Method and device for gear shift safety detection, transmission, vehicle, and medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method and device for gear shift safety detection, a transmission, a vehicle, and a medium. The method comprises: determining that a gear shift fork within the transmission of the vehicle is moving towards a target gear stage gear. The method further comprises: determining a first rotational speed of a sleeve controlled by the gear shift fork within the transmission. The method further comprises: determining a second rotational speed of the target gear stage gear. Further, the method further comprises: turning off drive power of the gear shift fork in response to the first rotational speed and the second rotational speed satisfying a predetermined condition. In this way, the method is capable of turning off the drive power of the gear shift fork before the sleeve collides with the gear, reduces impact between the gear and the sleeve, extends the lifespan of the gear and the sleeve, and is capable of improving driving safety.

Description

[0001] METHOD AND DEVICE FOR GEAR SHIFT SAFETY DETECTION, TRANSMISSION, VEHICLE, AND MEDIUM

[0002] Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the field of vehicle control, and more particularly relates to a method and device for gear shift safety detection, a transmission, a vehicle, and a medium.

[0004] Background Art

[0005] In order to achieve smooth gear engaging when a vehicle conducts gear shifting, it is necessary to ensure that peripheral speeds of two gears to be engaged are equal, thereby enabling the gears to successfully enter an engaged state and complete gear shifting. If gear shifting is forced to be done when the two gears are asynchronous, it will cause shock and noise due to a speed difference between the two gears. This situation may exacerbate wear of the gears and affect the lifespan of the gears. In addition to this, this situation may also result in an inability to shift gears properly, thereby causing driving safety problems.

[0006] A synchronizer of the transmission can help achieve a consistent peripheral speed of the two gears to be engaged and prevent them from engaging to prevent impact and wear between the gears before they reach synchronization. However, transmissions of some electric vehicles are not equipped with synchronizers and therefore a scheme is needed that can effectively reduce the gear impact and safety problems caused by excessive speed differences between the gears to be engaged in these electric vehicles without synchronizers.

[0007] Summary of Invention

[0008] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and device for gear shift safety detection, a transmission, a vehicle, and a medium. In examples of the present disclosure, a target gear stage to which the gear shift fork is to be shifted may be predicted according to a movement trend of the gear shift fork in the transmission. The scheme may then determine a rotational speed of a current sleeve and a rotational speed of the target gear stage gear before the gear shift fork drives the sleeve to engage with the target gear stage gear. If the rotational speed of the sleeve and the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear satisfy a predetermined condition, the continued engagement of the sleeve with the target gear stage gear may cause the impact or safety problems of the gear, at which point drive power of the gear shift fork may be turned off, thereby enabling the gear shift fork and the sleeve to stop movement. In this way, the scheme can predict possible impact and safety problems between the gears by monitoring the movement direction of the gear shift fork and the rotational speeds of the sleeve and the target gear stage gear, thereby enabling the drive power of the gear shift fork to be turned off before the sleeve collides with the gear, reducing the impact between the gear and the sleeve, extending the lifespan of the gear and the sleeve, and being capable of improving driving safety.

[0009] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for gear shift safety detection is provided. The method comprises: determining that a gear shift fork within the transmission of the vehicle is moving towards a target gear stage gear. The method further comprises: determining a first rotational speed of a sleeve controlled by the gear shift fork within the transmission. The method further comprises: determining a second rotational speed of the target gear stage gear. Further, the method further comprises: turning off drive power of the gear shift fork in response to the first rotational speed and the second rotational speed satisfying a predetermined condition.

[0010] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a device for gear shift safety detection is provided. The device comprises a movement trend determination unit configured to determine that a gear shift fork within a transmission of the vehicle is moving towards a target gear stage gear. The device further comprises a sleeve rotational speed determination unit configured to determine a first rotational speed of the sleeve controlled by the gear shift fork within the transmission. The device also comprises a gear rotational speed determination unit configured to determine a second rotational speed of the target gear stage gear. The device further comprises a drive power control unit configured to turn off drive power of the gear shift fork in response to the first rotational speed and the second rotational speed satisfying the predetermined condition.

[0011] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a transmission is provided. The transmission comprises one or more processors; and a storage device for storing one or more programs, the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to implement a method for gear shift safety detection. The method comprises: determining that a gear shift fork within the transmission of the vehicle is moving towards a target gear stage gear. The method further comprises: determining a first rotational speed of a sleeve controlled by the gear shift fork within the transmission. The method further comprises: determining a second rotational speed of the target gear stage gear. Further, the method further comprises: turning off drive power of the gear shift fork in response to the first rotational speed and the second rotational speed satisfying a predetermined condition.

[0012] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle is provided. The vehicle comprises the transmission provided according to the third aspect of the present disclosure. In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium has computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor to implement the method provided according to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0013] It will be understood that the content described in the Summary of the Invention is not intended to limit key or important features of the examples of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily understood by the following description.

