Patent ID: 8682559

Claim:
For use in a vehicle having at least two vehicle drive components and a remote braking mechanism for each of the drive components, in which a remote braking mechanism control unit for a first one of the drive components provides rotational speed data for the first drive component as an output, for use by a second remote braking mechanism control unit for a second one of the drive components, the control unit for the second drive component comprising: a rotational speed sensor configured and arranged to sense the rotational speed of the second drive component and to output rotational speed data for the second drive component; a network interface circuit configured and arranged to communicate with the control unit for the first one of the drive components over a vehicle communications network; and a logic circuit configured and arranged to receive the rotational speed data for the first drive component via the network interface circuit, transmit the rotational speed data sensed by the rotational speed sensor, via the network interface circuit, to the control unit for the first one of the drive components, and in response to receiving a braking input signal via the network interface circuit, generate an output to control the second remote braking mechanism to apply braking force to the second drive component independently from the first control unit, based upon the sensed rotational speed of the second drive component, the received rotational speed data for the first drive component, and a braking input signal received from a user interface braking device.