This invention pertains to the field of power transmission. Machines using a power transmission mechanism for transmission of the mechanical power produced by a source (engine (2), electric motor, pneumatic and hydraulic pump) to another component of the machine (wheel (21), electric motor, electric generator, pneumatic and hydraulic pump) through multiple transmission paths (different gear ratios (14), (15)) are subjects of this invention. It is disclosed that control of a switching from one power transmission path to another is done in a manner involving simultaneous load transfer and speed synchronization rather than sequential performance of these two functions, and the resulting method developed in the invention leads to switching operations that produce less disturbance at the input of the said component. The said method is applied to the problem of controlling gearshifts in automatic transmissions of ground vehicles.

A method of controlling operation of a vehicle is disclosed, wherein the method comprises the steps of monitoring a wheel slip of the wheels arranged at at least one leading wheel axle, and controlling a wheel torque of the wheels arranged at at least one trailing wheel axle based on the monitored wheel slip, a speed of the vehicle relative to the surface, and the distance/distances between the at least one leading wheel axle and the at least one trailing wheel axle. The present disclosure further relates to a computer program product, a computer readable medium, a control arrangement, and a vehicle.

A coordinated control method for electric vehicles having independent four-wheel driving and steering, comprising the steps of: calculating to obtain a desired value of yaw velocity according to the steering angle and the current vehicle driving speed, and limiting the desired value of yaw velocity according to the current road adhesion condition; constructing an optimization problem according to the current vehicle motion state and the desired value of yaw velocity, and solving the optimization problem to obtain a desired active rear wheel steering angle control variable and a desired additional yaw moment control variable; calculating to obtain an additional torque of each wheel according to a desired additional yaw moment control variable, obtaining a desired active rear wheel steering angle, and sending the additional torque of each wheel and the desired active rear wheel steering angle to an executor of the vehicle for performing a coordinated control.

A system for lateral control in-path tracking of an autonomous vehicle includes a lateral controller. The lateral controller controls movement of the autonomous vehicle relative to a path and receives as an input a desired target. An outer control loop of the lateral controller includes a first controller generating an output based on the difference between the desired target and a current position of the autonomous vehicle. An inner control loop of the lateral controller includes a second controller receiving the generated output from the first controller. The inner control loop generates a sideslip angle and a yaw rate, wherein the sideslip angle and the yaw rate are returned to the second controller. The sideslip angle and the yaw rate are used to generate the relative yaw angle and lateral distance, which are returned to the first controller as the current position of the autonomous vehicle.

In various embodiments, a system and method for determining a gross combined weight of a vehicle and its load is disclosed. A method includes: providing predetermined calibration settings relating force to engine speed for a specific vehicle travelling in a reverse direction, altering accelerometer data based on filtered vehicle pitch and roll data, determining that one or more vehicle performance parameters fall within a threshold range, storing a plurality of data pairs that include longitudinal acceleration and drive force, and determining a slope of a line that linearly approximates the plurality of data pairs, the slope indicating a total weight, the total weight comprising a weight of the vehicle and a weight being hauled by the vehicle; and transmitting the total weight to a remote system for display.

A method for restarting an engine of a vehicle stopped on a grade, comprising the steps of engaging a gear of a transmission through which the engine and wheels of the vehicle are drivably connected mutually, using brake pressure to engage wheel brakes and produce a road gradient wheel torque that holds the vehicle stationary on the grade, initiating an engine restart, operating the engine to produce wheel torque equal to or greater than the road gradient wheel torque, and releasing the brake pressure.

A method of controlling driving of a vehicle when battery charging is limited is provided. The method includes calculating a target wheel torque from a speed of the vehicle, calculating a target motor torque from a differential gear device of the vehicle, and calculating a discharge power of a hybrid starter generator when the target motor torque and a motor charging limitation torque are compared with each other and the target motor torque is greater than the motor charging limitation torque. A fuel injection of the vehicle is blocked and an engine clutch is disengaged when the discharge power of the hybrid starter generator and a discharging limitation power of the hybrid starter generator are compared with each other and the discharge power of the hybrid starter generator is less than the discharging limitation power of the hybrid starter generator. Additionally, an engine reference speed of the vehicle is determined.

The present disclosure provides an apparatus for controlling distribution of torque of front and rear wheel of a four-wheel drive (4WD) vehicle, including: a slip control torque calculator configured to calculate slip control torque of the rear wheels from information collected from the vehicle during driving in a 4WD mode; a handling control torque calculator configured to calculate handling control torque for the rear wheels from information collected from the vehicle during driving in the 4WD mode; a weighting factor determiner configured to determine a slip control weighting factor and a handling control weighting factor based on vehicle state information; and a target torque calculator configured to calculate target torque of rear wheel by summing the weighting factors applied to the slip control torque and handling control torque, respectively, wherein the target torque of the rear wheel is a target value of the torque distributed to the real wheel.

A powertrain system including an internal combustion engine, a transmission and an electric machine is described, and includes the electric machine rotatably coupled to a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine. The transmission is coupled to a driveline to transfer tractive torque and braking torque thereto. A method for controlling the electric machine includes determining a short-term axle torque capacity, a long-term axle torque capacity and a maximum regenerative braking stall torque capacity, and determining an operator request for braking. A preferred regenerative braking capacity is determined based upon the short-term axle torque capacity, the long-term regenerative braking capacity, the engine stall regenerative braking capacity and the operator request for braking. Torque output from the electric machine is controlled based upon the preferred regenerative braking capacity.

A speed control system for a vehicle. The speed control system has a torque control for automatically causing application of positive and negative torque to one or more wheels of a vehicle to cause a vehicle to travel in accordance with a target speed value. The system receives information indicative of a gradient of a driving surface over which the vehicle is driving, with the torque control being configured to control the rate of change of the amount of torque applied to the one or more wheels in order to attempt to cause the vehicle to accelerate substantially from rest to a target speed value, the rate of change of the amount of torque being controlled by the torque control in dependence at least in part on the received information indicative of the gradient of the driving surface.