Abstract:
A method for detecting a rough road section in a vehicle route comprises the following steps: sensing the acceleration of the vehicle with an acceleration sensor, evaluating the acceleration at several points of time, and detecting the rough road section with regard to the evaluation results. A device for detecting a rough road section in a vehicle route comprises an acceleration sensor for sensing the acceleration of a vehicle, an evaluation device for evaluating the acceleration at several points of time, and a detection device for detecting the rough road section with regard to the evaluation results. A speed control method according to the present invention comprises the following steps: detecting a rough road section, and fixing a nominal speed in response to the detection. A speed control system includes a rough road detection device and a speed controller which controls the speed of the vehicle according to the rough road detection.

Description:
This application is a division of Ser. No. 09/744,599 filed May 8, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,407 which is a 371 of PCT/EP99/05437 filed Jul. 28, 1999. 

   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The present invention generally relates to road condition detection, and more particularly relates to a method and a device for detecting a rough road section. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The detection of rough road sections is favorable for speed control systems which operate in the bottom speed range and also off-road, such as the Hill Descent Control System e.g. known from patent application WO 96/11826 PCT/GB95/02298. The purpose of this detection means is to respond when the normal control speed (for example, 10 km/h) is still too high due to the rough road section and should be switched over to a slower speed for safety and comfort reasons. 
   Previous methods of detecting rough road sections are based on the evaluation of wheel acceleration values sensed by corresponding wheel acceleration sensors. However, these methods are designed for higher speeds and small road bumps and are not appropriate for low speeds and major road surface bumps. 
   In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and a device for detecting a rough road section in a vehicle route which permit reliably detecting a rough road section in the route of a vehicle even in the bottom speed range and/or with an extremely bumpy roadway. 
   The present invention is based on the fact that rough road detection can be performed on the basis of the acceleration of the vehicle. The acceleration is sensed by an acceleration sensor. The sensor signal sensed is evaluated continuously at several points of time, and the detection of the rough road section is effected on the basis of the result of evaluation. 
   The term acceleration in this arrangement refers to the longitudinal acceleration ({umlaut over (x)}, [m/S 2 ] and/or the rotational acceleration ({umlaut over (φ)}, [S 2 ]) alongside or about the longitudinal, transverse or vertical axis of the automotive vehicle. Preferably, the longitudinal acceleration in the direction of the longitudinal axis and/or the rotational acceleration about the transverse axis is looked at. 
   The evaluation is preferably started at the point of time when the acceleration has exceeded a defined threshold value. The exceeding of determined threshold values is considered to be due to the existence of bumpy roadways. In the course of the evaluation, a great number of bumpy roadways can be detected which can be counted preferably by a counter. Counting of the counter is preferably continued when the acceleration is above the threshold value for a defined gate time. A rough road section can be identified by the fact that the counter reading reached a defined detection value. To prevent individual roadway bumps from accumulating over a long period of time, another gate time may be provided during which the counter must continue counting or must reach the detection value. If not, the counter will be reset to the start value when the gate time is exceeded. 
   The method can be adapted to the type of vehicle by a variation of the threshold values and gate times which are used for evaluation purposes and can be fixed in response to speed. 
   In a speed control method according to the present invention, the nominal speed of the vehicle can be re-established after detection of a rough road section, and the adapted speed can be adapted to the route according to the result of the evaluation. 
   When a longitudinal acceleration sensor is already provided for the vehicle, the rough-road detection can be realized without additional expenditure in pickups for measuring data. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of this invention. 
       FIG. 2  is an embodiment of the evaluation device of FIG.  1 . 
       FIG. 3   a  shows an exemplary signal course. 
       FIG. 3   b  shows enlarged details of the signal course of  FIG. 3   a  to explain the evaluation of the signal course. 
