Intersection Engine Restart Control for Turning Around Two-Wheelers

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Solution Overview

Problem

In vehicles executing idle stop control, the engine is unnecessarily stopped and restarted at intersections, leading to deteriorated fuel efficiency, especially when turning left after a red traffic light, as the vehicle speed experience criterion is unlikely to be met before reaching the intersection, and short restart times result in higher fuel consumption.

Innovation Solution

A vehicle control method that uses a combination of camera, radar, navigation, and communication systems to detect two-wheeled vehicles and adjust engine restart timing, implementing a creep start and position prediction to ensure safety and optimize fuel efficiency by restarting the engine only when necessary, such as when the two-wheeled vehicle is about to pass through the intersection.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of energy

If the engine is stopped at a red traffic light and restarted when turning left at an intersection, then fuel efficiency is improved through idle stop control, but the vehicle speed experience criterion is unlikely to be met before reaching the intersection, causing the engine to remain idling and deteriorating fuel efficiency

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefuel efficiencyVSAvoididle stop control reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of energyVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary detection of two-wheeled vehicles during the red light phase and predicts their trajectory before the green light. This allows the engine restart timing to be pre-planned based on predicted intersection passage times, ensuring the vehicle speed experience criterion can be met before reaching the intersection, thus enabling idle stop control to function reliably

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If the vehicle stops again inside the intersection after starting to move, then safety is ensured by avoiding collision with two-wheeled vehicles, but the amount of fuel required for engine restart becomes greater than the fuel conserved by automatic stop, deteriorating fuel efficiency

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovesafetyVSAvoidfuel efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary detection of two-wheeled vehicles during the red light phase and predicts their trajectory before the green light. This allows the engine restart timing to be pre-planned based on predicted intersection passage times, ensuring the vehicle speed experience criterion can be met before reaching the intersection, thus enabling idle stop control to function reliably

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously monitors the actual positions and speeds of two-wheeled vehicles during their passage through the intersection, comparing them against predicted values. This feedback allows dynamic adjustment of the host vehicle's acceleration and engine restart timing, optimizing the balance between safety margins and fuel consumption by avoiding unnecessary stops

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Speed

If the engine is restarted immediately when the traffic light turns green, then the vehicle can start moving promptly, but if the time until restart is short (less than 5 seconds), the amount of fuel required for restart becomes greater than the amount of fuel conserved by automatic stop

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevehicle start speedVSAvoidfuel consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary detection of two-wheeled vehicles during the red light phase and predicts their trajectory before the green light. This allows the engine restart timing to be pre-planned based on predicted intersection passage times, ensuring the vehicle speed experience criterion can be met before reaching the intersection, thus enabling idle stop control to function reliably

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts the engine restart timing based on real-time detection of two-wheeled vehicle trajectories and predicted intersection passage times. Rather than using a fixed restart delay, the restart timing is optimized for each specific situation, balancing the need for quick vehicle response with fuel conservation by extending restart timing only when safety permits

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3779153B1Vehicle control method and vehicle control device
Publication Date: 2023.11.22 NISSAN MOTOR CO LTD
  • EP3779153B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3779153B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3779153B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

In a vehicle control method according to the present invention, when a host vehicle is stopped at the front of a line of vehicles in accordance with a stop signal of a traffic light at an intersection, the engine is stopped by using an idle stop control, and when either a left-turn operation will be made on a left-hand traffic road or a right-turn operation on a right-hand traffic road on a right-hand traffic road at the intersection after the traffic light changes to a go signal, a presence or an absence of a traveling body, which is stopped on the side of or behind the host vehicle in the direction from which the host vehicle is turning, is detected during the stop signal. Then, upon determining the traveling body is stopped on the side of host vehicle, the restarting of the engine is placed on standby even when the traffic light turns to the go signal, and the engine is restarted in accordance with a behavior of the traveling body.