Vehicle subsystem control method and apparatus
View Patent ↗A method is provided for controlling at least one active subsystem in a vehicle chassis. The method includes, but is not limited to the steps of evaluating a driver's driving style based on data (ax(K), ay(K)) representative of acceleration of the vehicle and setting an operating state of the subsystem according to the driving style.
1. A method for controlling at least one active subsystem in a chassis of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
evaluating a driving style based at least in part on data representative of an acceleration of the vehicle, said data is normalized with respect to an acceleration threshold;
setting an operating state of said at least one active subsystem according to the driving style; and
calculating a scalar driving style descriptor based on said acceleration; and
judging the driving style by comparing the scalar driving style descriptor to a threshold,
wherein said calculating the scalar driving style descriptor comprises the step of calculating a sum of squares of a normalized longitudinal acceleration and a normalized lateral acceleration of the vehicle.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said at least one active subsystem is a drive controller.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said at least one active subsystem is a suspension controller.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said at least one active subsystem is a steering controller.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said at least one active subsystem is a transmission controller.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said at least one active subsystem is an engine controller.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said at least one active subsystem is a brake controller.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of estimating the normalized longitudinal acceleration and the normalized lateral acceleration of the vehicle.
9. A method for controlling at least one active subsystem in a chassis of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
evaluating a driving style based at least in part on data representative of an acceleration of the vehicle, said data is normalized with respect to an acceleration threshold;
setting an operating state of said at least one active subsystem according to the driving style;
estimating a rate of change in the acceleration;
accounting for said rate of change in said evaluating;
calculating a first term representative of average accelerations and a second term representative of average rates of change of the acceleration;
calculating a scalar driving style descriptor by forming a sum of said first term and second term; and
judging the driving style by comparing the scalar driving style descriptor to a threshold.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said first term is an average of accelerations weighted with a weighting factor progressively related to a speed of the vehicle.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein said second term is an average of rates of change weighted with a weighting factor progressively related to a speed of the vehicle.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein said sum of said first term and said second term is a weighted sum; and
determining weighting factors based at least in part on steering wheel operation.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said weighting factors are determined according to the rate of change of a steering wheel angle.
14. The method of claim 9 , wherein said at least one active subsystem is a suspension controller.
15. The method of claim 9 , wherein said at least one active subsystem is a steering controller.
16. The method of claim 9 , wherein said at least one active subsystem is a drive controller.
17. The method of claim 9 , wherein said at least one active subsystem is a transmission controller.
18. A motor vehicle, comprising:
at least one active subsystem; and
a controller adapted to control the at least one active subsystem, said controller configured to:
evaluate a driving style based at least in part on data representative of an acceleration of the vehicle, said data being normalized with respect to an acceleration threshold;
set an operating state of said at least one active subsystem according to the driving style;
calculating a first term representative of average accelerations and a second term representative of average rates of change of the acceleration;
calculating a scalar driving style descriptor by forming a sum of said first term and second term; and
judging the driving style by comparing the scalar driving style descriptor to a threshold.