A vehicle drive system includes a slip acquisition unit that acquires that an excessive slip of front wheels or rear wheels has occurred, an addition slip point calculating unit that calculates addition slip points in a time-discrete manner, based on the slip acquisition unit having acquired that the excessive slip has occurred, a cumulative slip point calculating unit that accumulates the addition slip points and calculates a cumulative slip point over time, a drive state switching unit that, switches between 2WD and AWD based on cumulative slip points, and an increase forbidding determination unit that forbids addition or accumulation of the addition slip points, or increase of the cumulative slip points, in a case where a lateral acceleration correlation value that has correlation with lateral acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a lateral acceleration threshold value.

A control device for a vehicle is provided. The control device includes an electronic control unit that is configured to: exert the torque of an input member on a fixed member and a rotating member such that the fixed member and the rotating member are separated from each other, when the thrust is exerted for making the engagement teeth mesh with each other; estimate an inclination angle of tooth surfaces based on a relative movement amount between the fixed member and the rotating member, and a relative rotational amount between the fixed member and the rotating member; estimate a frictional coefficient of the tooth surfaces based on the inclination angle; and control the thrust of the actuator according to the frictional coefficient.

A vehicle includes an electric machine, battery, torque converter bypass clutch, drive wheel, and controller. The electric machine is configured to recharge the battery via regenerative braking. The torque converter bypass clutch is disposed between the electric machine and the drive wheel. The controller is programmed to, in response to a negative drive wheel torque command during a regenerative braking event, adjust a closed-state torque capacity of the torque converter bypass clutch based on the torque command.

A vehicle attitude control system includes a target sideslip angle calculating unit configured to calculate a target sideslip angle for turning of a vehicle based on a steering angle and a vehicle speed, and a target sideslip angle correcting unit configured to correct the target sideslip angle calculated by the target sideslip angle calculating unit by using a sideslip angle correction amount calculated based on at least one selected from a torque of an axle and an injection amount of fuel supplied to an engine. The attitude of the vehicle is controlled by using a target sideslip angle obtained through the correction performed by the target sideslip angle correcting unit.

A vehicle with independently driven multiple axles and a controller which independently drives the multiple axles are disclosed. The controller includes a first controller which determines a target control value including at least one of a mechanical steering angle of each of a plurality of wheels of a vehicle, a target yaw moment of the vehicle, a target longitudinal force of the vehicle, and a target wheel speed of each of the plurality of wheels; and a second controller which determines wheel torques of the plurality of wheels, which drive the plurality of wheels independently, based on the target control value, wherein the wheel torques of the plurality of wheels are different from one another.

A method is described for computing a friction estimate between a road surface and a tire of a vehicle when the vehicle is in motion along a course, the tire being arranged on a steerable wheel of the vehicle, and the vehicle including two front wheels and two rear wheels and an axle rack pivotably attached to a linkage arm connected to the steerable wheel such that a translational motion of the axle rack causes the linkage arm to rotate about a kingpin element such that the linkage arm causes a turning motion of the steerable wheel. A corresponding system and vehicle are also described.

A transmission controller implements a neutral idle feature to reduce fuel consumption. A brake controller implements a Hill Start Assist feature to prevent roll-back when a vehicle is launching on an uphill grade. The transmission controller and the brake controller communicate to implement these features in a synergistic manner. Within certain road grade ranges, the transmission requests Hill Start Assist before activating neutral idle and does not activate neutral idle until it receives confirmation that Hill Start Assist is active. The transmission controller provides a powertrain torque estimate to the brake controller which the brake controller uses to determine when to release the brakes during an assisted start.

A method for operating a powertrain of a hybrid vehicle is provided. The method includes outputting via a controller an engine speed command that is based on a predicted impeller speed of a torque converter and corresponds to the accelerator tip-in to output a torque from the engine to wheels of the vehicle in response to detection of an accelerator pedal tip-in greater than a predetermined threshold. The method may also include accessing a history of impeller speed outputs of the hybrid vehicle to obtain the predicted impeller speed. The engine speed command may set engine speed substantially equal to or greater than the predicted impeller speed. The predetermined threshold may be based on a driver requested torque output of the wheels in which torque from the torque converter to the wheels results in saturation.

A method for controlling gear shifting of a working machine includes determining a representation of a first total tractive force of the working machine for the entire set of drive units; initiating a procedure for redistributing the tractive force while maintaining the first total tractive force, including decreasing, at least partly towards a level suitable for shifting gear, the torque and tractive force of at least the first drive unit down, and increasing, in a compensational manner, the torque and tractive force of at least one of the other drive units not subject to gear shifting; monitoring, during the redistribution procedure, a representation of a second total tractive force of the working machine for the other drive units not subject to gear shifting, and, provided that the second total tractive force exceeds a threshold limit that forms a function of the first total tractive force: decreasing the torque and tractive force of at least the first drive unit down to the level suitable for shifting gear and performing gear shifting for at least the first drive unit.

A computer system including a processor device configured to adjust a torque applies to a first wheel to a vehicle is provided. The processor device is configured to estimate, a variation in rotational speed of a first drive shaft. The first drive shaft is driven by a second drive shaft by rotating a mechanical joint. The mechanical joint is drivingly connected to both the first drive shaft and the second drive shaft. The processor device is configured to, based on the variation in rotational speed of the first drive shaft and a current speed of the vehicle, estimate a target slip for the first wheel. The processor device is further configured to, based on the estimated target slip for the first wheel, adjust the torque applied to the first wheel.