Method for controlling upshift of gearbox

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of intelligent control of vehicles, and more particularly, to a method for controlling a gearbox upshift, a gearbox control unit, a medium and a program product. The method comprises the steps that the accelerator pedal opening degree of the vehicle is obtained from an engine control unit; in response to the accelerator pedal opening exceeding a threshold, entering a full accelerator mode, and beginning to estimate engine speed after a first predetermined period of time as a function of real-time operating parameters from an engine control unit; determining whether the actual speed of the vehicle exceeds the upshift speed; in response to the fact that the actual vehicle speed of the vehicle exceeds the upshift vehicle speed, when the estimated engine rotating speed reaches the target rotating speed, an upshift request is sent out; and the actual rotating speed of the engine at the upshift moment is recorded, and the length of the first preset time period is adjusted based on the difference between the actual rotating speed and the target rotating speed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of vehicle intelligent control, and more particularly, to a method for controlling gear upshift of a transmission, a transmission control unit, a medium, and a program product. Background Art

[0002] In a fuel vehicle with an automatic transmission, in order to increase the vehicle speed, the transmission control unit (TCU) of the vehicle can issue a gear upshift request when the operating parameters of the vehicle meet certain conditions according to a preset gear upshift logic. During operation, there may be a certain time interval from the issuance of the gear upshift request to the actual execution of the gear upshift by the transmission. During the gear upshift process, the timing of executing the gear upshift is crucial for the power output and driving experience of the vehicle. In order to optimize the timing of executing the gear upshift, it is usually necessary to conduct a large number of calibration tests on the shift lines of the vehicle under different conditions to determine the appropriate timing to issue the gear upshift request. However, such calibration tests may be complex and time-consuming, and the test results vary with various factors such as the vehicle configuration and usage environment of different vehicle models.

[0003] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the above background art section is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of the present application, and thus may include information that does not constitute the prior art known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In order to solve or at least alleviate one or more of the above problems, the following technical solutions are provided. The present application provides a method for controlling gear upshift of a transmission, a transmission control unit, a medium, and a program product, which determines the timing of issuing a gear upshift request by estimating the engine speed after a first predetermined time period, and adjusts the length of the first predetermined time period according to the difference between the actual speed and the target speed of the engine at the recorded gear upshift moment, so as to improve the timing of issuing the gear upshift request, such that the actual speed of the engine at the gear upshift moment is closer to the target speed.

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present application, there is provided a method for controlling gear upshift of a transmission, the method comprising: obtaining the throttle pedal opening degree of the vehicle from an engine control unit (ECU); in response to the throttle pedal opening degree exceeding a threshold, entering a full throttle mode and starting to estimate the engine speed after a first predetermined time period according to real-time operating parameters, the real-time operating parameters being from the engine control unit; determining whether the actual vehicle speed of the vehicle exceeds the gear upshift speed; in response to the actual vehicle speed of the vehicle exceeding the gear upshift speed, issuing a gear upshift request when the estimated engine speed reaches the target speed; and recording the actual speed of the engine at the gear upshift moment, and adjusting the length of the first predetermined time period based on the difference between the actual speed and the target speed.

[0006] As an alternative or supplement to the above solution, in the method according to an embodiment of the present application, the real-time operating parameters include: engine water temperature, engine speed, engine speed change rate, actual vehicle speed of the vehicle, rotational speed feedforward time, atmospheric pressure, or a combination thereof.

[0007] As an alternative or supplement to the above solution, in the method according to an embodiment of the present application, the first predetermined time period is associated with the time period required for the transmission to complete a gear upshift, and wherein the transmission includes an automatic transmission and a dual-clutch transmission.

[0008] As an alternative or supplement to the above solution, in the method according to an embodiment of the present application, the upshift vehicle speed includes one or more upshift vehicle speeds, and each upshift vehicle speed is associated with one of the gears of the transmission.

[0009] As an alternative or supplement to the above solution, in the method according to an embodiment of the present application, the target speed includes the engine maximum power speed.

[0010] As an alternative or supplement to the above solution, in the method according to an embodiment of the present application, the threshold value, the upshift vehicle speed are associated with the driving mode of the vehicle.