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart of the evaluation of the signal course according to the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1  shows a functional block diagram of a preferred embodiment of this invention. The acceleration is sensed by an acceleration sensor  10 , especially a longitudinal acceleration sensor. The sensed sensor signal  10   a  is transmitted to an optional conditioning device  11  where it is conditioned in 
   conformity with the requirements of the evaluation. Device  11  may be one or more low-pass filters, for example, for eliminating pulse spikes and/or the d-c component. By a differentiation produced from a low-pass filtered and unfiltered signal, the d-c component can be eliminated in approximation which results from the slope of the roadway or a vehicle acceleration. The a-c component is transmitted in the form of the conditioned sensor signal  11   a  to an evaluation device  12  and can be evaluated therein on the basis of defined criteria, preferably, by way of fixed acceleration threshold values and gate times. Road irregularities, such as bumps, road ditches, or potholes can be detected, and their number and sequence can be recorded. A detection device  13  which is connected downstream of the evaluation device  12  detects the rough road section by way of the evaluation result  12   a , preferably, from the number of the roadway irregularities detected. A speed controller  14  will be activated in this case and will re-establish the nominal speed of the vehicle according to the quantity of the evaluation result  12   a.    
     FIG. 2  shows an embodiment of the evaluation device  12 . The evaluation device  12  may be comprised of a memory  22  for taking up programs and data, a first and a second chronometer designated by reference numerals  23  and  24 , a counter  25  for counting acceleration peaks (corresponding to individual roadway irregularities) and a reset device  26 . The counter  25  can be connected to a brake monitor, accelerator pedal monitor and engine monitor  27  which will be explained hereinbelow, and to the detection device  13 . The rough road section is detected when the counter reading has reached a defined threshold. 
   The sensor signal  11   a  which is conditioned, if necessary, is input into a monitoring device  21 . The monitoring device  21  examines the sensor signal by way of acceleration threshold values which can be stored in the memory  22 . When these threshold values are exceeded, or when values remain under them, the first or the second chronometer will be triggered. In dependence on the time intervals measured by the first chronometer  23 , individual roadway irregularities can be detected by the monitoring device  21  when the comparison of the time interval measured by the first chronometer with a gate time stored in the memory shows that the latter gate time was exceeded. The number of the detected bumps can be counted by counter  25 . In dependence on the time interval measured by the second chronometer  24 , the reset device  26  can be activated by the monitoring device  21  and will reset the counter  25  to the start value, if necessary. To avoid inadvertent activations of the counter caused by acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle, optionally, a brake monitor, accelerator-pedal monitor and engine monitor  27  may be implemented. It can take effect on the counter. The accelerator-pedal and engine monitor  27  will then check whether the engine torque or the accelerator pedal movement are changed by more than a defined amount within a predetermined time. If this is the case, counter  25  is decremented by 1. The same process can be carried out when the brakes are applied or released by the driver. When the counter reading of the counter  25  reaches a defined value, the detection device  13  identifies the vehicle route as a rough road section. It is this way possible to eliminate influences which are not due to the conditions of the route but are e.g. caused by the driving performance of the driver, such as acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle due to opening the throttle or closing it, or due to braking. 
   The quantitative criteria, i.e., threshold values and gate time, by way of which the evaluation device  12  performs the evaluation of the sensor signal  11   a  and which can be stored in the memory  22  of the evaluation device  12  will be explained in detail hereinbelow by way of FIG.  3 . The exemplary course of a conditioned sensor signal  11   a  is illustrated in  FIG. 3   a . The signal course recorded may e.g. amount to 5 seconds, for example, at a speed of 5 km/h.  FIG. 3   b  shows enlarged details of the sections a, c, and d from the signal course of  FIG. 3   a . The evaluation process is started when the acceleration exceeds the threshold value S1 (or falls below the threshold value −S1). Merely the amount of the acceleration can be reviewed for the evaluation. The threshold values S1 and −S1 and, respectively, S2 and −S2 in  FIG. 2   b  differ from each other only in their sign so that the evaluation procedure will be described in the following by way of the positive acceleration values. 
