Patent Document ID: 5452207
Application ID: 07973460
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of estimating wheel torque in a vehicle having a plurality of wheels, the vehicle being controlled by an electronic control unit having a memory, the method comprising the steps of: sensing at least one vehicle operating parameter to obtain an operating signal; modelling wheel torque utilizing at least two independent models to obtain a like plurality of individual torque estimate signals, each model generating an individual torque estimate signal based on the operating signal; weighting the individual torque estimate signals according to a predefined accuracy of the associated torque model to obtain a plurality of weighted individual torque estimate signals; generating a final torque estimate signal based on the weighted individual torque estimate signals; controlling vehicle operation based on the final torque estimate signal; said step of modelling including the step of generating a torque estimate by modelling vehicle dynamics; said step of generating including estimating wheel torque according to: EQU .tau..sub.w =(M.sub.v .multidot.a+f(.upsilon.)).multidot.r wherein .tau..sub.w =wheel torque, M.sub..upsilon. represents vehicle mass, a=vehicle acceleration, f(.upsilon.)=losses due to rotational friction and wind drag, and r=the effective radius of the tire on the vehicle wheel.