Patent ID: 7159954

Claim:
A method for controlling the brakes of a wheeled vehicle, wherein said brakes are controlled by an anti-lock brake system or an electronically controlled brake system, and wherein said brake system, includes a normal driving conditions mode and an off-road driving conditions mode, said method comprising the steps of: (a) activating the off-road driving conditions mode; (b) using a plurality of sensors to generate signals for use by an electronic control device to determine wheel speed, wheel retardation, and wheel acceleration, wherein said control device further comprises: (i) a primary control logic for modulating brake pressure during time periods under normal vehicle operating conditions, and (ii) a secondary control logic for modulating brake pressure under off-road vehicle operating conditions when the off-road mode has been activated; and (c) using said control device to calculate a vehicle reference speed and a wheel slip of each sensed and anti-lock brake system controlled wheel; and (d) controlling at least one of the individual wheel slip and the time period for an extended wheel slip by comparing the actual speed of the vehicle to said vehicle reference speed and calculating at least one of a variable wheel slip threshold and a variable time period for an extended wheel slippage.