METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING PARTICULATE EMISSIONS IN THE DRIVING OPERATION OF A VEHICLE

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a device for determining particulate emissions in the driving operation of a vehicle, in particular of a motor vehicle. According to the invention, provision is made that the device has a sensor system and a control unit and that in driving operation the sensor system and the control unit jointly undertake the function of particulate matter sensors. Here, the sensor system senses driving operation values on the vehicle. From the sensed driving operation values and by means of correlations of driving operation values with particulate matter values determined and stored in advance in the control unit, the control unit estimates the particulate emissions from tyre abrasion of the vehicle. Finally, the invention relates to a vehicle with the device according to the invention.

Claims

1. A method for determining particulate emissions in the driving operation of a vehicle, in particular of a motor vehicle, wherein a sensor system of the vehicle and a control unit of the vehicle in driving operation undertake jointly the function of particulate matter sensors, wherein the sensor system senses driving operation values on the vehicle and wherein the control unit estimates, from the sensed driving operation values and by means of correlations of driving operation values with particulate matter values determined and stored in advance in the control unit, the particulate emissions from tyre abrasion of the vehicle.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensor system senses driving operation values for at least one driving operation parameter of tyres of the vehicle, and the control unit takes these driving operation values into consideration for estimating the particulate emissions.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the driving operation parameter of the tyres comprises one, several or all of the following parameters: tyre internal pressure, tyre type, tyre state, tread depth.

4. The method according claim 1, wherein the sensor system senses driving operation values for at least one driving operating parameter of the roadway on which the vehicle is travelling, and the control unit takes these driving operation values into consideration for estimating the particulate emissions.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the driving operation parameter of the roadway comprises one, several or all of the following parameters: roadway temperature, roadway texture, intermediate layer.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensor system senses driving operation values for at least one driving operation parameter for the interaction between tyres and roadway, in particular the slip parameter.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, for estimating the particulate emissions, the control unit also takes into consideration one, several or all of the following further operating parameters from the driving operation of the vehicle which are provided, in particular set or measured, for the control unit: air temperature, speed of travel, acceleration or deceleration, steering angle.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the correlations, stored in the control unit, of driving operation values with particulate matter values are determined in advance by means of measurements on a vehicle in particular of identical or similar construction, wherein particulate matter sensors which are arranged for this in the wheel arches of the vehicle (1) measure the particulate matter values.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control unit detects when the estimated particulate emissions exceed an upper threshold, and then identifies an operating situation which is responsible for the increased particulate emissions by comparing the sensed driving operation values with typical combinations of measurable driving operation values which were determined in advance for several different operating situations and are stored together with these operating situations in the control unit.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, depending on the respectively identified operating situation, the control unit suggests or initiates an operating strategy for the vehicle which is likewise derived in advance from the respective operating situation and stored in the control unit, in order to reduce the particulate emissions.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the operating strategy contains a driving dynamics and/or a route selection for the vehicle.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein, depending on the estimated particulate emissions, the control unit actuates a filter system, in particular for microplastics and/or dripping oils and/or heavy metals, in order to extend maintenance intervals of the filter system, in particular change intervals of a filter medium.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the control unit actuates to only filter air when the control unit estimates that the particulate emissions rise above an upper threshold.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the control unit actuates the filter system to direct air through a bypass past a filter medium when the control unit estimates that the particulate emissions do not rise above the upper threshold.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control unit transmits the estimated particulate emissions to a traffic control system, in particular via a radio connection.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein, for area-wide reduction of particulate emissions, the traffic control system transmits an operating strategy to this control unit and/or to a control unit of another vehicle as a function of the transmitted particulate matter values.

17. A device for determining particulate emissions in the driving operation of a vehicle, in particular of a motor vehicle, wherein the device has a sensor system and a control unit, which are configured and interconnected in such a way in order to jointly undertake, in driving operation, the function of particulate matter sensors, wherein the sensor system is configured for sensing driving operation values on the vehicle and wherein the control unit is configured for estimating the particulate emissions from tyre abrasion of the vehicle from the sensed driving operation values and by means of correlations of driving operation values with particulate matter values determined and stored in advance in the control unit.