[0014] Description of Accompanying Drawings

[0015] Above and other features, advantages and aspects of various examples of the present disclosure will become more apparent in combination with the accompanying drawings and with reference to the following detailed description. In the accompanying drawings, like or similar accompanying drawings designate like or similar elements, wherein:

[0016] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example environment in which a plurality of examples of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0017] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a method for gear shift safety detection according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of an example of controlling drive power of a gear shift fork by determining a difference between a rotational speed of a sleeve and a rotational speed of a target gear stage gear according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 4A to FIG. 4B show schematic diagrams of a plurality of examples of a movement trend of the gear shift fork based on a position and a movement direction of the gear shift fork according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 5 A to FIG. 5B show schematic diagrams of a plurality of examples of a movement trend of the gear shift fork based on the position and the movement direction of the gear shift fork in consideration of a safety range according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of an example process for determining a rotational speed of a target gear stage gear and the rotational speed of the sleeve and turning off drive power of the gear shift fork according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a device for gear shift safety detection according to some examples of the present disclosure; and

[0023] FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a transmission that can implement a plurality of examples of the present disclosure. Specific Embodiments

[0024] The examples of the present disclosure will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While certain examples of the present disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as being limited to the examples set forth herein, rather these examples are provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It will be understood that the accompanying drawings and examples of the present disclosure are for exemplary purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure, and the examples of the present disclosure that are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are for exemplary purposes only.

[0025] In an electric vehicle, a transmission drives a wheel to rotate to move the vehicle, while original power of the transmission is from a drive motor of the vehicle. The transmission comprises different gear stages, and gear engagement is performed in an automatic transmission electric vehicle by driving the gear shift fork through a gear shifting motor. The drive motor of the vehicle may drive gear stage gears to rotate while a transmission shaft connected to the wheel may drive the sleeve in the transmission to rotate. When the sleeve is separated from the gear stage gears, the rotational speeds of the two are likely to be different; and the sleeve is engaged with the gear stage gear when the gear shift fork moves the sleeve to the gear stage gears. Once the two are engaged, the drive motor of the vehicle may drive the gear stage gears and provide power to the wheel via the sleeve and the transmission shaft.

[0026] In some automatic transmission electric vehicles, there is no synchronizers in the transmissions for synchronizing the two gears. In some conventional schemes, the safety of this gear engagement operation is not detected before the sleeve begins to be engaged with the target gear stage gear. Thus, when the sleeve is engaged with the target gear stage gear under the drive of the gear shift fork, if the difference of the rotational speeds of the two is too large, the sleeve and the target gear stage gear may have a strong impact when engaged, and such impact can cause severe wear to the sleeve and the target gear stage gear, and may even damage the sleeve or the target gear stage gear, thereby endangering the driving safety.

[0027] To this end, examples of the present disclosure provides a scheme for gear shift safety detection. In this scheme, a target gear stage to which the gear shift fork is to be shifted may be predicted according to a movement trend of the gear shift fork in the transmission. The scheme may then determine a rotational speed of a current sleeve and a rotational speed of the target gear stage gear before the gear shift fork drives the sleeve to engage with the target gear stage gear. If the rotational speed of the sleeve and the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear satisfy a predetermined condition, the continued engagement of the sleeve with the target gear stage gear may cause the impact or safety problems of the gear, at which point drive power of the gear shift fork may be turned off, thereby enabling the gear shift fork and the sleeve to stop movement. In this way, the scheme can predict possible impact and safety problems between the gears by monitoring the movement direction of the gear shift fork and the rotational speeds of the sleeve and the target gear stage gear, thereby enabling the drive power of the gear shift fork to be turned off before the sleeve collides with the gear, reducing the impact between the gear and the sleeve, extending the lifespan of the gear and the sleeve, and being capable of improving driving safety.

[0028] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example environment 100 in which a plurality of examples of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the environment 100 comprises a transmission 102, the transmission 102 comprising a gear stage gear 104, a gear stage gear 106, a gear shift fork 108, and a sleeve 110. The gear shift fork 108 may be moved to the left or to the right under the drive of the gear shifting motor 112, and movement of the gear shift fork 108 may cause corresponding movement of the sleeve 110, thereby engaging the sleeve 110 with the gear stage gear 104 or 106 to complete gear engagement. The sleeve 110 is rigidly connected with a transmission shaft 116. When the sleeve 110 is not engaged with the gear stage gear 104 or 106, the wheel 130 rotates to drive the transmission shaft 116 to rotate, thereby further driving the sleeve 110 to rotate. As shown in FIG. 1, the environment 100 also comprises a speed governor 118 and a differential gear 120, the speed governor 118 is used for reducing the speed of the vehicle and providing a brake effect, and the differential gear 120 may cause two drive wheels to rotate at different speeds, thereby making the vehicle easier to turn. As such, when the sleeve 110 is positioned between the gear stage gears 104 and 106 (i.e., not engaged with the gear stage gear 104 or 106), the rotational speed is associated with the rotational speed of the wheel 130, a transmission ratio of the speed governor 118, and a transmission ratio of the differential gear 120.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 1, in the environment 100, the drive motor 114 may provide power to the transmission 102, and the power is transmitted to the gear stage gears 104 and 106 via the transmission shaft 122, the transmission gear 124, and the transmission gear 126, thereby rotating the gear stage gears 104 and 106. The gear stage gears 104 and 106 have different transmission ratios, so they have different rotational speeds. In case that the sleeve 110 is not engaged with the gear stage gear 104 or 106, the sleeve 110, the gear stage gear 104, and the gear stage gear 106 each have a different rotational speed. In the environment 100, when the gear shift fork 108 moves, for example to the left, under the drive of the gear shifting motor 112, the sleeve 110 also moves to the left along with the gear shift fork 108 and gradually approaches the gear stage gear 104 until the sleeve 110 is fully engaged with the gear stage gear 104. At this point, the gear shifting sleeve 110 is synchronized with the gear stage gear 104, and the gear shifting sleeve 110 rotates with the gear stage gear 104. The sleeve 110 may then pass power to the wheel 130 via the transmission shaft 116, the speed governor 118, and the differential gear 120, thereby completing gear shifting.

