Automotive gas pedal management to increase driving safety and reduce fuel consumption and exhaust gas emission in motor vehicles

摘要

An automotive accelerator device includes an accelerator member movable in response to driver operation, a position sensor associated with the accelerator member to output a position signal indicating an operation degree of the accelerator member, and signal processing means configured to receive the position signal generated by the position sensor and to generate a command for a motor vehicle engine based on the position signal and a characteristic curve of the accelerator device that defines the command for the motor vehicle engine as a function of the position signal; the signal processing means are further configured to: receive signals indicating a current motor vehicle speed and a target motor vehicle speed, and to dynamically adapt the accelerator device characteristic curve based on the current motor vehicle speed with respect to the target motor vehicle speed.

主权项

1. An automotive accelerator device comprising:
an accelerator member movable in response to driver operation, a position sensor associated with the accelerator member to output a position signal indicating an operation degree of the accelerator member, and signal processing means configured to receive the position signal generated by the position sensor and to generate a command for a motor vehicle engine based on the position signal and a characteristic curve of the accelerator device that defines the command for the motor vehicle engine as a function of the position signal;the accelerator device being characterized in that the signal processing means are further configured to:
receive a signal indicating a current motor vehicle speed, receive a signal indicating a target motor vehicle speed, and dynamically adapt the accelerator device characteristic curve based on the current motor vehicle speed with respect to the target motor vehicle speed;wherein dynamically adapting the accelerator device characteristic curve comprises:
determining lower, intermediate and upper motor vehicle speed ranges based on the target motor vehicle speed; and dynamically adapting the accelerator device characteristic curve based on the current motor vehicle speed and the lower, intermediate and upper motor vehicle speed ranges such that: for current motor vehicle speeds within the lower motor vehicle speed range, the command is directly proportional to the position signal, via a first proportionality coefficient; for current motor vehicle speeds within the upper motor vehicle speed range, the command is substantially invariant as the position signal varies; and for current motor vehicle speeds within the intermediate motor vehicle speed range, the command is directly proportional to the position signal, via a second proportionality coefficient lower than the first proportionality coefficient.