Method and device for determining the mass of a motor vehicle, and a motor vehicle with a device of this type

1. A method for controlling a vehicle control system comprising the following steps:

determining a speed (v) of the motor vehicle for two mutually different instants (t 0 , t 1 ) separated by a time interval in which driving resistances (F L , F R , F St ) belonging to the instants (t 0 , t 1 ) are assumed not to differ between the instants (t 0 , t 1 );

determining drive powers (P A0 , P A1 ) of the motor vehicle for the two instants (t 0 , t 1 ), each of the drive powers (P A ) being determined as follows:

P A =( M eng −M fric )*ω eng *η,

with P A being one of the drive powers (P A0 , P A1 ), M eng being a drive torque of the engine, M fric being a frictional torque of the engine, ω eng being an angular velocity of the engine, and η being a parameterized efficiency of the drivetrain;

determining an estimated mass (m) of the motor vehicle from the speeds (v 0 , v 1 ) and from the drive powers (P A0 , P A1 ) at the two instants (t 0 , t 1 );

supplying electronic information representative of the estimated mass (m) to a vehicle control system, the vehicle control system being at least one of an anti-lock brake system or an electronically controlled brake system; and

operating the vehicle control system based on the electronic information.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

a power (P R ) for overcoming the driving resistances is determined, and

the estimated mass (m) of the motor vehicle is further determined from the speed (v), a current drive power (P A ) and the power (P R ) for overcoming the driving resistances, the difference between the current drive power (P A ) and the power (P R ) for overcoming the driving resistances corresponding to the change in the kinetic energy of the motor vehicle.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein

the speed (v) of the motor vehicle is determined by means of a measured wheel rotational speed signal (n).

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the power (P R ) for overcoming the driving resistances is determined from a sum of individual driving resistances (F L , F R , F St ) multiplied by the speed (v) of the motor vehicle.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the estimated mass (m) of the motor vehicle is determined from the speed (v) and a current drive power (P A ) by using a recursive estimation algorithm, wherein the recursive estimation algorithm is carried out by a Kalman filter or by a recursive least squares estimator (RLS filter).

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

a mean value ({circumflex over (m)}) is formed from at least three measured values for the estimated mass (m) of the motor vehicle, the calculation of the mean value ({circumflex over (m)}) being performed taking account of the variance of the respective measured values for the estimated mass (m) of the motor vehicle, the mean value ({circumflex over (m)}) being supplied to the vehicle control system as the electronic information representative of the estimated mass (m).

7. An electronic processor for determining an estimated mass (m) of a motor vehicle, the device configured

for determining a speed (v) of the motor vehicle for two mutually different instants (t 0 , t 1 ) separated by a time interval in which driving resistances (F L , F R , F St ) belonging to the instants (t 0 , t 1 ) are assumed not to differ between the instants (t 0 , t 1 ),

for determining drive powers (P A0 , P A1 ) of the motor vehicle for the two instants (t 0 , t 1 ), with each of the drive powers (P A ) being determined as follows:

P A =( M eng −M fric )*ω eng *η,

with P A being one of the drive powers (P A0 , P A1 ), M eng being a drive torque of the engine, M fric being a frictional torque of the engine, ω eng being an angular velocity of the engine, and η being a parameterized efficiency of the drivetrain, and

for determining the estimated mass (m) from the speeds (v 0 , v 1 ) and from the drive powers (P A0 , P A1 ) at the two instants (t 0 , t 1 ), the device comprising an interface for supplying electronic information representative of the estimated mass (m) to a vehicle control system, the vehicle control system being at least one of an anti-lock brake system or an electronically controlled brake system; and for causing the vehicle control system to operate based on the electronic information.

8. The electronic processor according to claim 7 , further configured for determining a power (P R ) for overcoming driving resistances, wherein the device determines the estimated mass (m) from the speed (v), a current drive power (P A ) and further from the power (P R ) for overcoming the driving resistances.

9. The electronic processor according to claim 7 , further configured for determining the estimated mass (m) of the motor vehicle by a recursive estimation algorithm, wherein the recursive estimation algorithm is carried out by a Kalman filter or by a recursive least squares estimator (RLS filter).

10. The electronic processor according to claim 7 , further configured for determining a mean value ({circumflex over (m)}) from at least three different measured values of the estimated mass (m) of the motor vehicle, a variance of the measured values being taken into account in each case.

11. A motor vehicle comprising

a vehicle control system, the vehicle control system being at least one of an anti-lock brake system or an electronically controlled brake system, and

an electronic processor for determining an estimated mass (m) of the motor vehicle, the device configured

for determining a speed (v) of the motor vehicle,

for determining drive powers (P A0 , P A1 ) of the motor vehicle for two instants (t 0 , t 1 ), each of the drive powers (P A ) being determined as follows:

P A =( M eng −M fric )*ω eng *η,

with P A being one of the drive powers (P A0 , P A1 ), M eng being a drive torque of the engine, M fric being a frictional torque of the engine, ω eng being an angular velocity of the engine, and η being a parameterized efficiency of the drivetrain

for determining the estimated mass (m) from the speed (v) and from the drive powers (P A0 , P A1 ) at the two instants (t 0 , t 1 ), and

for supplying electronic information representative of the estimated mass (m) to the vehicle control system,

wherein the vehicle control system is configured to operate based on the electronic information.