543results about "Trailers" patented technology

A system and method generate a trip plan for a trip of a vehicle system along a route. The usage of an engine during the trip is determined based on engine operational parameters, energy storage device operational parameters, and one or more objectives of the trip desired to be achieved. The usage of the energy storage device during the trip is also determined based on the engine operational parameters, the energy storage device operational parameters, and the one or more objective, including when to charge or discharge the energy storage device during the trip.

A system for controlling a vehicle combination comprising a tractor unit and at least one trailing unit is disclosed. The system has a target generator to determine a virtual control input for the vehicle combination based on a reference input for the vehicle combination. A power manager determines a power allocation input for the vehicle combination based on the reference input and a power capability of one or more units of the vehicle combination. A combination control allocator determines a control input for the vehicle combination based on the power allocation input and the virtual control input.

A commercial vehicle having various GVWR configurations with a vehicle body with two or more axles, and a cab that does not pivot relative to the vehicle body, and a battery-electric-powered or hydrogen-electric-powered propulsion system. The vehicle has a center of gravity that is substantially lower, and a track width which is substantially narrower, than an articulating tractor-trailer combination with a trailer size comparable to the vehicle body of the present invention, providing substantially increased stability, and with all axles preferably being steerable E-axles, substantially improving the turning and trailing of the vehicle. Additional attributes are improved safety, increased payload weight and cubic capacity, higher productivity and lower maintenance costs. Many other advantages flow from this vehicle design.

A multi-vehicle control system (MVCS) for control of a multi-vehicle system having independently powered and steered lead and trailer vehicles connected by a slidable length sensing tow bar system. The MVCS includes a controller configured to receive throttle, brake, and steering signals from the lead vehicle, receive signals from the tow bar system indicating an extension length of the tow bar system, a front angle deviation of the lead vehicle, and a rear angle deviation of the trailer vehicle. The controller is further configured to determine, based on the received signals, a trailer vehicle acceleration / deceleration output and a trailer vehicle steering output, determine a driving scenario of the multi-vehicle system, and operate the multi-vehicle system based on the determined driving scenario and the determined trailer vehicle acceleration / deceleration output and trailer vehicle steering output.

The invention relates to an adjustable suspension for a vehicle. A system for dynamically managing individual suspension settings of a vehicle based on a determined suspension pattern is provided. Based on the user input and the obtained sensor input, the system may then determine a suspension pattern for a plurality of individual controllable components by specifying a value or command for each controllable component. The first mode may correspond to lowering of the plurality of controllable components. The second mode may correspond to lowering two controllable components corresponding to rear wheels of the vehicle and raising two controllable components corresponding to front wheels of the vehicle. The third mode may correspond to lowering the plurality of controllable components to effectively lower the height of the vehicle to a threshold point. The system may also implement various verification processes that may verify the determined suspension mode and further adjust the individually controllable portions based on load or ground measurements.

Provided is a driver assistance system (DAS) including: a storage configured to store driver tendency data including an amount of decrease in acceleration when a vehicle approaches a specific section, in a state in which an adaptive cruise control (ACC) of the vehicle is deactivated; and a controller including at least one processor configured to process the driver tendency data, wherein the controller is configured to, upon the vehicle re-entering the specific section during travel of the vehicle with the ACC, control the vehicle to perform one of acceleration control and deceleration control based on the driver tendency data.

A vehicle according to the present invention comprises: a vehicle battery; a motor generator that is capable of inputting and outputting electric power to and from the vehicle battery and an external battery which is externally provided; a circuit unit that connects the motor generator to the vehicle battery and the external battery; and a control unit that controls the vehicle battery and the external battery. When electric power is input to and output from both the vehicle battery and the external battery, the control unit restricts input and output of electric power to and from one of the vehicle battery and the external battery on the basis of a load applied to the circuit unit.

The invention provides a trailer identification processing method, a vehicle and a storage medium, and relates to the technical field of vehicle control. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring state data of a target object behind a vehicle within a preset time period; the driving torque of the vehicle running under the preset working condition is obtained; according to the state data, the first preset trailer condition, the driving torque and the second preset trailer condition, whether the target object is a trailer of the vehicle or not is determined; if the target object is the trailer of the vehicle, the vehicle is correspondingly controlled and prompted. Therefore, trailer identification is realized, and potential safety hazards caused by judgment deviation are avoided.

