Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Vehicle subsystem or accessory control
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-03
2001-04-10
Zanelli, Michael J. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Vehicle subsystem or accessory control
C701S051000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216068
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention refers to a method for driver-behavior-adaptive control of a variably adjustable motor vehicle accessory. Adjustment of the accessory, which for example can be a multiple-ratio automatic transmission or a continuously variable transmission of a drive system of a passenger car, is performed variably as a function of ascertained driver behavior.
RELATED TECHNOLOGY
A method for driver-behavior-adaptive control of a variably adjustable motor vehicle accessory is described in German Patent Application No. 44 01 416 A1. The driver behavior is determined as a longer-term variable via a driving manner determination which comprises a separate determination of an acceleration index for the acceleration behavior, a braking index for the braking behavior, and a steering index for the steering behavior. With these indices, the driving manner of a particular vehicle driver, i.e., the driver behavior, can be characterized over a comparatively long time period on the order of at least minutes. This characterization can then be used to variably adjust a variably adjustable motor vehicle accessory—for example a drive motor, a transmission coupled thereto, a braking system, and/or a level control system—in accordance with the particular driving manner.
A driving manner classification of this kind which describes a longer-term driver behavior does not allow automatic, short-term changes in the adjustment of the relevant motor vehicle accessory. Short-term changes of this kind are, however, desirable in many situations, both in the direction of greater dynamics, for example in an emergency situation, and in the direction of gentle driving, for example when encountering a traffic jam and then driving in slow traffic.
German Patent Application No. 44 11 940 A1 discloses a method and a device for controlling a continuously variable transmission connected to an internal combustion engine. The method includes detection of a steady-speed driver behavior that is assumed to exist if, in a normal driving mode, no appreciable excess of tractive force exists, an output control member of the internal combustion engine (e.g., a throttle valve) is being actuated, and the rate of change in the adjustment of that output control member and the rate of change in the vehicle speed are below a particular limit value. The transmission is adjusted differently when a steady speed is detected than in other driving modes. Because of the manner in which the steady speed is detected, the existence of a steady-speed request is detected on a relatively short-term basis, i.e., more quickly than is achieved with a driving manner evaluation applied to a description of longer-term driver behavior.
German Patent Application No. 197 29 251 describes a method for detecting a spontaneous dynamic demand of a motor vehicle driver. With this method, a sudden demand for higher driving dynamics can be detected comparatively quickly, i.e., faster than with a longer-term driving manner evaluation. In contrast to the usual “kick-down switch” for detecting a spontaneous dynamic demand, this method detects the spontaneous dynamic demand on the basis of the magnitude of the actuation of an actuation device, taking into account the average actuation behavior exerted by the relevant vehicle driver on that actuation device. As a result, in the case of a vehicle driver with a fairly dynamic driving style, the demand for spontaneously higher dynamics is recognized only with a relatively vigorous actuation.
German Patent No. 43 42 204 C2 describes a method for controlling a motor vehicle drive unit, consisting of an engine and a transmission, in which this control is implemented as a function of an evaluation number, indicative of driver behavior, which is obtained by temporal filtration of continuously determined current evaluation numbers. The current evaluation numbers are determined by comparing the current engine output with two vehicle-speed-dependent output characteristic curves, one of which corresponds to an economical and the other to a sporty driving manner. Depending on the filter characteristic selected, a desired time dependence of the filtered evaluation number can be set.
German Patent No. 33 41 652 C2 discloses a driver-behavior-adaptive control system for a clutch/transmission unit in which an accelerator pedal activity parameter is ascertained in each case from a definable number of previously sensed accelerator pedal position values, for example as the weighted sum of the accelerator pedal position values. This parameter is interpreted as a variable evaluating a driving situation and/or the driving style of a driver, and is utilized to influence limit values for transmission shifting decisions in such a way that a continuous transition from a consumption-optimized shifting program to a performance-optimized one is achieved.
European Patent Application No. 0 433 603 A2 discloses a specific method for ascertaining the driving manner of a motor vehicle driver on the basis of a continuous monitoring of the position of an engine output control member that can be activated by the vehicle driver, such as an accelerator pedal. In this context, provision can be made for ascertaining a longer-term and a shorter-term driver factor, the longer-term driver factor serving fundamentally as the ultimate control signal for a vehicle accessory that is to be influenced. If the two factors differ by more than a definable quantity, a new driver factor serving as the control signal is generated from a weighted average of the two factors.
The journal article A. Welter et al., “Die Adaptive Getriebesteuerung für BMW-Automobile (Adaptive transmission control system for BMW automobiles)”,
ATZ Automobiltechnische Zeitschrift
95 (1993), page 420, describes a transmission control system which adaptively uses different transmission shifting programs in different driving situations. The driving situations include steady-speed driving, acceleration, deceleration, curves, uphill, downhill, winter driving, and stop-and-go driving.
German Patent Application No. 42 15 406 A1 discloses an automatic transmission control system in which shifting of the transmission gear ratios occurs on the basis of a fuzzy logic method, with which criteria such as vehicle performance, fuel consumption, and complexity of design of the shifting strategy are taken into account. According to specific fuzzy logic rules, the driving manner of the particular driver is classified between an economy-oriented and a performance-oriented driving manner. In addition, the current vehicle status is taken into account in the fuzzy logic evaluation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a method with which a variably adjustable motor vehicle accessory can be controlled in driver-behavior-adaptive fashion taking into account the longer-term driver behavior, in particular the driving manner of a particular vehicle driver, and which moreover makes possible short-term, automatic control reactions to a spontaneous dynamic demand and/or the initiation of a request for a steady speed.
The present invention provides a method for driver-behavior-adaptive control of a variably adjustable motor vehicle accessory, in which one or more parameters indicative of driver behavior are sensed, and a pertinent driver behavior is ascertained therefrom. Accessory adjustment is performed variably as a function of the driver behavior that was ascertained. The driver behavior is ascertained in terms of a long-term driving manner component which represents a long-term driving-manner-related driving behavior, and a short-term dynamic demand component which represents short-term driving dynamics change demands. Accessory adjustment is performed, if a short-term dynamic demand exists, in accordance with an adjustment characteristic having a driving dynamics change level corresponding at least to that short-term dynamic demand; and otherwise in accordance with an adjustment characteristic determined by the long-term driving manner component.
The pr
Gimmler Helmut
Heidinger Andreas
Kuhn Klaus-Peter
Strenkert Jochen
Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft
Gibson Eric M
Kenyon & Kenyon
Zanelli Michael J.
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