[0030] However, as noted above, when the sleeve 110 is engaged with the gear stage gear 104, differences in rotational speeds between the two can result in impact between the gears, which causes severe wear to the sleeve 110 and the gear stage gear 104, and even causes damage to the sleeve 110 or the gear stage gear 104, thereby endangering driving safety. Accordingly, in some examples of the present disclosure, a control unit 128 of the transmission 102 may monitor in real time the position and the movement direction of the gear shift fork 108 (or sleeve 110) and predict that the gear shift fork 108 and the sleeve 110 are moving towards the gear stage gear 104. The control unit 128 may then determine if engagement of the sleeve 110 and the gear stage gear 104 at their current rotational speeds may cause impact between the gears. If such engagement may present a safety risk, the drive power of the gear shifting motor 112 is turned off, thereby halting movement of the gear shift fork 108 and the sleeve 110 and preventing impact between the sleeve 110 and the gear stage gear 104.

[0031] In this way, movement of the gear shift fork 108 and the sleeve 110 can be stopped prior to impact of the sleeve 110 with the gear stage gear 104, thereby avoiding impact between the gear stage gear 104 and the sleeve 110, extending the lifespan of the gear stage gear 104 and the sleeve 110, and being capable of improving driving safety.

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a method 200 for gear shift safety detection according to some examples of the present disclosure. The method 200 may be performed, for example, by a transmission control unit (e.g., control unit 128 of FIG. 1) of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, at block 202, the method 200 may determine that a gear shift fork within the transmission of the vehicle is moving towards the target gear stage gear. For example, in the environment 100 shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 128 of the transmission 102 may determine whether the gear shift fork 108 is moving towards the gear stage gear 104 or 106. After the control unit 128 determines the target gear stage gear based on the movement trend of the gear shift fork 108, the safety of gear shifting may be detected for the sleeve 110 and the target gear stage gear. Taking the gear shift fork 108 being moving towards the gear stage gear 104 (the gear stage gear 104 being the target gear stage gear) as an example, because the sleeve 110 moves towards the gear stage gear 104 along with the gear shift fork 108 and there may be a difference between the rotational speed of the sleeve 110 and the rotational speed of the gear stage gear 104, there is a risk of impact between the sleeve 110 and the gear stage gear 104, so that the safety of gear shifting this time needs to be detected before engagement of the sleeve 110 and the gear stage gear 104.

[0033] At block 204, the method 200 may determine a rotational speed of the sleeve controlled by the gear shift fork within the transmission. For example, in the environment 100 shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 128 may determine the rotational speed of the sleeve 110 controlled by the gear shift fork 108. Since the sleeve 110 is not engaged with any gear stage gear at this time, power generated by the drive motor 114 of the vehicle cannot be transferred to the sleeve 110, such that the current rotational speed of the sleeve 110 is unaffected by the drive motor 114. Instead, because the sleeve 110 is rigidly connected with the transmission shaft 116 and the transmission shaft 116 is connected with the wheel via components such as the speed governor 118 and the differential gear 120, the sleeve 110 may rotate under the drive of the wheel (e.g., the wheel 130). In this instance, the control unit 128 may utilize, for example, various sensors to collect data at various components of the vehicle to determine the rotational speed of the sleeve 110.

[0034] At block 206, the method 200 may determine a rotational speed of the target gear stage gear. For example, in the environment 100 shown in FIG. 1, still taking the gear shift fork 108 being moving towards the gear stage gear 104 as an example, the control unit 128 may determine the rotational speed of the gear stage gear 104. For example, the drive motor 114 of the vehicle may pass power to the gear stage gears 104 and 106 via the transmission shaft 122 and transmission gears 124 and 126, such that the rotational speed of the gear stage gear 104 is associated with the rotational speed of the drive motor 114, and the control unit 128 may determine the rotational speed of the gear stage gear 104 based on the rotational speed of the drive motor 114.