[0011] As an alternative or supplement to the above solution, in the method according to an embodiment of the present application, the method further includes: after entering the full throttle mode, in response to the actual vehicle speed of the vehicle being lower than the upshift vehicle speed for more than a second predetermined time period, exiting the full throttle mode.

[0012] According to a second aspect of the present application, there is provided a transmission control unit communicatively coupled to an engine control unit of a vehicle, the transmission control unit including: a processor; a memory; and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the execution of the computer program causing any one of the methods according to the first aspect of the present application to be executed.

[0013] According to a third aspect of the present application, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when run, execute any one of the methods according to the first aspect of the present application.

[0014] According to a fourth aspect of the present application, there is provided a computer program product including instructions that, when run, execute any one of the methods according to the first aspect of the present application.

[0015] The method according to one or more embodiments of the present application issues an upshift request when the estimated engine speed reaches the target speed after the first predetermined time period, and adjusts the length of the first predetermined time period based on the difference between the actual speed and the target speed recorded at the time of the upshift, so that the timing of issuing the upshift request can be adaptively adjusted according to the hardware differences of the vehicle, the environment in which it is located, and the use of the transmission, thereby obtaining improved power output and driving experience by issuing the upshift request at a more appropriate time. In addition, the method only performs the estimation of the engine speed when entering the full throttle mode, thereby reducing the calculation load in the normal mode. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The above and / or other aspects and advantages of the present application will become clearer and easier to understand through the following description of various aspects in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar units are represented by the same reference numerals. In the accompanying drawings:

[0017] Figure 1 is a flow chart of a method 100 for controlling a transmission upshift according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the speed and vehicle speed changing with time during a gearbox upshift process and a timing diagram of instructions according to an embodiment of the present application; and

[0019] Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of a transmission control unit 30 according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The description of the following specific embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the disclosed technology or the application and use of the disclosed technology. In addition, it is not intended to be bound by any express or implied theory presented in the aforementioned technical field, background technology or the following specific embodiments.

[0021] In the following detailed description of the embodiments, many specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the disclosed technology. However, it is apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the disclosed technology can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features are not described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description.

[0022] Terms such as "comprising" and "including" mean that in addition to the units (modules) and steps directly and explicitly stated in the specification and claims, the technical solutions of the present application do not exclude the situation of having other units (modules) and steps not directly or explicitly stated. Terms such as "first" and "second" do not indicate the order of the units in terms of time, space, size, etc., but are only used to distinguish the units. Moreover, the steps in this article are not limited to being implemented in the written order, but the steps written later can also be implemented simultaneously with the steps written earlier, or implemented prior to the steps written earlier.

[0023] Various embodiments of the present application will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] Referring to Figure 1 , Figure 1 is a flowchart of a method 100 for controlling an upshift of a transmission according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 100 starts at step S102, in which the transmission control unit can obtain the throttle pedal opening of the vehicle from the engine control unit. The throttle pedal opening indicates the degree to which the vehicle throttle pedal is depressed.