A trailer control box may receive a wireless message from a controller of the tractor. The trailer control box may validate and authenticating the message. The trailer control box may control an emergency-brake valve based on the message when the message is an emergency-brake command. The trailer control box may control a service-brake valve based on the message when the message is a service-brake command. The trailer control box may control at least one switch to operate trailer lights based on the message when the message is a light command. In certain embodiments, autonomous-capable socket is mounted to a trailer and includes: a chamfered outer casing, a plurality of electrical connectors, a service-brake air aperture, and an emergency-brake air aperture. The autonomous-capable socket required a single autonomous connection by an autonomous tractor.

An arrangement is for increasing the range of an electrically driven vehicle combination. The arrangement includes a power adaptation and charging control unit for bidirectionally transmitting voltage between a first high-voltage battery of a towing vehicle of the vehicle combination and a second high-voltage battery of a trailer of the vehicle combination.

An autonomous vehicle can include a tractor; a trailer coupled with the tractor; a thermal sensor coupled with the trailer, the thermal sensor configured to measure a temperature of the trailer; and one or more processors. The processors can be configured to receive a plurality of temperature measurements of the trailer from the thermal sensor while the autonomous vehicle is driving; compare the plurality of temperature measurements to a condition; and automatically execute a trailer anomaly response protocol responsive to determining at least one of the plurality of temperature measurements satisfies the condition.

A multi-level inverter using cascaded H-bridge modules, where each module can balance its at least two charge storage elements by means of voltage equalization. Modules are arranged in series into at least one cascade inverter phase with optional center taps, and modules communicate with a control unit by being addressed over at least one serial communication bus. Additional features that can be included in embodiments are the configuration of modules to react to multiple specific addresses in order to increase the maximum output voltage slew rate, metal circuit breaking springs to provide fusing within modules, and the ability to interconnect multiple physically distinct inverters into a single unit. This inverter is predominantly intended for electric vehicle applications, and the optional incorporation of a switching array allows the possibility for power transfer to or from a wide range of voltage sources including other inverters.

The invention relates to a method (100) for stability control of a vehicle combination (10) for a towing vehicle (12) configured to tow a trailer (14). The method first comprises determining module data (18a-18g) of at least one module (16a-16g) of the towing vehicle (12), determining characteristic data (24) of the trailer (14) as a function of the module data (18a-18g), and determining driving condition data (28) of the towing vehicle (12). Furthermore, a critical driving condition (126) of the trailer (14) is detected based on the determined characteristic data (24) and the driving condition data (28), and a measure is executed by the towing vehicle (12) in the event of a detected critical driving condition.

A trailer control box may receive a wireless message from a controller of the tractor. The trailer control box may validate and authenticating the message. The trailer control box may control an emergency-brake valve based on the message when the message is an emergency-brake command. The trailer control box may control a service-brake valve based on the message when the message is a service-brake command. The trailer control box may control at least one switch to operate trailer lights based on the message when the message is a light command. In certain embodiments, autonomous-capable socket is mounted to a trailer and includes: a chamfered outer casing, a plurality of electrical connectors, a service-brake air aperture, and an emergency-brake air aperture. The autonomous-capable socket required a single autonomous connection by an autonomous tractor.

A computer system comprising processing circuitry configured to: acquire a longitudinal velocity of a vehicle combination comprising a tractor unit and at least one trailing unit; and determine an upper limit and / or a lower limit for a control parameter for at least one unit of the vehicle combination based on the acquired longitudinal velocity; and transmit the upper and / or lower limit to a controller of the at least one unit of the vehicle combination. A corresponding computer-implemented method is also disclosed.

A method is disclosed for controlling motion of a heavy-duty vehicle. Information is obtained related to an upcoming vehicle path and vehicle maneuver along the path; and related to a road friction coefficient along the path. Lateral and longitudinal wheel slip limits are configured for at least two wheels of an axle or lumped group-axle on the vehicle. The lateral and longitudinal wheel slip values are related to respective lateral and longitudinal tyre force values via a pre-determined combined tyre slip model. A vehicle motion profile is determined for performing the vehicle maneuver as a solution to a non-linear optimal control problem (NOCP). The NOCP is constrained by the lateral and longitudinal wheel slip limits and formulated to account for the road friction coefficient and / or curvature along the upcoming vehicle path. Motion of the vehicle is controlled along the path based on the determined target vehicle motion profile.