[0035] At block 208, the method 200 may turn off the drive power of the gear shift fork in response to the rotational speed of the sleeve and the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear satisfying the predetermined condition. For example, in the environment 100 shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 128 may judge whether the rotational speed of the sleeve 110 and the rotational speed of the gear stage gear 104 satisfy the predetermined condition, which may indicate that engagement of the sleeve 110 with the gear stage gear 104 at the current rotational speed may result in impact or safety problems of the gear. If the predetermined condition is satisfied, the control unit 128 may turn off the drive power of the gear shift fork 108 (e.g., by turning off the drive power of the gear shifting motor 112 to turn off driving power of the gear shift fork 108), causing the gear shift fork 108 and the sleeve 110 to stop movement.

[0036] In this way, the method 200 can predict the target gear stage gear to which the sleeve is to be engaged and impact and safety problems between the gears by monitoring the movement direction of the gear shift fork and the rotational speed of the sleeve and the target gear stage gear, thereby enabling the drive power of the gear shift fork to be turned off before the sleeve collides with the gear, thereby reducing impact between the gear and the sleeve, extending the lifespan of the gear and the sleeve, and being capable of improving driving safety.

[0037] In some examples, in determining whether the rotational speed of the sleeve and the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear satisfy the predetermined condition, the predetermined condition may be that the difference between the rotational speed of the sleeve and the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear is greater than a predetermined threshold. In these examples, the difference between the rotational speed of the sleeve and the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear may be determined, then the determined difference is compared to the predetermined threshold, and the drive power of the gear shift fork may be turned off in response to the determined difference being greater than the predetermined threshold. In some examples, the predetermined condition may be that the rotational speed of the sleeve is less than a lower predetermined threshold or greater than a higher predetermined threshold. In these examples, the drive power of the gear shift fork may be turned off in response to the rotational speed of the sleeve being less than the lower predetermined threshold or greater than the higher predetermined threshold. In some examples, the predetermined condition may be that the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear is less than a lower predetermined threshold or greater than a higher predetermined threshold. In these examples, the drive power of the gear shift fork may be turned off in response to the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear being less than the lower predetermined threshold or greater than the higher predetermined threshold.

[0038] FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of an example 300 of controlling drive power of the gear shift fork by determining the difference between the rotational speed of the sleeve and the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear according to some examples of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, in example 300, the sleeve 302 is moving towards the gear stage gear 304, so the gear stage gear 304 is the target gear stage gear. The control unit of the transmission (e.g., the control unit 128 of the transmission 102 in FIG. 1) may determine the rotational speed 306 of the sleeve 302 and the rotational speed 308 of the gear stage gear 304. The control unit may then determine the difference 310 between the rotational speed 306 and the rotational speed 308 and compare it to a predetermined threshold, and if the difference 310 is greater than the predetermined threshold, it is indicated that there may be larger impact when the sleeve 302 is engaged with the gear stage gear 304, thereby generating a hazard to driving safety. In this way, the detection accuracy can be improved, thereby being capable of better ensuring driving safety.

[0039] However, in some cases, the rotational speed of the sleeve 302 or the gear stage gear 304 may not be accurately obtained, for example, a sensor responsible for collection for determining the rotational speed 306 or 308 may fail, the accuracy of these sensors is insufficient, and a portion of these sensors is omitted due to cost savings, etc. Further, the data collected by some sensors needs to be communicated to the control unit of the transmission via a communication mechanism such as a bus, and the process may result in delays or overhead in processing resources. Accordingly, in some examples, the control unit may determine the rotational speed 306 of the sleeve 302 and turn off the drive power of the gear shift fork when the rotational speed 306 is less than the lower predetermined threshold or greater than the higher predetermined threshold. In some examples, the control unit may determine the rotational speed 308 of the gear stage gear 304 and turn off the drive power of the gear shift fork when the rotational speed 308 is less than the lower predetermined threshold or greater than the higher predetermined threshold. In this way, it is possible to increase the general use of safety detection, reduce delays in communications, and save processing resources.

[0040] In some examples, in order to determine that the gear shift fork is moving towards the target gear stage gear, a position of the gear shift fork between two gear stage gears can be taken, and a movement direction of the gear shift fork can be taken. It can be determined based on the position and the movement direction of the gear shift fork that the gear shift fork is moving towards one of the two gear stage gears. In some examples, a central position between the two gear stage gears may be determined, and in response to determining that the position of the gear shift fork is between the central position and one of the gear stage gears and that the movement direction of the gear shift fork is towards the gear stage gear, it is determined that the gear shift fork is moving towards the gear stage gear.

[0041] FIG. 4A to FIG. 4B show schematic diagrams of examples 400 and 420 of the movement trend of the gear shift fork based on the position and the movement direction of the gear shift fork according to some examples of the present disclosure. FIG. 4A shows a schematic diagram of the example 400 of the gear shift fork being between the central position and the gear stage gear and moving towards the gear stage gear. As shown in FIG. 4A, the example 400 comprises a gear shift fork 402, a sleeve 404 moving along with the gear shift fork 402, a gear stage gear 406 located at the left of the gear shift fork 402, and a gear stage gear 408 located at the right of the gear shift fork 402. As shown in FIG. 4 A, the gear stage gear 406 corresponds to the position 416, the gear stage gear 408 corresponds to the position 418, and a central position between the gear stage gear 406 and the gear stage gear 408 corresponds to the central position 410. In the example 400, the gear shift fork 402 and the sleeve 404 are located at the left of the central position 410, and they are moving to the left. Accordingly, the control unit may determine that the gear shift fork 402 and the sleeve 404 are moving towards the gear stage gear 406 based on the gear shift fork 402 and the sleeve 404 located at the left of the central position 410 (i.e., between the central position 410 and the position 416 of the gear stage gear 406) and the movement direction of the gear shift fork 402 and the sleeve 404 being towards the gear stage gear 406.