[0025] Then, in step S104, in response to the throttle pedal opening exceeding a threshold value (e.g., 99% of the travel), enter the full throttle mode, and start estimating the engine speed after a first predetermined period based on real-time operating parameters, where the real-time operating parameters are from the engine control unit. If the throttle pedal opening does not exceed the threshold value, return to step S102 and continue to monitor the throttle pedal opening. In some embodiments, the threshold value can be changed according to the vehicle driving mode selected by the driver. For example, the threshold value corresponding to the sport mode may be lower than the threshold value corresponding to the economy mode. Generally speaking, when the driver attempts to increase the vehicle speed at a relatively fast rate, the driver will fully depress the throttle pedal, thus enabling the vehicle to enter the full throttle mode. At this time, the vehicle may need to shift gears to obtain a higher vehicle speed, and the transmission control unit needs to start preparing for upshifting. Specifically, the transmission control unit starts estimating the engine speed after a first predetermined period based on the real-time operating parameters, where the operating parameters include the engine water temperature, the engine speed, the engine speed change rate, the actual vehicle speed, the rotational speed feedforward time, the atmospheric pressure (which represents the altitude where the vehicle is currently located), or a combination thereof. These real-time operating parameters can reflect the current state of the vehicle's engine and the external environment, and can be used to estimate the future change of the engine speed. The first predetermined period is associated with the period required for the transmission to complete upshifting and can be preset when the vehicle leaves the factory. The transmission includes an automatic transmission and a dual-clutch transmission. Specifically, for the dual-clutch transmission, the first predetermined period can be associated with the shift fork switching time before shifting; for the automatic transmission, the first predetermined period can be associated with the pre-charging time of the clutch. In some embodiments, the future engine speed can be simply estimated based on the current engine speed and the engine speed change rate (e.g., the acceleration of the rotational speed). In other embodiments, more complex factors such as the engine water temperature, the actual vehicle speed, the rotational speed feedforward time, the atmospheric pressure, etc. can also be considered to obtain a more accurate estimation result. These real-time operating parameters can also be from the engine control unit. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the transmission control unit can also obtain these operating parameters from other units of the vehicle via the in-vehicle communication network. Estimating the engine speed after a first predetermined period is continuously performed in the full throttle mode until exiting the full throttle mode, which may consume a large amount of computing resources.

[0026] Next, in step S108, it is determined whether the actual vehicle speed exceeds the upshift speed. Generally, a vehicle's transmission has multiple gears (e.g., 5 gears), and the method 100 can be used to control upshifting in one or more gears. Therefore, the upshift speed includes one or more upshift speeds, and each upshift speed is associated with one of the gears of the transmission. For example, the method 100 can be applied only to the upshifting process when the vehicle is in the 3rd and 4th gears. Thus, the upshift speed can include the upshift speed corresponding to the 3rd gear (e.g., 40 kilometers per hour) and the upshift speed corresponding to the 4th gear (e.g., 60 kilometers per hour). Accordingly, in step S108, it is necessary to select the corresponding upshift speed according to the gear in which the vehicle's transmission is currently located. In addition, the upshift speed may be associated with the vehicle's driving mode. For example, for the same gear, the upshift speed in the sport mode may be higher than that in the economy mode. Further, in other embodiments, the method 100 can also be used for upshifting in all gears. As mentioned above, after entering the full throttle mode, the transmission control unit starts to prepare for upshifting, including starting to monitor the change of the actual vehicle speed. In step S108, if the actual vehicle speed exceeds the upshift speed, the upshift condition is satisfied, and step S110 is entered; otherwise, step S114 is entered. In step S114, it is determined whether the full throttle mode has been entered for more than a second predetermined time. If it has not exceeded the second predetermined time, the change of the vehicle speed is continuously monitored; otherwise, if the full throttle mode has been entered for more than the second predetermined time but the actual vehicle speed still does not exceed the upshift speed, the full throttle mode will be exited at this time (downshifting may be required, or the vehicle may malfunction). This exit mechanism can avoid the continuous occupation of computing resources due to maintaining the full throttle mode for a long time.

[0027] In step S110, after the vehicle enters the full throttle mode and the upshift condition is satisfied, when the estimated engine speed reaches the target speed, an upshift request is issued. The target speed can be the engine's maximum power speed. In other embodiments, the target speed can also be the engine's maximum torque speed or a speed that can be defined and modified by the user.

[0028] Next, in step S112, the actual speed of the engine at the upshift moment is recorded, and the length of the first predetermined time period is adjusted based on the difference between the actual speed and the target speed. Ideally, the actual speed of the engine at the upshift moment is the same as the target speed (i.e., the difference between the actual speed and the target speed is zero). However, in actual driving, due to hardware differences between different vehicles, the environment, and the use of the transmission, the interval time from issuing the upshift request to actually completing the upshift may vary. Therefore, it is necessary to dynamically adjust the length of the first predetermined time period to match the interval time. The following will refer toFigure 2 Describe this process in detail.