   The first chronometer  23  is started at the commencement of the evaluation. The time interval is measured then, during which the acceleration signal remains above the threshold value S1 or above a threshold value S3 (not shown in  FIG. 3   b ) which may be lower than the threshold value S1. When this time interval which is referred to as T1 in the example of the first positive half wave of  FIG. 3   b  exceeds the plotted gate time TZ1, a single acceleration peak (corresponding to a bump or a pothole) is detected, and counter  25  is incremented by one unit. When the acceleration signal falls below the threshold value S2 in the further signal course, the second chronometer  24  is started. The time interval which lapses until the threshold S1 is reached again, will be measured with this chronometer. When this time interval exceeds a second gate time TZ2, the counter  27  is reset to the start value. 
   The time interval T2 plotted exemplarily in  FIG. 2   b  lies below the gate time TZ2, while the time interval T3 is in excess thereof so that the counter is reset during T3. The gate times TZ1 and TZ2 can be fixed depending on the speed of the vehicle and are stored in the memory device  22 . The use of the gate time TZ1 prevents an inadvertent triggering of the counter  25  which is caused by pulse spikes of the signal, see e.g.  FIG. 3   a , section c. 
   Using the defined gate time TZ2 ensures that a rough road section is only identified when several roadway bumps following each other in brief intervals are detected. If, for example, a counter reading of  7  is necessary to detect a rough road section, only the signal course section b in  FIG. 3   a  leads to the detection of a rough road section. The number of the detected roadway bumps is not sufficient in section e, while in section a, the gate time TZ2 between the detection of the sixth and the seventh roadway bump is exceeded so that the counter is reset before the seventh roadway bump is detected. 
   Section d shows an exemplary section of the signal course which includes a sufficient number of half waves. However, the amplitudes of the half waves do not exceed the threshold value S1 so that the counter does not count. The rough road detection can be adapted to the vehicle and the roadway conditions by a variation of the threshold values S1, S2, and S3. Therefore, a certain pattern in the course of the acceleration, which corresponds to poor roadway conditions, can be recognized during the evaluation by using the threshold values of the acceleration and the gate times. 
   An exemplary procedure of the evaluation of the sensor signal  11   a  in the evaluation device  12  is illustrated in a flow chart in FIG.  4 . In step  401 , the acceleration signal is monitored continuously or quasi-continuously by the monitoring device  21  as to whether the threshold value S1 was exceeded. If this is the case, the first chronometer  23  is started in step  402 . When the time interval measured by the first chronometer  23 , during which interval values did not drop below a threshold value S3, exceeds the gate time TZ1, counter  25  is counted upwards in step  403 , and the second chronometer is reset. If the time interval measured by the first chronometer does not exceed the gate time TZ1, the routine will return to step  401  without counting. If the counter exceeds a fixed limit value when counting upwards, a rough road section is identified by the detection device  13  in step  404 . Irrespective of whether the counter threshold is exceeded, the routine is continued with steps  401 ,  405 , and  408  (dotted lines) to ensure a continuous procedure. If the threshold value S1 is not exceeded in step  401 , the acceleration signal is monitored in step  405  as to whether its value falls below threshold value S2, whereupon the second chronometer  24  is started and the first chronometer reset in step  406 . If not, the monitoring operation is continued. When the time interval measured by the second chronometer reaches the gate time TZ2, the counter is reset to the start value in step  407 , with the result that the procedure returns to step  401 . The brake monitor, pedal monitor and engine monitor  27  is continuously examining in step  408  whether the accelerator pedal movement or the engine torque change by more than a defined amount in a predetermined time. When the change exceeds a defined limit value, or when the brakes are applied or released by the driver, the counter is counted backwards by one unit in step  409 . 
   In a speed control, the rough road detection can be used, for example, in order to, change or re-adjust the nominal vehicle speed. It may e.g. be reduced or set to a low value (lower than 15 km/h, lower than 7 km/h).