[0042] FIG. 4B shows a schematic diagram of the example 420 of the gear shift fork located between the central position and one of the two gear stage gears and moving towards the other gear stage gear. As shown in FIG. 4B, the gear stage gear 426 corresponds to the position 436, the gear stage gear 428 corresponds to the position 438, and a central position between the gear stage gear 426 and the gear stage gear 428 corresponds to the central position 430. In the example 420, the gear shift fork 422 and the sleeve 424 are located at the right of the central position 430 (i.e., the other side of the position where the gear stage gear 426 is located), and they are moving to the left. However, although the gear shift fork 422 and the sleeve 424 are moving to the left, since they are currently located on the other side of the central position 430 opposite to the side where the gear stage gear 426 is located, the control unit may determine that the gear shift fork 422 and the sleeve 424 are not moving towards the gear stage gear 426 (i.e., the gear stage gear 426 is not the target gear stage gear) and that the sleeve 424 will not collide with the gear stage gear 426.

[0043] In this way, the gear stage gear is determined as the target gear stage gear only when the gear shift fork and the sleeve are located on the side close to one of the two gear stage gears and are moving towards the gear stage gear, thereby continuing to determine the rotational speeds of the sleeve and the target gear stage gear. However, when the gear shift fork and the sleeve are located on the other side opposite to the gear stage gear and move towards the gear stage gear, it can be considered safe to continue to determine the rotational speed of the sleeve 424 and the rotational speed of the gear stage gear 426 or 428, which not only improves the accuracy of safety detection, but also saves communication resources and processing resources.

[0044] In some examples, in order to further improve the accuracy of safety detection, a safety range may be determined between two gear stage gears, and when the gear shift fork is within the safety range, it may be determined that the gear shift fork is not moving towards either gear. In some examples, in response to determining that the position of the gear shift fork is between the central position and the gear stage gear, the distance between the position of the gear shift fork and the central position is greater than a predetermined threshold, and the movement direction of the gear shift fork is towards the gear stage gear, it is determined that the gear shift fork is moving towards the gear stage gear. In some examples, in response to determining that the position of the gear shift fork is between the central position and the gear stage gear and the distance between the position of the gear shift fork and the central position is not greater than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the gear shift fork is not moving towards the gear stage gear. In some examples, in response to determining that the position of the gear shift fork is not between the central position and the gear stage gear, it is determined that the gear shift fork is not moving towards the gear stage gear.

[0045] FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B show schematic diagrams of examples 500, 530 and 560 of the movement trend of the gear shift fork based on the position and the movement direction of the gear shift fork in consideration of the safety range according to some examples of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5A, the example 500 comprises a gear shift fork 502, a sleeve 504 moving along with the gear shift fork 502, a gear stage gear 506 located at the left of the gear shift fork 502, and a gear stage gear 408 located at the right of the gear shift fork 502. As shown in FIG. 5 A, the gear stage gear 506 corresponds to the position 516, the gear stage gear 508 corresponds to the position 518, and a central position between the gear stage gear 506 and the gear stage gear 508 corresponds to the central position 510. Further, the safety range 520 from the position 522 to the position 524 is provided in the example 500, where the distance from the positions 522 and 524 to the central position 510 is a predetermined threshold distance. For example, if the central position 510 is an original point of a coordinate axis, the position 516 of the gear stage gear 506 is negative 1 cm, and the position 518 of the gear stage gear 508 is positive 1 cm, the safety range 520 may, for example, be negative 0.2 cm (corresponding to the position 522) to positive 0.2 cm (corresponding to the position 524). When the gear shift fork 502 and the sleeve 504 are within the safety range 520, it may be assumed that the sleeve 504 does not collide with the gear stage gear 506 or 508.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 5A, in example 500, the gear shift fork 502 and the sleeve 504 are located between the position 522 and the position 516 (e.g., at negative 0.5 cm) and are moving to the left. Accordingly, the control unit may determine that the gear shift fork 502 and the sleeve 504 are not within the safety range 520 and that they are positioned between the central position 510 and the position 516 of the gear stage gear 506 and are moving to the left, so that the gear shift fork 502 and the sleeve 504 are moving towards the gear stage gear 506, i.e. the gear stage gear 506 is the target gear stage gear. At this point, the control unit needs to determine the rotational speed of the sleeve 504 and the rotational speed of the gear stage gear 506 and turn off the drive power of the gear shift fork 502 when the two rotational speeds meet the predetermined condition.