An electrified vehicle includes a human-machine interface to enable towed vehicle mode and specify a desired traction battery charge upon arrival at a destination. A controller is programmed to vary charging rate of the traction battery while the electrified vehicle is being towed over a user-specified distance to the destination to obtain the user-specified target charge for the traction battery upon reaching the destination. The target charge may be entered as a percentage state of charge (SOC), a distance to empty (DTE), or Watt hours, and converted to net energy input required for the traction battery. The controller distributes the charging load over the entire distance to reduce the affect on the drivability and efficiency of the towing vehicle by varying regenerative braking of the electric machine(s) while being towed to provide a net energy needed to obtain the target charge upon reaching the destination.

The present disclosure provides a towing system for controlling the operation of a towed vehicle through the towing vehicle, where the towing vehicle comprises an assembly of a control lever, an e-pedal, and a dashboard screen, wherein the control lever is pulled backwards to generate and collect energy from the towed vehicle into a battery and control lever is pushed forward to use such energy to selectively propels the towing vehicle forward to gain momentum thus easing the load on the engine of the towing vehicle.

A control unit for a heavy duty vehicle. The vehicle includes an electric machine connected to first and second driven wheels via an differential. The control unit includes a first wheel slip control module associated with the first driven wheel, and a second wheel slip control module associated with the second driven wheel, where each wheel slip control module is arranged to determine an obtainable torque by the respective wheel based on a current wheel state, wherein the control unit is arranged to determine a required torque to satisfy a requested acceleration profile by the vehicle, and to request a torque from the electrical machine corresponding to the smallest torque out of the obtainable torques for each driven wheel and the required torque.

This is a trailer with independent half-axle suspension, the supporting structure of which consists of a frame (1), a split central support tube (2), and a chassis (3) with independently suspended running wheels (6). The chassis (3) comprises a front axle (31) with an integrated front transfer case (311) and pivotally mounted portal half-axles (312), and at least one rear axle (32) with an integrated rear transfer case (321) and pivoting rear half-axles (322). The support tube (2) is connected to the frame (1) via cross members (4). The solution consists in the support tube (2) being composed of a two-part front section (21) and rear sections (22) arranged at different heights, with the front section (21) being mounted higher than the rear section (22).and that the rear section (22) of the support tube (2) is provided with at least one intermediate plate (41) for the stepped connection of the axles (31) and (32) with the front section (21) of the support tube (2), which connects the support tube (2) to the front transfer case (311), wherein brake flanges (81) with brake carriers (82) for attaching the brake system of the trailer wheelset are attached at the ends of the half-axles (312) extending laterally from the front transfer case (311), and an independent wheel suspension (7) of the wheels (6) of the chassis (3) is mounted on the half-axles (312), which is attached to the underside of the frame (1) and is based on a bellows air spring (71), and an adjustable, vertically oriented trailer coupling (5) is attached to the end part of the front section (21) of the support tube (2).

The invention relates to a vehicle control method (1) having the steps of: carrying out an early detection (17) of an unstable driving state (330) of a vehicle (300) at least using an actual variable (9) and a target trajectory (TSoll), wherein during the early detection (17), it is ascertained whether the unstable driving state (330) is an understeering (332) of the vehicle (300) or an oversteering (334) of the vehicle (300), and in response to the early detection (17): defining (40) a steering angle correction (41) for a target steering angle (δSoll), said steering angle correction (41) comprising a steering angle limitation (δlim) of an actual steering angle (δlst), which can be provided, if the unstable driving state (330) is an understeering (232) of the vehicle (300) and a counter steering angle (öcs), which is directed opposite the target steering angle (δSoll), if the unstable driving state (330) of the vehicle (300) is an oversteering (334); and steering (47) the vehicle (300) using the steering angle correction (41). The invention additionally relates to a vehicle control system (200), to a vehicle (300), and to a computer program product.

A lift axle system which selectively lowers (and raises) an axle. When wheels of the lift axle system are lowered to the ground, the wheels effectively work to reduce the load supported by the original axles. A percentage of the weight of the rear of the towable vehicle is transferred to the attachment point to its tractor, that is, to the front of the towable vehicle. This helps to better balance the load, making the vehicle more stable on the road. The lift axle system is easy to operate and extends the life of the base system.

Vehicle motion management with a redundant wheel control safety net function is provided, in particular a motion support device, MSD, control unit for a heavy vehicle, the control unit being configured to control one or more MSDs associated with wheels on the vehicle, the MSD control unit being arranged to be communicatively coupled to a vehicle motion management, VMM, unit for receiving control commands including wheel speed requests and / or wheel slip requests from the VMM unit to control vehicle motion by the one or more MSDs, the MSD control unit being arranged to obtain a capability range indicative of a range of wheel behavior for which the VMM unit is allowed to influence the behavior of the wheels by the control commands, and the MSD control unit being arranged to monitor wheel behavior and detect whether the wheel behavior is outside the capability range, the MSD control unit being arranged to trigger a control intervention function if the monitored wheel behavior is outside the capability range.

