Determining turning radius of coupled vehicles

1. A towing vehicle—towed vehicle combination comprising:

a towing vehicle;

a towed vehicle which is towed by the towing vehicle through a coupling which allows the towed vehicle to articulate horizontally with respect to the towing vehicle over a range of articulation angles;

the towing vehicle comprising a towing vehicle front axle group and a towing vehicle rear axle group;

the towed vehicle comprising a towed vehicle rear axle group;

a source of data indicative of rotational velocity of a radially outer wheel group of an axle group;

a source of data indicative of rotational velocity of a radially inner wheel group of an axle group;

a processor comprising an executable algorithm for processing data from the sources and a dimensional relationship of the radially outer wheel group to the radially inner wheel group to calculate an estimate of a turning radius for the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle, in which the dimensional relationship comprises the sum of the distance of the radially outer wheel group to a longitudinal centerline of its axle group and the distance of the radially inner wheel group to a longitudinal centerline of its axle group, and

in which the algorithm, when executed to yield a calculation of an estimate of a turning radius, comprises multiplying rotational velocity of the radially outer wheel group by the sum of distance from the radially outer wheel group to a longitudinal centerline of its axle group and distance from the radially inner wheel group to a longitudinal centerline of its axle group to yield a multiplication product, subtracting the rotational velocity of the radially inner wheel group from the rotational velocity of the radially outer wheel group to yield a difference, dividing the difference into the multiplication product and from the result of that division, subtracting one-half the sum of the distance of the radially outer wheel group to the longitudinal centerline of its axle group and the distance of the radially inner wheel group to the longitudinal centerline of its axle group.

2. The towing vehicle—towed vehicle combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the algorithm, when executed, further comprises using the calculation of an estimate of a turning radius to calculate articulation angle.

3. The towing vehicle—towed vehicle combination as set forth in claim 2 in which the algorithm, when executed, calculates articulation angle by calculating arcsine of a distance along a longitudinal centerline of the towed vehicle between the towed vehicle rear axle group and the towing vehicle rear axle group divided by the calculation of an estimate of a turning radius.

4. The towing vehicle—towed vehicle combination as set forth in claim 2 in which the towing vehicle comprises a highway tractor which is propelled by an engine-driven powertrain and which has a cab, and the towed vehicle comprises a trailer body on a trailer chassis frame from which the towed vehicle rear axle group is suspended.

5. The towing vehicle—towed vehicle combination as set forth in claim 4 further comprising a gap treatment device which is selectively operable with respect to a gap between a front of the trailer body and a rear of the tractor cab to vary effect of the gap on aerodynamic drag when the vehicles are traveling.

6. The towing vehicle—towed vehicle combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the dimensional relationship comprises distance between the radially outer wheel group of a selected axle group and the radially inner wheel group of the selected axle group.

7. The towing vehicle—towed vehicle combination as set forth in claim 6 in which the algorithm, when executed to yield a calculation of an estimate of a turning radius, comprises multiplying rotational velocity of the radially outer wheel group of the selected axle group by distance between the radially outer wheel group of the selected axle group and the radially inner wheel group of the selected axle group to yield a multiplication product, subtracting the rotational velocity of the radially inner wheel group from the rotational velocity of the radially outer wheel group to yield a difference, dividing the difference into the multiplication product and from the result of that division, subtracting one-half the distance between the radially outer wheel group of the selected axle group and the radially inner wheel group of the selected axle group.

8. A towing vehicle—towed vehicle combination comprising:

a towing vehicle;

a towed vehicle which is towed by the towing vehicle through a coupling which allows the towed vehicle to articulate horizontally with respect to the towing vehicle over a range of articulation angles;

the towing vehicle comprising a towing vehicle front axle group and a towing vehicle rear axle group;

the towed vehicle comprising a towed vehicle rear axle group;

a source of data indicative of rotational velocity of a radially outer wheel group of a towing vehicle axle group;

a source of data indicative of rotational velocity of a radially inner wheel group of a towing vehicle axle group; and

a processor comprising an executable algorithm for processing data from the sources to mathematically integrate rotational velocity of the radially outer wheel group of a towing vehicle axle group and mathematically integrate rotational velocity of the radially inner wheel group of a towing vehicle axle group over an interval of time beginning with commencement of a turn when the articulation angle is 0° and to use difference between a result of one integration and a result of the other integration to calculate an estimate of articulation angle at the end of the interval of time.

9. A method for calculating an estimate of a turning radius for a towing vehicle and a towed vehicle which is being towed by the towing vehicle through a coupling which allows the towed vehicle to articulate horizontally with respect to the towing vehicle over a range of articulation angles, the method comprising:

detecting rate of change of at least one of articulation angle and turning radius less than a target rate below which a center of a turning radius of an axle group of the towing vehicle and the center of a turning radius of an axle group of the towed vehicle are within a zone of coincidence suitable for calculating at least one of articulation angle and turning radius to within a given tolerance,

with the centers lying within the zone of coincidence, taking a measurement of rotational velocity of a radially outer wheel group of an axle group and a measurement of rotational velocity of a radially inner wheel group of an axle group, and

using the rotational velocity measurements and a dimensional relationship of the radially outer wheel group to the radially inner wheel group in a calculation of an estimate of a turning radius of the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle.

10. The method as set forth in claim 9 in which the dimensional relationship comprises the sum of the distance of the radially outer wheel group to a longitudinal centerline of its axle group and the distance of the radially inner wheel group to a longitudinal centerline of its axle group.

11. The method as set forth in claim 10 in which the calculation of an estimate of a turning radius comprises multiplying the measurement of rotational velocity of the radially outer wheel group by the sum of the distance of the radially outer wheel group to a longitudinal centerline of its axle group and the distance of the radially inner wheel group to a longitudinal centerline of its axle group to yield a multiplication product, subtracting the measurement of rotational velocity of the radially inner wheel group from the measurement of rotational velocity of the radially outer wheel group, dividing the difference into the multiplication product, and from that result subtracting one-half the sum of the distance of the radially outer wheel group to the longitudinal centerline of its axle group and the distance of the radially inner wheel group to the longitudinal centerline of its axle group.

12. The method as set forth in claim 9 further comprising using the calculation of an estimate of turning radius of the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle in a further calculation which calculates an estimate of articulation angle.

13. The method as set forth in claim 12 in which the further calculation calculates an estimate of articulation angle by calculating arcsine of a distance along a longitudinal centerline of the towed vehicle between a rear axle group of the towed vehicle and a rear axle group of the towing vehicle divided by the calculation of an estimate of the turning radius.