[0047] FIG. 5B shows another example 530 of determining whether the gear shift fork is moving towards the gear stage gear while considering the safety range. As shown in FIG. 5B, in the example 530, the gear shift fork 532 and the sleeve 534 are located at the left of the central position 540 (e.g., at negative 0.1 cm) and within the safety range 550 while they are moving to the left. In this example, although the gear shift fork 532 and the sleeve 534 are at the left side of the central position 540 (i.e., the side close to the gear stage gear 536) and are moving to the left, as they are located within the safety range 550, the control unit may determine that the gear shift fork 532 and the sleeve 534 are not moving towards the gear stage gear 536 (i.e. the gear stage gear 536 is not the target gear stage gear), so that it can be determined that the sleeve 534 cannot collate with the gear stage gear 536 and it is not required to determine the rotational speeds of the sleeve 534 and the gear stage gear 536.

[0048] FIG. 5C shows still another example 560 of determining whether the gear shift fork is moving towards the gear stage gear while considering the safety range. As shown in FIG. 5C, in the example 560, the gear shift fork 562 and the sleeve 564 are located at the right of the central position 570 (e.g., at negative 0.3 cm) and they are moving to the left. However, although the gear shift fork 562 and the sleeve 564 are moving to the left, since they are located outside the safety range 580, but they are currently located on the other side of the central position 570 opposite to the side where the gear stage gear 566 is located, the control unit may determine that the gear shift fork 562 and the sleeve 564 are not moving towards the gear stage gear 566 (i.e., the gear stage gear 566 is not the target gear stage gear) and that the sleeve 564 will not collide with the gear stage gear 566. In this example, the control unit likewise does not need to determine the rotational speeds of the sleeve 564 and the gear stage gear 566.

[0049] In this way, even though the difference of the rotational speeds of the gear shift fork and the sleeve is large, they are within the safety range and thus the possibility that the sleeve collides with the gear stage gear can be excluded, thereby being capable of reducing the drive power of the gear shift fork to be inadvertently turned off and further improving the accuracy of safety detection. In addition, the communication resources and processing resources expended in determining the rotational speeds of the sleeve and the gear stage gear can be further saved.

[0050] In some examples, for purposes of determining the rotational speed of the sleeve, a rotational speed of the wheel of the vehicle may be determined, as well as a rotational speed ratio of the wheel to the sleeve can be determined. The rotational speed of the sleeve may then be determined based on the rotational speed of the wheel and the rotational speed ratio. In some examples, for purposes of determining the rotational speed ratio of the wheel to the sleeve, a transmission ratio of a speed governor of the vehicle may be determined, and a transmission ratio of the differential gear of the vehicle may be determined. The rotational speed ratio of the wheel to the sleeve may then be determined based on the rotational speed of the wheel, the transmission ratio of the speed governor, and the transmission ratio of the differential gear. In some examples, in order to determine the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear, the rotational speed of the drive motor of the vehicle may be determined, and the transmission ratio of the target gear stage gear may be determined. The rotational speed of the target gear stage gear may then be determined based on the rotational speed of the drive motor and the transmission ratio of the target gear stage gear. In some examples, in response to the drive power of the gear shift fork being turned off, an identification indicating that the transmission is abnormal may be displayed on a display device of the vehicle.

[0051] FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of an example process 600 for determining the rotational speed of the target gear stage gear and the rotational speed of the sleeve and turning off drive power of the gear shift fork according to some examples of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the process 600 can determine a position 602 and a movement direction 604 of the gear shift fork and then determine the target gear stage gear 606 based on the position 602 and the movement direction 604. For example, the process 600 can determine that the gear stage gear at the left is the target gear stage gear 606 when the position 602 of the gear shift fork is at the left of the central position between the two gear stage gears and outside of the safety range and the movement direction 604 is movement to the left. Upon determining that the gear shift fork is moving towards the target gear stage gear 606, the process 600 may determine the transmission ratio 608 of the target gear stage gear 606. Since the power of the target gear stage gear 606 is from the drive motor of the vehicle (e.g., the drive motor 114 in FIG. 1), the process 600 may also determine a rotational speed 610 of the drive motor and determine the rotational speed 612 of the target gear stage gear 606 based on the transmission ratio 608 of the target gear stage gear 606 and the rotational speed 610 of the drive motor. In addition, when the sleeve is not engaged with the gear stage gear, it is driven by the wheel to rotate via driving of the transmission shaft, the speed governor, and the differential gear. Accordingly, to determine the rotational speed of the sleeve, the process 600 may also determine the rotational speed 614 of the wheel, the transmission ratio 616 of the speed governor, and the transmission ratio 618 of the differential gear, and determine the rotational speed 620 of the sleeve based on the rotational speed 614, the transmission ratio 616, and the transmission ratio 618.

