Presented are clutch-type engine disconnect devices, methods for making/using such disconnect devices, and motor vehicles equipped with such disconnect devices. An engine disconnect device includes a notch plate, which has multiple notches and attaches to a torque converter, and a pocket plate, which has multiple pockets and attaches to an engine's crankshaft. A pawl is movably mounted within each notch; these pawls selectively engage the notches with the pockets. A notch plate insert is nested within each notch, supporting thereon one of the pawls. A selector plate interposed between the pocket and notch plates moves from a first position, to shift the pawls out of engagement with the pockets, and a second position, to move the notch plate inserts within the notches and allow the pawls to engage the notches with the pockets to thereby lock the notch plate to the pocket plate to rotate in unison with each other.

The invention provides a method for controlling braking of a vehicle (1) driving along a downhill portion of a road, the vehicle comprising a propulsion arrangement (2, 3), for the propulsion of the vehicle, the method comprising dividing the road portion into a plurality of sections (RS0-RS2), the sections comprising a first section (RS1), and a second section (RS2) following, in the direction of travel of the vehicle, immediately upon the first section (RS1), determining, for the road portion, a road portion control strategy, with a condition that braking on the road portion is done at least partly by means of the propulsion arrangement (2, 3), wherein determining the road portion control strategy comprises determining a speed (SD21), on the second section (RS2), with an aim to minimize the time travelled on the second section, and/or, where the propulsion arrangement comprises an internal combustion engine (2), and a gearbox (3), determining a gear selection (GS2) on the second section (RS2), with an aim to minimize the time travelled on the second section, and wherein determining the road portion control strategy comprises determining, for the first section (RS1), a first section control strategy, with an aim to minimize the time travelled on the first section, and with an aim to provide a vehicle speed at the end of the first section (RS1) which is the same as said determined speed (SD21) on the second section (RS2), and/or to provide a gear selection at the end of the first section which is the same as said determined gear selection (GS2) on the second section (RS2), the method further comprising controlling the vehicle (1) according to the determined road portion control strategy.

A braking force controller includes: a target jerk calculation unit; a first estimation unit configured to estimate an increment of braking force when a prescribed factor that increases braking force to be generated by the first actuator unit currently occurs; a second estimation unit configured to estimate the increment of the braking force when the prescribed factor occurs within a prescribed period; and a control unit configured to determine a negative jerk generated when the second actuator unit generates the braking force such that a sum of the negative jerk and the jerk generated by the first actuator unit without the prescribed factor becomes the target jerk. When the increment of the braking force due to the prescribed factor is larger than a prescribed value, the control unit corrects the determined negative jerk such that an absolute value of the negative jerk becomes smaller.

Methods and systems are described for vehicle coasting optimization. The system may include a vehicle having an engine, a drivetrain, and an accelerator. The system may include selecting a fuel-saving mode based on an anticipated braking requirement in response to detecting the vehicle is non-stationary and the accelerator is disengaged. The system may include generating an instruction corresponding the selected fuel-saving mode, wherein the instruction is configured to control at least the engine and the drivetrain.

A vehicle control apparatus, configured to control a vehicle, includes an engine that is configured to drive wheels via a power transmission device. The vehicle control apparatus includes a towing state detector and an engine controller. The towing state detector is configured to detect whether the vehicle is in a towing state. The engine controller is configured to stop the engine in a case where a predetermined engine stopping condition is satisfied during traveling of the vehicle. The engine controller is configured to vary, in a case where the towing state detector detects that the vehicle is in the towing state, the predetermined engine stopping condition to reduce an operational range in which the engine is to be stopped compared with an operational range in a case where the towing state detector does not detect that the vehicle is in the towing state.

A controller for a hybrid electric vehicle including an internal combustion engine is provided. The internal combustion engine includes a filter arranged in an exhaust passage collect particulate matter from exhaust gas. The controller executes a first deceleration control process, a second deceleration control process, and a selection process. The first deceleration control process uses a fuel cutoff process when deceleration of the hybrid electric vehicle is required. The second deceleration control process does not use the fuel cutoff process when deceleration of the hybrid electric vehicle is required. The selection process selects execution of the second deceleration control process when a PM deposition amount is greater than or equal to a threshold value and selects execution of the first deceleration control process when the PM deposition amount is less than the threshold value.

A controller for a hybrid electric vehicle including an internal combustion engine is provided. The internal combustion engine includes a filter arranged in an exhaust passage collect particulate matter from exhaust gas. The controller executes a first deceleration control process, a second deceleration control process, and a selection process. The first deceleration control process uses a fuel cutoff process when deceleration of the hybrid electric vehicle is required. The second deceleration control process does not use the fuel cutoff process when deceleration of the hybrid electric vehicle is required. The selection process selects execution of the second deceleration control process when a PM deposition amount is greater than or equal to a threshold value and selects execution of the first deceleration control process when the PM deposition amount is less than the threshold value.

A control method, relating to the technical field of automobile intelligent driving includes: determining a target parking spot, and automatically generating target track points, an estimated braking distance, and an estimated coasting distance; calculating the longitudinal distance between the current position and the target end point according to the target track points and the current control deviation; collecting real-time vehicle driving information, and calculating current vehicle speed, slope, and vehicle braking response time information;

updating the longitudinal distance at a fixed frequency according to the longitudinal distance to the target end point and the real-time vehicle speed; on the basis of control state decision logic, performing real-time estimation of the distance to the target parking point to determine the vehicle control state. A system for fixed-point parking in autonomous driving includes a vehicle information collection module, a position estimation module, and a control state decision module.

A vehicle includes a controller configured to switch between a constant speed traveling mode in which a vehicle speed is held constant and an inertial traveling mode in which a prime mover is stopped or in an idling state, and a clutch apparatus configured to connect and disconnect power transmission between the prime mover and an output target, and the controller controls the clutch apparatus and decreases a clutch capacity so as to transit to the inertial traveling mode when detected that the vehicle is traveling on a downhill road during the constant speed traveling mode, and the controller controls the clutch apparatus and increases the clutch capacity so as to transit to the constant speed traveling mode when detected that the vehicle traveling on the downhill road has terminated.

A control apparatus for a vehicle includes an electronic control unit that is configured to set a value of a target generated voltage of the generator. The electronic control unit is configured to execute power generation control to control a generated voltage of a generator. The electronic control unit is configured to maintain a value of the generated voltage in the power generation control to be constant during an upshift gear change when the upshift gear change control of a transmission is executed while the lock-up clutch control is executed during deceleration of the vehicle. The electronic control unit is configured to increase the value in the power generation control during the downshift control to the value of the target generated voltage at a first specified rate when a downshift gear change of the transmission is executed while the lock-up clutch control is executed during the deceleration.