[0029] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the rotational speed and vehicle speed changing with time during the gear upshift process of a transmission according to an embodiment of the present application, as well as a timing diagram of commands. In Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, the engine speed is depicted as changing linearly. However, those skilled in the art should understand that in actual operation, the engine speed may change non-linearly, and correspondingly, the model used for estimation is also a non-linear model. Figure 2 The embodiments in Figure 2 merely serve to facilitate the explanation and are not restrictive. In Figure 2 the curves of the actual engine speed (initial situation and adjusted situation), the estimated engine speed (initial situation and adjusted situation), and the actual vehicle speed during the gear upshift process are illustrated. Additionally,

[0030] Regarding Figure 2 , first, the initial situation is described (as shown in Figure 2As shown by the curve drawn as a solid line in [Figure], at time t0, in response to the throttle pedal opening exceeding the threshold, the transmission enters the full-throttle mode and starts estimating the engine speed after a first predetermined period based on real-time operating parameters. The length of the first predetermined period is set at the time of vehicle factory production and is T1, and the first predetermined period is associated with the period required for the transmission to perform a gear upshift. At time t0, the estimated engine speed is the actual engine speed at time t2 after a first predetermined period of length T1 starting from t0. Such estimation continues from t0 unless the full-throttle mode is exited. Then, at time t1, the actual vehicle speed exceeds the gear upshift speed, indicating that the gear upshift condition of the vehicle is satisfied. Next, at time t3, the estimated engine speed reaches the engine maximum power speed (meaning that theoretically, the actual engine speed will reach this target speed after a period of length T1), and a gear upshift request is issued. Then, the vehicle transmission starts to perform the gear upshift process based on the gear upshift request. Although theoretically, the length of the interval from issuing the gear upshift request to completing the gear upshift is equal to T1, due to the different operating conditions at this time, the actual length of the interval from issuing the gear upshift request to completing the gear upshift is T3. This results in that after a time of length T3 from time t3, at time t4, the gear upshift is completed when the actual engine speed does not reach the engine maximum power speed, and then the actual engine speed starts to decrease, which makes the output characteristics of the engine and the driving experience not reach the optimal. Therefore, at time t4, the transmission control unit records the actual speed of the engine at this time, and adjusts the length of the first predetermined period based on the difference between the actual speed and the target speed. Specifically, if the actual engine speed at the gear upshift moment has been recorded multiple times to be lower than the engine maximum speed for this operating condition, it indicates that the length of the first predetermined period is relatively long (or the time required for the transmission to perform a gear upshift under this operating condition is relatively short), so it is necessary to adjust the length of the first predetermined period based on the difference value between the actual engine speed and the target speed at the gear upshift moment. For example, the length of the first predetermined period is adjusted from T1 to T1' (closer to T3).

[0031] Next, the adjusted situation will be described (as shown by the curve drawn as a dashed line in [Figure]). Figure 2 After experiencing several cases of premature gear upshift of the transmission, the adjustment is made, and the length of the first predetermined period becomes T1'. After the adjustment, when encountering a similar operating condition again, after entering the full-throttle mode at time t0, the engine speed after a first predetermined period of length T1' is estimated. Then, at time t3', the estimated engine speed reaches the engine maximum power speed, and a gear upshift request is issued (as shown by the curve drawn as a dashed line in [Figure]). Figure 2as shown in the “Upshift Request (Adjusted)”. As mentioned above, for such operating conditions, the length of the interval from the issuance of the upshift request to the completion of the upshift is T3. Therefore, after a time period of length T3 has elapsed from time t3', the upshift is completed at time t4'. Compared with the initial situation, after adjustment, the actual engine speed at the upshift moment is closer to the engine maximum power speed. Therefore, better engine output characteristics and vehicle driving experience can be obtained.

[0032] In fact, the hardware differences of different vehicle models and the different driving habits of users may cause the transmission to undergo different degrees of wear, and thus the time required for the transmission to complete an upshift may vary. Further, even for the same transmission, the time required for the transmission to complete an upshift may be affected under different operating conditions (e.g., altitude, temperature). Therefore, it may be difficult for vehicle manufacturers to set the time required for the transmission to complete an upshift under various conditions when the vehicle leaves the factory. By the method of the present application, the length of the first predetermined time period can be dynamically adjusted in a targeted manner based on driving data, making it closer to the length of the time period actually required for the transmission to complete an upshift under specific operating conditions, thereby ensuring excellent performance of the vehicle during transmission upshifting.

