Platoon Transmission Shift Coordination for Stable Vehicle Spacing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In platooning systems, variations in driving force responsiveness among vehicles due to deviations in shift timing can lead to unstable intervehicle distances, disrupting the platoon formation.
Innovation Solution
A platooning system with a platoon control device that manages shifting of automatic transmissions across vehicles, ensuring that shifts are coordinated in order from the tail side of the platoon, based on predefined shift conditions tied to the running state of the leading vehicle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If separate shift control is performed for each platoon participating vehicle, then each vehicle can independently manage its transmission, but variation occurs in driving force responsiveness and intervehicle distance becomes unstable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the shift control of multiple platoon participating vehicles into a unified control system. The platoon control device receives shift requests from all vehicles and coordinates their transmissions to shift simultaneously, ensuring consistent driving force responsiveness across the platoon while maintaining stable intervehicle distances.
Solution Approach 2:
The platoon control device collects shift requests from all platoon participating vehicles in advance and determines the optimal shift timing considering the entire platoon's state. This preliminary coordination ensures that all vehicles are ready to shift at the same time, preventing responsiveness variations before the actual shift occurs.
2Reliability
If shift control is coordinated across all platoon participating vehicles, then driving force responsiveness becomes consistent, but control system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a platoon control device as an intermediary between individual vehicle control systems and the platoon formation. This mediator receives shift requests from all vehicles, coordinates the timing, and sends synchronized shift commands back to each vehicle, ensuring consistent responsiveness without requiring direct complex interactions between all vehicle systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The platoon control device performs multiple functions: collecting shift requests from all vehicles, determining optimal shift timing for the entire platoon, coordinating simultaneous shifts, and managing communication between vehicles. This multi-functional approach consolidates control complexity into a single device rather than requiring complex distributed control across all vehicles.
Data Source
AI summary
A platooning system executes automatic follow-up running in line with a predetermined intervehicle distance between adjacent vehicles from a leading vehicle, the platoon participating vehicles each comprising a driving force source, an automatic transmission capable of shifting to a plurality of gear stages each having a different gear ratio, and an in-vehicle control device automatically controlling output of the driving force source and the gear stages of the automatic transmission, the platooning system comprising a platoon control device connected via wireless communication to the platoon participating vehicles, for managing at least shifting of the automatic transmission, the platoon control device executing platoon shift control that shifts the automatic transmission via the in-vehicle control device in order from vehicles on tail side among the platoon participating vehicles in case of satisfying shift conditions previously defined to allow the driving force source to work in a proper working range.