Method (M) for at least partially unblocking a field of vision (13) of a motor vehicle (10), wherein the method (M) comprises: Locating (M1) other vehicles (11) with a sensor system (1) of the motor vehicle (10) on a current lane (8) of the motor vehicle (10) in at least one of a front area of ​​the motor vehicle (10) and a rear area of ​​the motor vehicle (10); Determine (M2) with a determining unit (2) of the motor vehicle (10) whether at least one of the other vehicles (11) blocks the field of vision (13) of the motor vehicle (10) at least partially on the current lane (8); Decide (M3) with a decision unit (3) of the motor vehicle (10) whether a driving situation requires reducing a blockage of the field of vision (13); and Communicate (M4) in the event that the blocking of the field of vision (13) is to be reduced, a request with a communication device (4) of the motor vehicle (10) to the other vehicles (11) which at least partially block the field of vision (13) of the motor vehicle (10), to maneuver in the current lane (8) in such a way that the blocking of the field of vision (13) of the motor vehicle (10) is reduced.

The present application pertains to a system comprising a multi-axle trailer with a front and a rear. The a multi-axle trailer comprises at least one lift axle configured to be raised or lowered to distribute weight, to increase trailer deflection during a turn, or both. A jeep is mounted between the trailer and a tractor wherein the jeep is configured to decrease weight on one or more axles. A booster is mounted to the rear of the multi-axle trailer. The system is configured such that during raising of the at least one lift axle an increase in air pressure to one or more other axles is increased to offset weight.

This invention relates to a method for automatically guiding a vehicle (1) along a predetermined target trajectory, the target trajectory being characterized by geometric trajectory parameters. The method comprises at least the following steps: - knowing the actual deviation between the vehicle (1) and the target trajectory; - generating adjustment parameters based on the known actual deviation, such that the vehicle (1) approaches the target trajectory during automated drive control based on the generated adjustment parameters; - knowing whether there is an undesirable driving state at the current time point and / or future time point when the vehicle (1) approaches the target trajectory based on the generated adjustment parameters, wherein the undesirable driving state is known from the predetermined target trajectory based on the geometric trajectory parameters; and - when it is confirmed that there is an undesirable driving state at the current time point and / or future time point, - automatically driving the vehicle based on the generated stability parameters, and / or - adjusting the target trajectory.

A computer system (50), for assisting in coupling and uncoupling a semi-trailer (22) to a tractor vehicle (21), comprising processing circuitry (51) configured to use information provided by at least one sensor (40) to automatically check whether a plurality of elements (31, 32, 33, 34, 35) of the semi-trailer (22) and the tractor vehicle (21) are in a first safe position, in a second safe position or in a third position. The computer system (50) unlocks (S105, S205) a tractor vehicle parking brake (36) if all the elements (31, 32, 33, 34, 35) are in the first safe position or if all the elements are in the second safe position and locks (S109, S209) the tractor vehicle parking brake (36) if at least one of the elements (31, 32, 33, 34, 35) is in a different position than the others or in the third position.

The invention relates to a method (1) for controlling a vehicle (300) in a driving situation (15), comprising: determining (41) a trajectory (3) of the vehicle (300) for the driving situation (15); determining (43) a target steering angle (39) on the basis of the trajectory (3); determining (49) an actual steering angle (9) of the vehicle (300) in the driving situation (15); determining (51) a steering angle deviation (53) between the determined target steering angle (39) and the determined actual steering angle (9); providing (55) a steering angle tolerance value (57) for the steering angle deviation (53); early detection (59) of instability (13) of the vehicle (300) if the determined steering angle deviation (53) violates the steering angle tolerance value (57); and in response to the early detection (59) of instability (13) of the vehicle (300): executing (63) at least one driving dynamics intervention (61) using at least one vehicle actuator (310) of the vehicle (300) in order to counteract the instability (13) of the vehicle (300). The invention further relates to a driver assistance system (200), a vehicle (300) and a computer program product.

An obstacle detection controller of an articulated vehicle is configured to calculate a surrounding area in a turning direction of a towing vehicle and a towed vehicle, calculate a passage prediction area, calculate an area in which the surrounding area and the passage prediction area overlap as a monitoring area, and output an obstacle detection information indicating that an obstacle that may be entrapped by a turning of the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle has been detected, in response to the obstacle detected by an obstacle sensor being detected within the monitoring area.