Patent ID: 8386144

Claim:
A system configured to estimate a change in temperature of a brake component of a vehicle brake during a braking operation, the system comprising: a weight estimation module for estimating a weight of a vehicle to which a brake is fitted; a volume estimation module for estimating a volume of a brake component, wherein the brake component has known original volume, and wherein the volume of the brake component is determined by subtracting from the original volume a value corresponding to a braking counter value multiplied by an average amount of wear during a braking operation, and by further subtracting a value corresponding to a distance counter multiplied by an average wear of the brake component during normal non-braking driving; and a temperature model module for calculating a change in temperature during brake application based on a relationship between the weight of the vehicle as estimated by the weight estimation module, the volume of the brake component as estimated by the volume estimation module, deceleration of the vehicle, and further constants of at least one of the vehicle and the brake.