[0033] Reference Figure 3 , Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of a transmission control unit 30 according to an embodiment of the present application. The transmission control unit 30 is communicatively coupled to an engine control unit of the vehicle (not shown in the figure). The transmission control unit 30 includes a processor 320, a memory 310, and a computer program 330. The computer program 330 is stored on the memory 310 and is executable on the processor 320. The execution of the computer program 330 causes the method 100 as Figure 1 shown to be executed.

[0034] In addition, as described above, the present application can also be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium in which instructions for causing a computer to execute the method 100 as Figure 1 shown are stored. Here, as the computer-readable storage medium, various types of computer-readable storage media such as disk types (e.g., magnetic disks, optical disks, etc.), card types (e.g., memory cards, optical cards, etc.), semiconductor memory types (e.g., ROM, non-volatile memories, etc.), tape types (e.g., magnetic tapes, cassette tapes, etc.) can be adopted.

[0035] The present application can also be implemented as a computer program product that includes instructions that cause a computer to execute the method 100 as Figure 1 shown.

[0036] In applicable cases, various embodiments provided by this application can be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Moreover, in applicable cases, without departing from the scope of this application, various hardware components and / or software components described herein can be combined into composite components including software, hardware, and / or both. In applicable cases, without departing from the scope of this application, various hardware components and / or software components described herein can be divided into sub-components including software, hardware, or both. Additionally, in applicable cases, it is contemplated that software components can be implemented as hardware components, and vice versa.

[0037] Software according to this application (such as program code and / or data) can be stored on one or more computer storage media. It is also contemplated that one or more general-purpose and / or special-purpose computers and / or computer systems, either networked and / or otherwise, can be used to implement the software identified herein. In applicable cases, the order of the various steps described herein can be changed, combined into composite steps, and / or divided into sub-steps to provide the features described herein.

[0038] Embodiments and examples are provided herein to best illustrate embodiments in accordance with this application and its specific applications, and thereby enable those skilled in the art to implement and use this application. However, those skilled in the art will know that the above description and examples are provided for ease of illustration and example only. The presented description is not intended to cover all aspects of this application or to limit this application to the precise form disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for controlling gear upshift of a gearbox, the method comprising: Obtaining the opening degree of the accelerator pedal of the vehicle from an engine control unit; In response to the opening degree of the accelerator pedal exceeding a threshold, entering a full throttle mode and starting to estimate the engine speed after a first predetermined time period based on real-time operating parameters, the real-time operating parameters being from the engine control unit; Determining whether the actual vehicle speed exceeds the gear upshift speed; In response to the actual vehicle speed exceeding the gear upshift speed, when the estimated engine speed reaches the target speed, issuing a gear upshift request; And Recording the actual speed of the engine at the gear upshift moment, and adjusting the length of the first predetermined time period based on the difference between the actual speed and the target speed.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The real-time operating parameters include: engine water temperature, engine speed, engine speed change rate, actual vehicle speed of the vehicle, speed feedforward time, atmospheric pressure, or a combination thereof.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first predetermined time period is associated with the time period required for the gearbox to complete a gear upshift, and wherein the gearbox includes an automatic gearbox and a dual-clutch gearbox.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein The gear upshift speed includes one or more gear upshift speeds, and each gear upshift speed is associated with one of the gears of the gearbox.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The target speed includes the engine maximum power speed.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein The threshold, the gear upshift speed are associated with the driving mode of the vehicle.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: After entering the full throttle mode, in response to the actual vehicle speed of the vehicle being lower than the gear upshift speed for more than a second predetermined time period, exiting the full throttle mode.

8. A gearbox control unit, the gearbox control unit being communicatively coupled to an engine control unit of a vehicle, the gearbox control unit comprising: A processor; A memory; And A computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the execution of the computer program causing the method according to any one of claims 1-7 to be executed.

9. A computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when run, execute the method according to any one of claims 1-7.

10. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising instructions which, when run, execute the method according to any one of claims 1-7.

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