Patent ID: 11891038
Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 10:
11. A vehicle system, comprising:
a vehicle;
a trailer attached to the vehicle, wherein the trailer includes a trailer brake;
a trailer brake controller programmed to command the trailer brake to apply brake pulses;
wherein the trailer brake controller is programmed to:
command the trailer brake to apply trailer brake pulses to the trailer while the vehicle is coasting, wherein each of the trailer brake pulses has an activation brake time and a trailer brake gain, and the trailer brake gain is proportional to an amount of braking force applied to the trailer by the trailer brake;

monitor an average deceleration of the vehicle and the trailer brake gain of the trailer brake pulses applied to the trailer while the vehicle is coasting;
generate a graph of the average deceleration of the vehicle versus the trailer brake gain, wherein the graph includes a curve that illustrates a relationship between the average deceleration of the vehicle and the trailer brake gain of the trailer brake pulses applied to the trailer while the vehicle is coasting; and
find a bend point of the curve in the graph to determine an optimum trailer brake gain.