[0052] After determining the rotational speed 612 of the target gear stage gear 606 and the rotational speed 620 of the sleeve, the process 600 may input them into a rotational speed comparison module 622. The rotational speed comparison module 622 may determine the difference between the rotational speed 612 of the target gear stage gear 606 and the rotational speed 620 of the sleeve. If the difference is greater than the predetermined threshold, the rotational speed comparison module 622 may generate a request to turn off the drive power of the gear shift fork and send the request for turning off to a power turn-off module 624. Upon receiving the request to turn off the drive power of the gear shift fork, the power turn-off module 624 may turn off the driving power of the gear shifting motor providing power for the gear shift fork, thereby stopping the gear shift fork and the sleeve from moving to prevent the sleeve from colliding with the target gear stage gear 606. After the driving power of the gear shifting motor is turned off, the process 600 may also display an identification that the transmission or vehicle is abnormal on a display device (e.g., a dash, media center, etc.) of the vehicle to enable the user to be informed of the vehicle abnormality in a timely manner and take safety precautions. The identification may be in the form of icons, images, text, speech, etc., or any combination thereof.

[0053] In this way, the process 600, in determining the rotational speed 612 of the target gear stage gear 606, takes into account the transmission ratio of the target gear stage gear 606 and the rotational speed 610 of the target drive motor, so that the rotational speed 612 of the target gear stage gear 606 can be determined without additional addition of components such as sensors, thereby saving additional costs and increasing the determined accuracy of the rotational speed 612. Further, the process 600, in determining the rotational speed 620 of the sleeve, takes into account the rotational speed 614 of the wheel, the transmission ratio 616 of the speed governor, and the transmission ratio 618 of the differential gear, so that the rotational speed 620 of the sleeve is determined without additional addition of components such as sensors, thereby saving additional costs and increasing the determined accuracy of the rotational speed 620. In addition, the identification showing vehicle or transmission anomalies enable the user to know a driving condition of the vehicle and take appropriate emergency measures, thereby being capable of improving driving safety and user experience. FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a device 700 for gear shift safety detection according to some examples of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, the device 700 comprises a movement trend determination unit 702 configured to determine that a gear shift fork within a transmission of the vehicle is moving towards a target gear stage gear. The device 700 further comprises a sleeve rotational speed determination unit 704 configured to determine a first rotational speed of the sleeve controlled by the gear shift fork within the transmission. The device 700 also comprises a gear rotational speed determination unit 706 configured to determine a second rotational speed of the target gear stage gear. Further, the device 700 further comprises a drive power control unit 708 configured to turn off drive power of the gear shift fork in response to a first rotational speed and a second rotational speed satisfying a predetermined condition.

[0054] It should be understood that by utilizing the device 700 of the present disclosure, at least one of a number of advantages that are capable of being implemented by the method or process as described above can be implemented. For example, the device 700 is capable of turning off the drive power of the gear shift fork before the sleeve bumps with the gear, reduces the impact between the gear and the sleeve, extends the lifespan of the gear and sleeve, and is capable of improving driving safety.

[0055] FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a transmission 800 that can implement a plurality of examples of the present disclosure. The transmission 800, for example, may be the transmission 102 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown in the figure, the transmission 800 comprises a processor 801, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to computer program instructions stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 802 and loaded into a randomaccess memory (RAM) 803. Various programs and data required for the operation of the transmission 800 may also be stored in the RAM 803. The processor 801, the ROM 802, and the RAM 803 are interconnected through a bus 804. An input / output (VO) interface 805 is also connected to the bus 804.

[0056] The processor 801 can be various general -purpose and / or special -purpose processing components with processing and computing capabilities. Examples of the processor 801 comprise, but are not limited to, central processing units (CPU), graphics processing units (GPU), various dedicated artificial intelligence (Al) computing chips, various computing units running machine learning model algorithms, digital signal processors (DSP), and any appropriate processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc. The processor 801 performs various methods and processes described above, such as the method 200. For example, in some examples, the method 200 can be implemented as a computer software program tangibly contained in a machine-readable medium. In some examples, part or all of the computer programs may be loaded and / or installed onto the transmission 800 through the ROM 802. When the computer program is loaded into the RAM 803 and executed by the processor 801, one or more steps of the method 200 described above can be performed. Alternatively, in other examples, the processor 801 can be configured to perform method 200 by any other suitable means (e.g., by means of firmware).

[0057] The functions described above herein can be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, and without limitation, exemplary types of hardware logic components that can be used comprise: Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), Application Specific Standard Products (ASSP), System on a Chip (SOC), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLD), and the like.

[0058] The program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. This program code can be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing devices such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, causes the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code can be executed entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0059] In the context of the present disclosure, a machine-readable medium can be a tangible medium that can contain or store programs for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A machine-readable medium can be a machine- readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium can comprise, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatuses, or devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine-readable storage medium would comprise electrical connections based on one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), optical fibers, portable compact disc read-only memory (CD- ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Furthermore, although operations have been depicted in a specific order, it should be understood that such operations are not required to be performed in the specific order shown or in sequential order, nor are all illustrated operations required to be performed to achieve the desired results. In certain contexts, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Certain features described in the context of separate examples can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented separately or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple implementations.

[0060] Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.

