Patent ID: 8433491

Claim:
A deceleration system for decreasing a speed of a vehicle having a plurality of wheels, the plurality of wheels positioned within a plurality of local regions of the vehicle, each of the plurality of wheels having a rotational speed, the deceleration system comprising: a brake command receiving device configured to receive a brake command for decelerating the vehicle, the brake command receiving device position within a central region of the vehicle, the central region spaced apart from the plurality of local regions; a brake command sensor coupled to the brake command receiving device, and configured to sense the brake command and generate a brake application signal based on the sensed brake command; a control device coupled to the brake command sensor, and configured to: receive the generated brake application signal from the brake command sensor, compute a total brake force based on at least the generated brake application signal, determine a plurality of local brake forces, each of the plurality of local brake forces being based on the total brake force and the rotational speed of at least one of the plurality of wheels, and generate a plurality of electronic brake signals based on at least the plurality of local brake forces; and a plurality of braking devices positioned within the plurality of local regions, each of the plurality of braking devices coupled to the control device and one of the plurality of wheels, and configured to receive one of the plurality of electronic brake signals, convert the respective electronic brake signal to a respective mechanical brake force for causing a deceleration of the vehicle.