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein the device has a filter system and that the control unit is configured and interconnected with the filter system in such a way that the control unit actuates the filter system as a function of the estimated particulate emissions in order to extend maintenance intervals of the filter system, in particular change intervals of a filter medium.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein the filter system has a switchable bypass, which is actuated by the control unit, to filter air through a filter medium when the control unit estimates that the particulate emissions exceed an upper threshold, and otherwise to direct the air past the filter medium through the bypass.

20. The device according to a device for determining particulate emissions in the driving operation of a vehicle, in particular of a motor vehicle, wherein the device has a sensor system and a control unit, which are configured and interconnected in such a way in order to Jointly undertake, in driving operation, the function of particulate matter sensors, wherein the sensor system is configured for sensing driving operation values on the vehicle and wherein the control unit is configured for estimating the particulate emissions from tyre abrasion of the vehicle from the sensed driving operation values and by means of correlations of driving operation values with particulate matter values determined and stored in advance in the control unit, wherein the device for carrying out all the method steps is configured according to claim 1.

21. A vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, with a device according to claim 17 for estimating particulate emissions from tyre abrasion in the driving operation of the vehicle.

Description

[0024] Further embodiments will emerge from the claims, from the drawings and from the following description of a preferred example embodiment of the invention, illustrated in the drawings. In the drawings there are shown:

[0025] FIG. 1: a vehicle with a device for determining particulate emissions in the driving operation of the vehicle according to a preferred example embodiment of the invention in simplified diagrammatic representation;

[0026] FIG. 2: a diagrammatic representation to illustrate the evaluation, according to the invention, of signals of a sensor system and deriving an operating strategy for the vehicle; and

[0027] FIG. 3: the vehicle of FIG. 1 with air filters in its wheel arches.

[0028] FIG. 1 shows a vehicle 1 according to a preferred example embodiment of the invention. The vehicle 1 is, for example, a motor vehicle, in particular a passenger car. However, the invention can also be used in the same manner in utility vehicles such as trucks. The vehicle 1 has four wheels, not designated, with tyres, of which the front left tyre of the front left wheel is designated by reference number 2, and the rear left tyre of the rear left wheel is designated by reference number 3. The front left tyre 2 is arranged in a front left wheel arch 4. The rear left wheel with the rear left tyre 3 is arranged in a rear left wheel arch 5.

[0029] The vehicle 1 is equipped with a sensor system 6 and with a control unit 7, which receives and further processes driving operation values which are sensed by means of the sensor system 6. In particular, the control unit 7 estimates with the driving operation values provided by the sensor system 6 in the driving operation of the vehicle 1 particulate emissions which arise from tyre abrasion of the vehicle 1. A particulate matter sensor is not used for this. Only for the learning of the control unit 7 are particulate matter sensors installed, for example in a prototype vehicle additionally to the sensor system 6, in the wheel arches 4 and 5 and alternatively or additionally in the wheel arches, which are not designated, on the right-hand side of the vehicle, in order to be able to detect characteristic driving operation values of individual sensors of the sensor system 6 at which increased particulate matter values occur.

[0030] The sensor system 6 comprises a roadway temperature sensor 8 for measuring the roadway temperature, a roadway condition sensor 9 for measuring the roadway texture and the intermediate layer of the roadway, a tyre internal pressure sensor 10 for measuring the tyre internal pressure in the front left tyre 2, and alternatively or additionally tyre internal pressure sensors, which are not designated, preferably in the rear left tyre 3 and in each further tyre of the vehicle 1, a tyre condition sensor 11 for sensing the tyre type, the tyre state and the tread depth of the front left tyre 2 and alternatively or additionally a tyre condition sensor in the region of the front right tyre of the vehicle 1, a slip sensor 12, integrated into the tyre condition sensor 11, for sensing the slip between the front left tyre 2 and the roadway, and an independent slip sensor 13 for sensing the slip between the rear left tyre 3 and the roadway. The sensor system 6 contains alternatively or additionally a roadway condition sensor, tyre internal pressure sensors, a tyre condition sensor for integrated slip sensor and an independent slip sensor on the right side of the vehicle in an arrangement in accordance with the sensors 10, 11, 12 and 13 on the left side of the vehicle.

