Method and apparatus for adaptive control of traction drive units in a hybrid vehicle

1. A method for adaptively controlling a hybrid electric vehicle including an energy generation system, an energy storage system receiving energy at least from the energy generation system, and at least two traction drive motors receiving energy from the energy storage system, comprising:

determining if one of the at least two traction drive motors is initially operating nominally;

resetting drive warning and faults, if the one traction drive motor is not initially operating nominally;

determining if the one traction drive motor is operating nominally after resetting the drive warning and faults;

shutting down the one traction drive motor if the one traction drive motor is not operating nominally after resetting the drive warning and faults;

determining if another drive motor is operating nominally, if at least one traction drive motor is operating nominally;

increasing a drive command upper control limit of at least one nominally operating traction drive motor, if the another traction drive motor is not operating nominally; and

shifting torque to at least one nominally operating traction drive motor, if the other traction drive motor is not operating nominally.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring the wheel speed of at least one individual wheel on the hybrid electric vehicle driven by the at least one traction drive motor;

determining a speed reference value;

comparing the speed of the at least one individual wheel to the speed reference value; and

adjusting a drive command value to the at least one traction drive motor to adaptively control traction of the at least one individual wheel based on the comparison.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

determining the difference between the at least one individual wheel speed and the speed reference value;

reducing the drive command value to the at least one traction drive motor when excessive slippage is determined in the at least one individual wheel based on the determined difference to allow traction of the slipping wheel to be regained; and

maintaining the drive command value to the at least one traction drive motor if the difference indicates that adequate traction is maintained at the at least one individual wheel.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the vehicle includes at least two traction drive motors, the method further comprising:

reducing the value of the drive command to only those traction drive motors of the at least two traction drive motors that are determined to have a corresponding wheel with excessive wheel slippage relative to the speed reference value.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

maintaining the wheel speed of one or more individual wheels on the hybrid electric vehicle within a predetermined percentage of the speed reference value by modifying the drive command to the at least one traction drive motor.

6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

determining when the vehicle is in a special turning mode; and

modifying output and drive direction commands of at least one traction drive motor when the special turning mode is selected.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

determining the direction of the special turning mode; and

disabling at least one traction drive motor to facilitate turning.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

determining the direction of the special turning mode; and

reversing the drive direction command of at least one traction drive motor to facilitate turning.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one traction drive motor is an electric motor and is operating nominally if a voltage and temperature of the electric motor are within predetermined parameters.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the modifying includes adjusting the relative output of one of the at least two traction drive motors relative to the other to induce a relative speed differential between corresponding individual wheels associated with each of the two traction drive motors to facilitate turning of the vehicle.

11. A hybrid electric vehicle, comprising:

an energy generation system;

an energy storage system receiving energy at least from the energy generation system;

at least two traction motors receiving energy from the energy storage system; and

a vehicle controller that:

determines if one of the traction drive motors is initially operating nominally;

resets drive warning and faults, if the one traction drive motor is not initially operating nominally;

determines if the one traction drive motor is operating nominally after resetting the drive warning and faults;

shuts down the one traction drive motor if the one traction drive motor is not operating nominally after resetting the drive warning and faults;

determines if another traction drive motor is operating nominally, if the one traction drive motor is operating nominally;

increases a drive command upper control limit of at least one nominally operating traction drive motor, if the another traction drive motor is not operating nominally; and

shifts torque to at least one nominally operating traction drive motor, if the other traction drive motor is not operating nominally.

12. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the controller:

monitors wheel speed of at least one individual wheel on the hybrid electric vehicle;

determines a speed reference value;

compares the speed of at least one individual wheel to the speed reference value; and

adjusts a drive command value to the at least one traction drive motor to adaptively control traction of the at least one individual wheel based on the comparison.

13. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the controller:

determines the difference between the at least one individual wheel speed and the speed reference value;

reduces the drive command value to the at least one traction drive motor when excessive slippage is determined in the at least one individual wheel based on the determined difference to allow traction of the slipping wheel to be regained; and

maintains the drive command value to the at least one traction drive motor if the difference indicates that adequate traction is maintained.

14. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the vehicle includes at least two traction drive motors and wherein the controller:

reduces the value of the drive command to only those traction drive motors of the at least two traction drive motors that are determined to have a corresponding wheel with excessive wheel slippage relative to the speed reference value.

15. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the controller:

maintains the wheel speed of one or more individual wheels on the vehicle within a predetermined percentage of the speed reference value by modifying the drive command to the at least one traction drive motor.

16. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the vehicle includes at least two traction drive motors and wherein the controller:

determines when the vehicle is in a special turning mode; and

modifies the output and drive direction commands of the at least one traction drive motor when the special turning mode is selected.

17. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the controller:

determines the direction of the special turning mode; and

disables at least one traction drive motor to facilitate turning.

18. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the controller:

determines the direction of the special turning mode; and

reverses the drive direction commands of at least one traction drive motor to facilitate turning.

19. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the one traction drive motor is an electric motor and is operating nominally if a voltage and temperature of the electric motor are within predetermined parameters.

20. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein controller:

adjusts the relative output of one of the at least two traction motors relative to the other to induce a relative speed differential between corresponding individual wheels associated with each of the two traction drive motors to facilitate turning of the vehicle.