speed to a first electronic module coupled with a first motor, the first motor coupled to the first wheel;
- and
- transmitting the second commanded wheel speed to a second electronic module coupled with a second motor, the second motor coupled with the second wheel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.