[0031] The tyre condition sensors 11 are arranged only at the front wheel arches 4 of the vehicle 1, but alternatively or additionally in alternative example embodiments of the invention can also be arranged at the rear wheel arches 5 for sensing the tyre condition at the rear tyres 3. Here, the slip sensor 13 can also be integrated into the tyre condition sensor 11. Alternatively to the illustrated example embodiment, the integrated slip sensor 12 can also be arranged independently in accordance with the slip sensor 13 in the front wheel arch 4.

[0032] Deviating from the illustrated example embodiment, individual sensors of the sensor system 6 can be omitted. In a further alternative to the illustrated example embodiment, further sensors can also be contained in the sensor system 6 and their signals can be evaluated by the control unit 7.

[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates an evaluation of driving operation values 14, sensed by means of the sensor system 6, or signals by means of the control unit 7. The driving operation values 14 are detected here for several driving operation parameters, namely for at least one driving operation parameter 15 of tyres 2, 3 of the vehicle 1, for at least one driving operation parameter 16 of the roadway and for at least one driving operation parameter 17 for the interaction between the tyres 2, 3 and the roadway. The driving operation parameters 15 of the tyres 2, 3 of the vehicle 1 are sensed here by means of the tyre internal pressure sensors 10 and the tyre condition sensors 11, and comprise the tyre internal pressure 18, the tyre type 19, the tyre state 20 and the tread depth 21 of the respective tyre 2, 3. The driving operation parameters 16 of the roadway are sensed by means of the roadway temperature sensor 8 and the roadway condition sensor 9 and comprise the roadway temperature 22, the roadway texture 23 and the intermediate layer 24 in the roadway. The driving operation parameters 17 for the interaction between the tyres 2, 3 and the roadway contain the slip 25 between the front tyre 2 and the roadway and the slip 26 between the rear tyre 3 and the roadway.

[0034] By way of example, a first signal 27 formed from the driving operating values 14, and a second signal 28 formed from the driving operation values 14 of the slip 26 between the rear tyres 3 and the roadway, are illustrated over time in FIG. 2. The control unit 7 evaluates the signals 27 and 28, detects typical characteristics therein, with which particulate emissions can be concluded which lie above a threshold, therefore increased particulate emissions and, after the detection of such a characteristic signal, selects a predefined and stored operating strategy 29, which appears to be suitable to reduce the particulate emissions, estimated by means of the sensor system 6 and the control unit 7, in the region of the wheel arches 4, 5. A specific driving dynamics 30 is such an operating strategy 29. A route selection 31 is an alternative operating strategy 29.

[0035] FIG. 3 shows a further development of the vehicle 1 of FIG. 1, which is additionally equipped with air filters in the wheel arches 4, 5. An air filter arranged in the front left wheel arch 4 is designated by reference number 32. An air filter arranged in the rear left wheel arch 5 is designated by reference number 33. The air filters 32 and 33 are part of a filter system 34 of the vehicle 1 which is constructed to filter air at the point of origin of particulate emissions, namely in the region of the wheel arches. Otherwise, the vehicle 1 is equipped in accordance with the illustration in FIG. 1, wherein in particular the sensor system 6 and the control unit 7 are not drawn again, for reasons of clarity.

[0036] All the features named in the above description and in the claims are able to be combined in any desired selection with the features of the independent claims. The disclosure of the invention is therefore not limited to the described and/or claimed combinations of features, rather all appropriate combinations of features in the scope of the invention are to be regarded as disclosed.