Downhill vehicle speed control algorithm for electric driven vehicles
A control system that prevents an electric vehicle from increasing its speed on a downhill gradient by providing regenerative braking through a traction motor. The system includes an enable circuit that provides an enable signal if certain criteria are met, such as a brake pedal and an acceleration pedal being inactive. The system further includes a controller that is enabled by the enable signal, and receives a vehicle speed signal of the speed of the vehicle. The system also includes a switch that receives the enable signal and the vehicle speed signal. When the enable circuit provides the enable signal, the switch provides a speed set-point to the controller for the last vehicle speed. If the vehicle speed signal goes above the speed set-point, the controller outputs a regenerative braking torque command to the traction motor to reduce the speed of the vehicle to the speed set-point.
1. A system for preventing the speed of an electrical vehicle from increasing, said system comprising:
an electric traction motor that is able to provide regenerative braking to the vehicle; and
a controller for controlling the electric traction motor to prevent the speed of the vehicle from increasing, said controller being responsive to a vehicle speed signal and an enable signal, said controller comparing the speed signal to a speed set-point and providing a torque command that causes the traction motor to provide regenerative braking torque to the vehicle to prevent the speed of the vehicle from increasing above the speed set-point.
2. The system according to claim 1 further comprising an enable circuit that generates the enable signal to enable the controller only if predetermined criteria are met.
3. The system according to claim 2 further comprising a switch that receives the vehicle speed signal and the enable signal, said switch outputting a last vehicle speed signal as the speed set-point to the controller when the switch is receiving the enable signal.
4. The system according to claim 2 wherein the predetermined criteria include that a position of an acceleration pedal of the vehicle is zero and a position of a brake pedal of the vehicle is zero.
5. The system according to claim 4 wherein the predetermined criteria further include that a shifter position of the vehicle is at a predetermined position.
6. The system according to claim 1 further comprising a negative saturation circuit that converts the torque command from the controller to a negative signal.
7. The system according to claim 1 wherein the controller is a proportional-integral-derivative controller.
8. The system according to claim 1 wherein the vehicle is a fuel cell vehicle including a fuel cell stack and the electric traction motor.
9. A system for preventing the speed of an electrical vehicle from increasing, said system comprising:
an electric traction motor that is able to provide regenerative braking to the vehicle;
an enable circuit that generates an enable signal only if predetermined criteria are met, said predetermined criteria including that a brake pedal and an acceleration pedal of the vehicle are not being pressed;
a switch that receives a vehicle speed signal of the speed of the vehicle and the enable signal, said switch outputting a last vehicle speed signal as a speed set-point when the switch is receiving the enable signal; and
a controller responsive to the vehicle speed signal, the speed set-point and the enable signal, said controller comparing the vehicle speed signal to the speed set-point when the controller is receiving the enable signal, and providing a torque command that causes the traction motor to provide regenerative braking torque to the vehicle to prevent the speed of the vehicle from increasing above the speed set-point.
10. The system according to claim 9 wherein the predetermined criteria further include that a shifter position of the vehicle is at a predetermined position.
11. The system according to claim 9 further comprising a negative saturation circuit that converts the torque command from the controller to a negative signal.
12. The system according to claim 9 wherein the controller is a proportional-integral-derivative controller.
13. The system according to claim 9 wherein the vehicle is a fuel cell vehicle including a fuel cell stack and the electric traction motor.
14. A method for preventing the speed of an electric vehicle from increasing, said method comprising:
providing an enable signal only if predetermined criteria are met including that a brake pedal and an acceleration pedal of the vehicle are not being pressed;
defining a speed set-point as a last vehicle speed when the enable signal is provided; and
causing an electric traction motor to provide regenerative braking torque to prevent the speed of the vehicle from increasing above the speed set-point.
15. The method according to claim 14 wherein the predetermined criteria further includes that a shifter position of the vehicle is at a predetermined position.
16. The method according to claim 14 wherein causing the electric traction motor to provide regenerative braking includes using a PID controller to provide a regenerative braking torque command as a difference between the speed set-point and an actual vehicle speed.
17. The method according to claim 16 wherein the torque command is converted to a negative signal by a negative saturation circuit.
18. The method according to claim 14 wherein the vehicle is a fuel cell vehicle including a fuel cell stack and the electric traction motor.