The present invention relates to a brake controller for a towed vehicle braking system and a method of operating a brake controller, wherein the towed vehicle has combined brake and turn lights activated by combined light signals from a towing vehicle.

A vehicle includes friction brakes, an electronic park brake system, and controllers. The controllers, responsive to the vehicle coming to a stop, and the vehicle being on plug, a driver door of the vehicle being open, or a driver seatbelt being unbuckled, issue a standstill friction brake request for the friction brakes and an electronic park brake request for the electronic park brake system. The controllers also, responsive to engagement of the electronic park brake system, discontinue the issue of the standstill friction brake request.

A brake assistance system of a host vehicle includes: a memory that stores brake pressure versus brake actuator distance profiles; an object detection module that detects a nearing object and determines a location of the object relative to the host vehicle or a distance between the host vehicle and the object; and a brake assist module that determines a speed of the host vehicle relative to the object, and based on the speed of the host vehicle and the location or the distance, to generate a brake apply alert message instructing a driver of the host vehicle to actuate brakes of the host vehicle, and to initiate modification of the at least one brake pressure or force versus brake actuator distance profile or selection of one of the brake pressure or force versus brake actuator distance profiles to provide a boosted brake pressure or force profile for assisted braking.

A vehicle electronic system including a parking brake equipment, comprising a brake element (2) including either a brake pad or a brake shoe, said brake element (2) including an electrical circuit equipped with one or more sensors (3, 4, 5) for real-time detection of signals relating to temperatures and/or to normal forces and/or to shear forces and having electrical terminals arranged in a zone for collecting the signals from the brake element, said vehicle electronic parking brake system further comprising an actuator (8) of the brake element (2), a controller (7) delivering a braking force command to the actuator (8), and regulating means (9, 10) driving the controller (7), wherein the regulating means (9, 10) include a closed regulating loop of the braking force including a reference braking force generator (10), said closed regulating loop of the braking force being communicating with said sensors (3, 4, 5) to acquire at least one of temperatures and/or normal forces and/or shear forces measurements.

A method for controlling a braking system of a vehicle for the distribution of braking forces for parking the vehicle involves receiving, by a system for controlling the braking system, a first piece of information representative of a first working temperature of a first vehicle front axle, a second piece of information representative of a second working temperature of a second vehicle rear axle, a third piece of information representative of a gradient of the vehicle, a fourth piece of information representative of a coefficient of friction between the vehicle and a road, and a fifth piece of information representative of a weight of the vehicle, and determining a first target braking force to be applied to the first front axle and a second target braking force to be applied to the second rear axle based on the first, second, third, fourth and fifth pieces of information.

A disc brake system includes a first brake pad having a first type of friction material, a second brake pad having a second type of friction material different from the first type of friction material, and a poshrod arrangement configured to apply force in varying amounts on both the first brake pad and the second brake pad, the poshrod arrangement comprising an actuator movable to different, positions relative to the first brake pad and the second brake pad to vary a percentage of total braking force applied by the first brake pad and the second brake pad. A method for braking a vehicle is also provided.

Systems, methods, and vehicles for closed-loop control of regenerative braking. The system includes, in one implementation, a regenerative braking subsystem and a vehicle controller. The vehicle controller is configured to command the regenerative braking subsystem to apply a first amount of regenerative braking torque. The vehicle controller is also configured to determine a current vehicle deceleration while the first amount of regenerative braking torque is applied. The vehicle controller is further configured to determine a difference between the current vehicle deceleration and a target vehicle deceleration. The vehicle controller is also configured to set a second amount of regenerative braking torque to reduce the difference between the current vehicle deceleration and the target vehicle deceleration. The vehicle controller is further configured to command the regenerative braking subsystem to apply the second amount of regenerative braking torque.

A brake control apparatus includes a hydraulic pressure supply device configured to provide a hydraulic pressure to a wheel cylinder of a vehicle; a flow path extending from the hydraulic pressure supply device to the wheel cylinder; at least one valve configured to open or close the flow path; and a controller electrically connected to the hydraulic pressure supply device and the at least one valve. The controller may be configured to control the hydraulic pressure supply device to supply the hydraulic pressure to the wheel cylinder through the flow path, and in response to a change in a gear position of a transmission of the vehicle, to control at least one of the hydraulic pressure supply device and the at least one valve to maintain a hydraulic pressure of the wheel cylinder or a hydraulic pressure of the flow path for a first reference time after the change in the gear position.

A method for controlling the braking of a towed vehicle by a towing vehicle. The method includes receiving, at or by a brake actuator ECU, deceleration data of the towing vehicle and sensing, using a sensor, a longitudinal deceleration of the towed vehicle. The method also includes generating, at or by the brake actuator ECU, a brake signal based on the deceleration data and the longitudinal deceleration, sending the brake signal from the brake actuator ECU to an electric motor of a brake actuator of the towed vehicle, and applying, by the brake actuator, a hydraulic pressure to brakes of the towed vehicle based on the brake signal.

A method and device for detecting and providing braking assessment information indicative of a particulate emission from a vehicle braking system involves determining, upon a braking event, one or more physical quantities related to the particulate emission caused by the braking event based on detection of at least one physical quantity detected from the one or more physical quantities performed by respective detection means provided in the vehicle. The method and device may also include calculating, by an algorithm or mathematical assessment model, stored and executable in a computer, at least one braking assessment index, based on the one or more determined physical quantities. The braking assessment index being representative of a particulate emission amount by the vehicle braking system upon the braking event, and providing a user with braking assessment information related to the calculated braking assessment index, by a user interface.