Vehicle Platoon Profile Correction for Fuel Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle platoons face challenges in maintaining fuel efficiency and safety while navigating varying topography and bends due to inaccuracies in map data and positional information, leading to inefficient speed control and potential collisions.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for a vehicle platoon that uses a profile unit to determine actual road properties and generate correctional data to adjust driving strategies, allowing vehicles to independently correct errors in map and positional data, enabling optimal fuel use and cooperative driving through wireless communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If vehicles use map data and positioning equipment for look-ahead cruise control in vehicle platoons, then fuel efficiency is improved through optimal speed profiles, but inaccuracies in map data and positional information lead to incorrect speed control and potential collisions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where actual road properties (gradient, curvature, speed limits) are continuously measured by sensors on the vehicles and compared against predicted values from map data. Correctional data is generated based on deviations between actual and predicted properties, and this feedback is used to adjust speed profiles in real-time, ensuring both fuel efficiency and safety despite map data inaccuracies
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses map data to predict road properties and generate optimal speed profiles in advance before vehicles reach specific road sections. This preliminary action allows vehicles to prepare appropriate speed adjustments ahead of time, improving fuel efficiency through proactive speed management while maintaining safety through continuous validation against actual conditions
2Use of energy by moving object
If vehicles in a platoon maintain short distances to reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency, then energy consumption is reduced, but the risk of collisions increases due to reduced reaction time
Solution Approach 1:
The system determines optimal speed profiles in advance based on predicted road properties and platoon configuration. By calculating speed adjustments before vehicles need to react, the system enables shorter time gaps between vehicles while maintaining safety, as vehicles proactively adjust speeds rather than reactively braking
Solution Approach 2:
Continuous feedback from actual road property measurements allows the system to validate and adjust speed profiles in real-time. This ensures that vehicles maintain safe distances even when operating with reduced time gaps, as the feedback mechanism detects and corrects deviations from safe operating conditions
3Speed
If conventional cruise control systems maintain preset speeds in hilly terrain, then speed stability is improved, but fuel consumption increases due to accelerating over hills and braking on downhill sections
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses map data to predict upcoming hills and valleys, then proactively adjusts speed profiles before vehicles reach these sections. Vehicles accelerate before uphill sections to maintain momentum and coast through downhill sections, rather than maintaining constant speed and braking, significantly reducing fuel consumption while preserving speed stability
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts speed profiles based on predicted road topology, allowing vehicles to vary speeds optimally through hilly terrain. This dynamic speed management replaces the static preset speed approach, enabling energy-efficient coasting and acceleration patterns that adapt to changing road conditions
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and a method for a vehicle platoon that comprises at least one lead vehicle and one additional vehicle, each of which has a positioning unit and a unit for wireless communication. The system comprises a profile unit configured to determine a profile for at least one vehicle in the vehicle platoon with the aid of positional data and map data for a road ahead, which profile contains at least one property of the road ahead. The system comprises also an analysis unit that is configured to determine at least one actual property of the road ahead, to determine correctional data β based on the at least one actual property of the road ahead and the at least one property of the profile whereby the actual property and the at least one property of the profile concern essentially the same property and to pass the correctional data β to at least one vehicle fk in the vehicle platoon.