[0061] Rather, the specific features and operations described above are merely exemplary forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for gear shift safety detection, comprising: determining that a gear shift fork (108) within a transmission (102) of a vehicle is moving towards a target gear stage gear; determining a first rotational speed of a sleeve (110) controlled by the gear shift fork (108) within the transmission (102); determining a second rotational speed of the target gear stage gear; and turning off drive power of the gear shift fork (108) in response to the first rotational speed and the second rotational speed satisfying a predetermined condition.

2. The method according to Claim 1, wherein turning off the drive power of the gear shift fork (108) in response to the first rotational speed and the second rotational speed satisfying the predetermined condition comprises: determining a difference between the first rotational speed and the second rotational speed; comparing the difference to a predetermined threshold; and turning off the drive power of the gear shift fork (108) in response to the difference being greater than the predetermined threshold.

3. The method according to Claim 1, wherein the target gear stage gear is a first gear stage gear, and determining that the gear shift fork (108) within the transmission (102) of the vehicle is moving towards the target gear stage gear comprises: obtaining a position of the gear shift fork (108) between the first gear stage gear (104) and a second gear stage gear (106); obtaining a movement direction of the gear shift fork (108); and determining, based on the position and the movement direction of the gear shift fork (108), that the gear shift fork (108) is moving towards the first gear stage gear (104).

4. The method according to Claim 3, wherein determining, based on the position and the movement direction of the gear shift fork (108), that the gear shift fork (108) is moving towards the first gear stage gear (104) comprises: determining a central position between the first gear stage gear (104) and the second gear stage gear (106); and in response to determining that the position of the gear shift fork (108) is located betweenthe central position and the first gear stage gear (104) and the movement direction of the gear shift fork (108) is towards the first gear stage gear (104), determining that the gear shift fork (108) is moving towards the first gear stage gear (104).

5. The method according to Claim 4, wherein in response to determining that the position of the gear shift fork (108) is located between the central position and the first gear stage gear (104) and the movement direction of the gear shift fork (108) is towards the first gear stage gear (104), determining that the gear shift fork (108) is moving towards the first gear stage gear (104) comprises: in response to determining that the position of the gear shift fork (108) is located between the central position and the first gear stage gear (104), a distance between the position and the central position is greater than a predetermined threshold, and the movement direction of the gear shift fork (108) is towards the first gear stage gear (104), determining that the gear shift fork (108) is moving towards the first gear stage gear (104).

6. The method according to Claim 5, further comprising: in response to determining that the position of the gear shift fork (108) is located between the central position and the first gear stage gear (104) and a distance between the position and the central position is not greater than the predetermined threshold, determining that the gear shift fork (108) is not moving towards the first gear stage gear (104).

7. The method according to Claim 4, further comprising: in response to determining that the position of the gear shift fork (108) is not located between the central position and the first gear stage gear (104), determining that the gear shift fork (108) is not moving towards the first gear stage gear (104).

8. The method according to Claim 1, wherein determining the first rotational speed of the sleeve (110) connected to the gear shift fork (108) within the transmission (102) comprises: determining a rotational speed of a wheel (130) of the vehicle; determining a rotational speed ratio of the wheel to the sleeve (110) of the transmission (102); and determining the first rotational speed of the sleeve (110) based on the rotational speed of the wheel (130) and the rotational speed ratio.

9. The method according to Claim 8, wherein determining the rotational speed ratio of the wheel (130) to the sleeve (110) of the transmission (102) comprises: determining a transmission ratio of a speed governor (118) of the vehicle; determining a transmission ratio of a differential gear (120) of the vehicle; and determining the rotational speed ratio of the wheel (130) to the sleeve (110) of the transmission (102) based on the rotational speed of the wheel (130), the transmission ratio of the speed governor (118), and the transmission ratio of the differential gear (120).

10. The method according to Claim 1, wherein determining the second rotational speed of the target gear stage gear comprises: determining a rotational speed of a drive motor (112) of the vehicle; determining a transmission ratio of the target gear stage gear; and determining the second rotational speed of the target gear stage gear based on the rotational speed of the drive motor (112) and the transmission ratio of the target gear stage gear.

11. The method according to Claim 1, further comprising: in response to the drive power of the gear shift fork (108) being turned off, displaying an identification to indicate that the transmission (102) is abnormal on a display device of the vehicle.

12. A device (700) for gear shift safety detection, comprising: a movement trend determination unit (702) configured to determine that a gear shift fork (108) within a transmission (102) of a vehicle is moving towards a target gear stage gear; a sleeve rotational speed determination unit (704) configured to determine a first rotational speed of a sleeve (110) controlled by the gear shift fork (108) within the transmission (102); a gear rotational speed determination unit (706) configured to determine a second rotational speed of the target gear stage gear; and a drive power control unit (708) configured to turn off drive power of the gear shift fork (108) in response to the first rotational speed and the second rotational speed satisfying a predetermined condition.

13. A transmission (800), comprising: at least one processor (801); and a memory (802) coupled to the at least one processor (801) and having instructions storedthereon, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor (801), causing the transmission (800) to perform the method according to any one of Claims 1-11.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor to implement the method according to any one of Claims 1-11.

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